Life Skills
The Beacon House Board of Directors believes that formalizing and enhancing the life skills component within its current programs is needed. Board action on this issue will make it a top priority and the added emphasis will better prepare residents for their lives beyond Beacon House. Life skills are now incorporated throughout existing programs, but greater emphasis will offer residents more chances to apply life skills concepts in real situations at work and within the Beacon House family structure.
The World Health Organization defines life skills as “abilities for adaptive and positive behavior that enable individuals to deal effectively with the demands and challenges of everyday life.” Life skills are skill sets that accommodate specific methods and behaviors for coping in an industrial and technological world. Examples of these categories include:
- Money management options;
- Nutrition and food preparation;
- Hygiene;
- Basic literacy and numeracy, and,
- Organizational skills
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) divide life skills into subsets of categories:
Learning to know: Cognitive abilities
Critical thinking skills
- Analyzing peer and media influences
- Analyzing attitudes, values, social norms and beliefs and factors affecting these
- Identifying relevant information and information sources
Learning to be: Personal abilities
Skills for increasing internal locus of control
- Self-esteem and confidence-building skills
- Self-awareness skills including awareness of rights, influences, values, attitudes, strengths and weaknesses
- Goal-setting skills
- Self-evaluation, self-assessment, and self-monitoring skills
Skills for managing feelings
- Anger management
- Dealing with grief and anxiety
- Coping skills for dealing with loss, abuse, trauma
Skills for managing stress
Learning to live together: Interpersonal abilities
Interpersonal communication skills
- Verbal and nonverbal communication
- Active listening
- Expressing feelings; giving feedback (without blaming) and receiving feedback
Negotiation and refusal skills
- Negotiation and conflict management
- Assertiveness skills
- Refusal skills
Empathy
- Ability to listen to and understand another’s needs and circumstances and express that understanding
Cooperation and teamwork
- Expressing respect for others’ contributions and different styles
- Assessing one’s own abilities and contributing to the group
Advocacy skills
- Skills of influence and persuasion
- Networking and motivation skills
References
Please visit the Life Skills area of this website often for updates and commentary about this initiative’s progress.