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Values and meaningful action / VAL-A01-2

Values versus Goals — Practice worksheet

Sort chosen qualities, concrete goals, and external expectations into separate groups.

15 minutes · Worksheet · Adults; supported use as appropriate

Download printable PDFPreview / add to packet

Fictional example: Avery values learning and has a goal of finishing a course.

Use an ordinary or fictional example, with a clinician when appropriate. A value can guide ongoing action while a goal describes a possible milestone.

1. Choose a workable example

Use the fictional example below or an ordinary situation of your choosing. Keep identifying details out of shared copies.

2. Try the practice

Sort chosen qualities, concrete goals, and external expectations into separate groups.

3. Compare possibilities

Generate at least two interpretations or options. Mark what you know, what you are guessing, and what remains outside your control.

4. Decide together

Which quality can be expressed even if the milestone is delayed? Choose one small action, a support request, or no action. Review the fit with your clinician when relevant.

Prompts for this resource

  1. My chosen or fictional situation, and what I know about it:
  2. My response to the practice task above:
  3. Which quality can be expressed even if the milestone is delayed?
  4. An optional next step, support, adaptation, or reason to stop:

Conceptual background

Valuing as a Choice — Association for Contextual Behavioral Science

Background on the approach only. Original exercises and wording are by More Than Therapy with AI assistance; the source does not validate or endorse these materials.

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