Evidence base

The thinking behind the cards

Power Phrase System doesn't introduce a new theory. It operationalises several well-established frameworks into one repeatable resource a clinician integrates into their own evidence-based practice with children aged 6–12.

The core idea

Narrative identity, made workable

People make sense of who they are by turning their experience into a story. PPU's “I'm someone who…” move sits in this tradition — and in narrative therapy's work of helping a person re-author their story toward a preferred identity.

One point of scope, held deliberately: a fully integrated life story consolidates in adolescence and adulthood. For ages 6–12, PPU works with the developmental precursors of narrative identity — not the finished construct.

A different layer

What PPU maps onto

Affect labelling
Putting a feeling into words is well documented as a way to reduce its intensity (Lieberman et al., 2007). This is the closest mechanistic anchor for what the cards do — they support naming, nothing beyond it.
Scaffolding
An adult supplies the support a learner cannot yet generate, then withdraws it (Vygotsky, 1978; Wood, Bruner & Ross, 1976). The single best description of the cards' function — supply the language, then fade.
Character strengths & SEL
The identity words draw on the VIA classification of character strengths (Peterson & Seligman, 2004), and the decks are designed to map onto all five CASEL SEL competency domains (CASEL, 2020).
The distinctive element
The least-precedented part is the modal-verb dial — “will / might / can't yet.” Most tools name feelings or strengths; far fewer give a child a clean way to express how ready or able they are.
Scope of claims

Honest about its limits

PPU is a practitioner-led resource integrated into evidence-based practice — not a stand-alone intervention, and not self-acting. It is grounded in the frameworks cited here; it is not yet independently validated. Structured pilot pre/post data is being gathered.

It is an educational SEL tool, not a diagnostic or treatment instrument, and it does not replace clinical assessment. We describe it as evidence-informed rather than clinically proven, and hold to that distinction deliberately.

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Read the full documentation

Clinical Brief

A practitioner-facing overview of the approach, the three-stage arc, and how PPU sits inside your model.

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Theoretical Foundations

The frameworks and the literature behind them, with full APA references. Establishes the theory PPU draws on — not outcome evidence for PPU itself.

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Selected references

The research foundation

Full annotated references appear in the Theoretical Foundations PDF.

Important: Power Phrase System cards are educational SEL tools. Not a substitute for professional psychological assessment, diagnosis, or treatment. ABN 55 260 040 085 · Warabrook NSW 2304, Australia