Dr. Ed Diener and Dr. Robert Biswas-Diener offer the mental health community their FLOURISHING scale.
It is a simple, eight item likkert-rating scale. There is no reversed-scored item in Ed’s work, and all thanks to him for that.
The scale is completely available, thanks to Ed’s and Robert’s generosity. You are permitted to download it and use it for clinical work or for research. You should, of course, credit them.
Ed’s site: http://internal.psychology.illinois.edu/~ediener/scales.html
Robert’s site: http://positiveacorn.com/
Here’s my version of the scale, with proper credit given to Ed and Robert.
https://drlynnjohnson.com/?attachment_id=1226
If you look at the eight items, there are a few points worth making.
Item 1: Purpose and meaning: huge for a sense of flourishing, and as Laura King points out, seen in both the poor and the rich, although she says there is good evidence that the poor have more purpose and meaning in life than the rich.
Item 2: Connection – received. There are two flavors of social connection, namely folks being nice to you, and you being nice to folks. Item two is about people showing love toward you.
Item 3: Engagement. I look at this one as “do I get to do what comes naturally to me?” Do you use your interests and talents every day?
Item 4: Love toward other people, the other flavor of social connection.
Item 5: Another item on engagement.
Item 6: A nice self-esteem item
Item 7: Optimism, it keeps you going when you might have quit.
Item 8: Another self-esteem item.
Now here is a (somewhat long!!!) YouTube vid of me demonstrating the use of Flourishing. Please click on this link. Below is a link that is supposed to let you see the video right in my blog, but it isn’t working now. Maybe it will later. If not, click on the link, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyui0ZRUde8
Take a look at how I turn the scale into a good source for homework. Judy is a good client, a customer for change, and she wants to improve and change.
You may think she ranks herself higher than you would rate her. So what? No matter what the ratings are, we can drill down and use this info with great success.
Leave a comment below. More important, give the good old “thumbs up” and link it to your facebook, tweet about it, and share it. No one knows who I am and I need your help to share this.
2 Responses
nancy catalano
empowering
Ann Hoagland, LCSW
Thank you Lynn for your video. I loved your question about the opposite of worry…can’t wait to use it on some of my clients! At first I felt Judy seemed nervous, but later watched body language and she seemed to shut out a few things, i.e. crossing arms over her chest. Maybe that’s just my judgment because she seemed more depressed than she expressed. Anyway, thanks for sharing!
I have a question for you unrelated to this. I will be meeting with 25 widows and widowers on Valentine’s day (of all days!) and offerring extra help for their group. The woman who runs it told me that the most common problem they have is lonliness. I totally understand that as my husband of 46 years died in May 2012 and I am still adjusting. Thank God I have some good friend and family, AND can lose myself in my work. Do you know of any readings I may be able to refer them to that might help? Thanks, Ann