About the assessment
INTRODUCTION
Introduction
Congratulations on taking the right steps to unlock your life potential!
As you take this easy-to-use tool, formulated from neuroscience, performance research, clinical findings and many other sources, the TPRAT will help you determine your current proficiency level with the four “Life Capacities.” Life Capacities are abilities that make up your personal character. Character is defined as that set of capacities required to meet the demands of reality.
Life has a number of demands on us: how to conduct our relationships, marriage, dating, parenting, self-care, career and finances, for example. As we improve our character development via the four Life Capacities, we are more equipped for success in all aspects of our lives.
To further determine areas of self-improvement, we encourage you to engage in the targeted Growth Skills. With these tools, you will be able to generate a roadmap for reaching your next level.
The Life Capacities we measure are:
Attachment
The capacity to be open and vulnerable with others, and to elicit vulnerability and trust in others.
Separation
The capacity to be clear about what you are for and against, own your voice, say no when you need to, and confront effectively.
Integration
The capacity to deal well with the negative and difficult aspects of life, such as loss and failure. You are able to adapt to them, and grieve losses in healthy ways, without self-judgment or entitlement.
adulthood
The capacity to relate to others from a mutual adult stance, rather than a child, adolescent or parent stance, and also to find and follow your life purpose, developing your talents to accomplish this.
These Capacities are essential for emotional well-being, great relationships as well as family and vocational success.
Scores & levels
The TPRAT will give you a score for each Capacity that corresponds to a certain level of growth. In this way, you will have four scores, knowing where you stand in each Capacity, and where growth is needed. Here are the scores and levels:
Starting
A score of 0 – 24
Growing
A score of 25-54
Strengthening
A score of 55 – 84
Sustaining
A score of 85 – 100
Taking the Assessment
- There are 20 questions to answer with a range of 6 responses from “Strongly Disagree” to “Strongly Agree”
- Go with your first “blink” response; don’t overthink your answers.
- Be as honest with yourself as possible. Most of us tend to err on the positive side about ourselves, so try to stay with what is true and real about you. The TPRAT will be more helpful to you.
- Avoid extremely low answers or extremely high answers, unless this is absolutely true about you.
- It will also be helpful to have a few people who know you well take the TPRAT, keeping you in mind. People who understand us, and have experience with us, can help identify our blind spots.
Engaging in the Skills
In each level of each Life Capacity, you will see four Growth Skills, each of which are organized into specific categories, one skill per category, to help you improve and move to higher levels. Your brain grows and thrives on the right kinds of data, thoughts, conversations and experiences. Here are the categories that help it grow.
Key Information
A review of helpful facts and principles that we provide, which will inform you.
Personal Insight
A specific query to which you may respond by writing a paragraph or two, or a list of responses. Make sure you share these thoughts and experiences with a supportive person or group. This will make all the difference.
Growth Conversation
A specific talk with someone who is supportive of you, will be truthful with you, and is also interested in self-improvement. If the person is more skilled than you in this area, so much the better. Feel free to have the conversation with more than one person. We can’t overemphasize the benefits of asking a few friends and associates for their involvement and help in your self-improvement work in the TPRAT skills.
Stretching Experience
A new and better way to behave, talk, choose and relate.
So, for each score in each of the four “Life Capacities”, you will have four skills in which to develop. This gives you a total of 16 different targeted skills in your report.
This is not a comprehensive list of skills. There are any number of other possible exercises that a person can engage in to grow. However, these skills will accomplish a great deal to get you where you want to go. Ask a coach or mentor for additional skills to help you. Also, Hiding from Love by Dr. John Townsend (Zondervan Publishing, 1991) and Changes that Heal by Dr. Henry Cloud and Dr. John Townsend (Zondervan Publishing, 1990) contain some additional skills for the four Life Capacities.
Acknowledgments
Thanks to the following people for their passion, expertise and time in teaming up to help the TPRAT become a reality. Your work has been excellent and much appreciated:
Christine Ames, Dr. Karen Bergstrom, Dr. Margaret Christmas Thomas, Tim Clinton, the American Association of Christian Counselors, Dr. Keith Edwards, Scott Makin, Chris McFarland, Elaine Morris, Dr. Mark Newmeyer, Fauna Randolph, Patrick Sells and the Sells Group Web Development Team, Steve Shamblen, Dr Mike Shurance, the Townsend Institute faculty and students, the Townsend Leadership Group, William Wubbenhorst, and my wife, Barbi.
LEADERSHIP COACHING AND CONSULTING
Our team of hand picked and Townsend-vetted coaches use the Competence + Character Model to deliver results-driven individual coaching and organizational consultation services.