RESILIENCE

What is resilience?

Resilience means being able to cope with difficult life events and bounce back
afterwards. Resiliency is the process of adapting when you are faced with trauma,
stress or any kind of adversity or emotional suffering.

Being resilient does not mean that person don’t experience pain and hurt. Someone
who is resilient faces tough life situations head-on, experiencing the difficult times
and emotions. They process these challenging times by working through difficult
emotions, building trust in themselves and their ability to cope through hard times.
Different kinds of challenging life experiences can test our
resilience, such as: illness, abuse, loss of a loved one, a
traumatic event, losing a job, a natural disaster, a terrorist
attack, family and relationship problems, a major accident or
bullying.

When a crisis like this occurs in our life, it is normal to

struggle with painful emotions. Allowing ourself to feel
however we feel, and knowing that eventually these feelings
will pass and happier times will arrive is key to coping
through a tragic life event and developing resilience.
Resiliency is a skill which we can always develop further.
Why is resilience important?

Resilience is important because we cannot escape difficult situations in life. There

will always be a challenge to overcome and if we are resilient we will be able to
face these challenges effectively. Resiliency helps us to cope with difficulties and
know we can make it through to the other side.

Resilience is such a valuable life skill because it's key to learn how to get back up
and carry on after we face a difficult challenge, whatever this might be. When
we're resilient, we're more confident in ourselves and our capabilities. These are
great qualities for our general life, as we'll believe in ourselves more and be more
motivated to succeed.
A resilient attitude is important for all areas of life, including work, relationships, home
and personal. Different areas may present challenges at different times, so building our
overall resilience will help us cope with whatever challenges come your way.

People who have not developed their resilience will often feel helpless and hopeless
when difficult events happen in their lives. It can be overwhelming to face adversity
without knowing how we can help yourself to cope with these situations. Some people
can turn to unhealthy coping strategies to deal with the difficult events in their lives, like
abusing substances or isolating themselves from others around them.
How one can develop resilience?

Anyone can develop their resilience by working on their emotional toolkit. Being resilient means being
flexible by adapting to new and challenging situations in life, as well as persevering when things get tough.

There isn’t one simple formula to follow to develop resilience. Developing resilience is a very individual
process. It is helpful to work out how one can become more resilient using a unique combination of their
own inner strength and external resources. By working on their own internal strength and asking for support
from others when they need it, they can work on building their resilience over time.

It is important to recognise what we need in order to cope in this difficult situation in our life. This might be
support from a loved one to talk through what has happened, some time to rest, a distraction from the
situation such as a coffee with a friend or doing a creative activity, or therapy to process our emotions. One
will most likely need a combination of these things, with different things at different times depending on
how one feel.
Some things to try to develop resilience:
Join a group - A group with a shared interest can help feel a sense of belonging to a community as one will have a
supportive group of people around them. One can make friends in a group, which will help to have people to talk to, as
well as being a nice activity to bring some joy to their life. Also one can join a group related to your interests, such as
gardening, art or reading.

Prioritise healthy relationships - Connecting with reliable friends who are always there for you can help you feel less
alone and more able to cope with difficult situations in your life. Look for friends who are compassionate, trustworthy,
empathetic and validate your feelings by listening patiently to you. This will help you to develop resiliency.

Self-care - Taking care of your mind and body is essential to creating a positive outlook on life and giving yourself the
best chance to cope in hard times. Imagine you wake up every day with a certain number of poker chips corresponding
to how good you feel in yourself and how able you are to cope with adverse situations in your life. You will have more
poker chips if you have had enough sleep, enough nutritious food to eat, enough positive social interactions, fulfilling
work and generally taken care of yourself. Tune into what you need and do that.
Positive self-talk - Positive self-talk is key to creating a happier life in general, but it can also massively help
with developing resilience. Have you ever noticed how you talk to yourself? Many people tend to be their
own harshest critics, but this just wears you down, drains your energy and decreases your self-confidence.
Just wait until you notice the difference when you start talking to yourself like you would talk to your best
friend instead! Being supportive and kind to yourself will help you feel so much better overall and develop
trust that you can cope with any difficult situation.

Pursue your dreams and work towards your goals - Do one small thing every day that will help you work
towards your goals. Even small accomplishments will all add up and help in the long run to get where you
want to go. Make sure your goals are realistic so you have a better chance of meeting them. Keeping
yourself accountable will make you more likely to succeed in meeting your goals by giving you motivation
to keep going throughout each small step along the way.

Push yourself out of your comfort zone - One of the best ways to develop confidence, which will in turn
help you with resilience, is to do things that scare you. When you face your fears by pushing yourself out of
your comfort zone, you show yourself that you can cope and even thrive in scary situations. This makes you
feel so good in yourself! It doesn’t have to be a big thing because even small things can help, like making a
phone call if you normally don’t like using the phone, or saying hello to someone new at work or school.
American Psychological Association suggests 10 Ways to Build Resilience
1. maintaining good relationships with close family members, friends and others;

2. to avoid seeing crises or stressful events as unbearable problems;

3. to accept circumstances that cannot be changed;

4. to develop realistic goals and move towards them;

5. to take decisive actions in adverse situations;

6. to look for opportunities of self-discovery after a struggle with loss;

7. Developing self-confidence;

8. to keep a long-term perspective and consider the stressful event in a broader context;

9. to maintain a hopeful outlook, expecting good things and visualizing what is wished;

10. to take care of one's mind and body, exercising regularly, paying attention to one's own needs and feelings.
Factors that makes someone resilient • Positive attitude • Optimism • Ability to regulate
emotions • Ability to see failure as a form of helpful feedback.

