Values and meaningful action / VAL-A12-3
Community and Ubuntu Values — Clinician dialogue
Guide a collaborative conversation about community and ubuntu values while checking fit and participant choice.
15 minutes · Clinician script · Mental health professionals
Fictional example: Avery's group shares practical support rather than expecting everyone to cope alone.
Use within your training and assessment of readiness. Values can include interdependence, mutual care, and receiving support.
Invite and obtain permission
Offer: "Would it be useful to explore community and ubuntu values using an ordinary or fictional example? We can adapt it, observe, or stop." Ask what the person wants from the conversation.
Elicit before teaching
Ask: "How does this show up, if at all, in your own words?" Offer this idea tentatively: Values can include interdependence, mutual care, and receiving support. Ask what fits and what does not.
Guide the task
Map one way you contribute, one way others support you, and one consent-based community action. Ask for permission before giving an example. Use this fictional illustration if useful: Avery's group shares practical support rather than expecting everyone to cope alone.
Reflect and check accuracy
Reflect only what was offered: "I heard you describe ___. What did I miss?" Ask: How does your valued direction make room for receiving? Avoid assigning motives or interpreting silence as agreement.
Respond to a mismatch
If the person rejects the frame, say: "Thank you for correcting it. What would be more useful?" Return to their language or choose a different approach.
Close with agency
Ask which observation, question, or support request the person wants to keep. Confirm a manageable ending and appropriate follow-up; do not turn a tentative possibility into a homework obligation.
Prompts for this resource
- Readiness, permission, cultural context, and access needs to check:
- How does your valued direction make room for receiving?
- What would tell me to adapt, stop, or seek supervision?
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.