Factors related to resilience • Primary factor is to have relationships that provide care and
support, create love and trust, and offer encouragement, both within and outside the family.

• Additional factors like - the capacity to make realistic plans, having self-confidence and a
positive self image, developing communications skills, and the capacity to manage strong
feelings and impulses.

A number of other factors that promote resilience :

• The ability to cope with stress effectively and in a healthy manner • Having good problem-
solving skills • Seeking help • Holding the belief that there is something one can do to
manage your feelings and cope • Having social support • Being connected with others, such
as family or friends • Self-disclosure of the trauma to loved ones • Spirituality • Having an
identity as a survivor as opposed to a victim • Helping others
Individual or Personal Resilience

Individual resilience is a person's ability to positively cope after failures, setbacks, and
losses.

• Developing resilience is a personal journey. Individuals do not react the same way to
traumatic or stressful life events. An approach to building resilience that works for one
person might not work for another.

• People use varying strategies to build their resilience. Because resilience can be
learned, it can be strengthened.

• Personal resilience is related to many factors including individual health and

wellbeing, individual aspects, life history and experience, and social support.
 Family Resilience
• Family resilience is the coping process in the family as a functional unit.

• Crisis events and persistent stressors affect the whole family, posing risks not only for individual
dysfunction, but also for relational conflict and family breakdown.

Following are the three key factors in family resilience (Wilson & Ferch, 2005)

1. By making meaning in adversity, creating a sense of coherence, and providing a positive outlook.

2. By facilitating flexibility, capacity to adapt, connectedness and cohesion, emotional and

structural bonding, and accessibility to resources.

3. Family communication enhances resilience by engaging clear communication, open and

emotional expressions, trust and collaborative problem solving, and conflict management.
Organizational Resilience
Organizational resilience is the ability and capacity of a workplace to withstand potential significant
economic times, systemic risk, or systemic disruptions by adapting, recovering, or resisting being affected
and resuming core operations or continuing to provide an acceptable level of functioning and structure.

• The challenge for the incorporation of resilience into a workplace is to identify what enhances the ability
of an organization to rebound effectively.

Measuring workplace resilience involves identifying and evaluating the following:

• Past and present mechanisms and practices that increase safety.

• Past and present mechanisms and practices that decrease error.

• Necessary redundancy in systems .

• Planning and programming that demonstrate collective mindfulness.

• Anticipation of potential trouble and solutions to potential problems.

Community Resilience
• It is a community that takes intentional action to enhance the personal and collective capacity of its citizens
and institutions to respond to and influence the course of social and economic change.

• For a community to be resilient, its members must put into practice early and effective actions so that they
can respond to change.

• When responding to stressful events, a resilient community will be able to strengthen community bonds,
resources, and the capacity to cope.

Fostering community resilience:-

• Fostering community resilience will greatly depend on the community itself and involves the community
working as a whole. Community resilience involves the following factors:

1. Connection and caring

2. Collective resources

3. Critical analysis of the community

4. Skill building for community members, Prevention, preparedness, and response to stressful events
Culture Influence On Resilience
Refers to a culture’s capacity to maintain and develop cultural identity and critical cultural knowledge
and practices.

• An individual’s culture will have an impact on how the person communicates feelings and copes with
adversity.

• Cultural parameters are often embedded deep in an individual.

• A person’s cultural background may influence one deeply in how one responds to different stressors.

• Assimilation could be a factor in cultural resilience, as it could be a positive way for a person to
manage his/her environment. However, assimilation could create conflict between generations, so it
could be seen as positive or negative depending on the individual and culture. Because of this, coping
strategies are going to be different.
Factors Promote Resilience

• People who are resilient are able to maintain high self-esteem and self-efficacy in
spite of the challenges they face.

• By fostering resilience, people are building psychological defenses against stress.

• The more resources and defenses available during a time of struggle, the better
able to cope and bounce back from adverse circumstances people will be.

• A person’s ability to regain a sense of normalcy or define a new normalcy after

adverse circumstances will be partially based on the resources available to him/her.

• Resilience building can begin at any time.

The 7 Cs of Resilience
Competence - Believing you are competent and capable to handle any situation that life may
throw at you gives you the inner strength to face hardships.

Confidence - You can develop confidence by demonstrating competence, which means facing
real-life situations and building confidence over time that you are capable to handle them.

Connection - Having a reliable support system around you is really important to help you
develop resilience. Close connections with family and friends can help you to cope with difficult
events in your life. You can lean on them when you need support.

Character - Individuals can develop self-esteem and confidence in themselves by developing

their character. Morals (knowing what is right and wrong) help you to make responsible
decisions and also develop confidence and contribute to society.
Contribution - Having a sense of purpose is really powerful to motivate you in life.
Contributing to your community can be really rewarding and helps you develop
connections with people around you.

Coping - Resiliency is all about how you cope with stress. Developing healthy
coping strategies will help you to handle stress and adversity better.

Control - Knowing that you have control over the decisions you make in your life
can help you to feel more empowered in your life. Approaching issues from a
problem-solving perspective will allow you to take charge of the things you can
control in life, demonstrating your competency.
Thank You