RESILIENCY An Overview

What is resilience?

Ability to “bounce back”

Adapting to hardships and setbacks in life

Understanding Resiliency

Not always present Resilient levels

change School’s influence

Other Resilience Skills

Be patient and slow down Know when to ask for help Stress can be normal Create a plan of action

Building Resiliency Skills

Areas to develop

capacity for resilience

1. Autonomy

2. Social Competence

3. Positive Attitude

Also to Improve Resiliency

Get connected Find meaning Laugh Learn from

experience Remain hopeful

Keep a journal Accept and

anticipate change

Work toward a goal

Maintain perspective

Resilience and Mental Health

Mental health and inequalities

“No one survives without community and no community thrives without the individual.”

Resilience as Protection

Depression/anxiety Social support/being

bullied Existing mental illness

“Although the risks and contradictions of life go on being as socially produced as ever, the duty and necessity of coping with them has been delegated to our individual selves.

RESILIENCY

TRAINING

Training Empowering Individuals

• Changes unconstructive behaviors• Actions and ways of thinking• Increases prefrontal cortex• Increases skills needed for resilience

– Cognitive: memory, judgment– Physical- regular exercise, diet and restful

sleep– Emotional- addressing problems not avoiding

them– Spiritual- practice forgiveness, acceptance

The Mayo Clinic Minnesota

Mayo Clinic Integrative MedicineOne or Two 90-120 minute sessionsFollowed by DVD based instructionPaced breathing meditation

Stress Management and Resilience TrainingSingle 90 minute sessionOne on OneLearn how brain & mind generate unwanted stressTaught 2 step program

○ Empowering to handle stress

Abbott Northwestern Hospital

Penny George Institute for Health and Healingoutpatient8 week programMeet Dr. Emmons for 90 minute assessmentMeet NutritionistMeet exercise physiologist8 weeks of group session

• Meditation• Manage negative emotions

Why do we need training

Embrace body as whole Reduce stress Renewed spirit Refine executive skills Clarity of thinking Have Balance & flexibility

BUILDING RESILIENCY

Children draw from three sources of resilience

I HAVE: (external supports) Role models, structure and rules, trusting relationships

Example – People who model behavior, love me and teach me

I AM: (personal strengths) Lovable, loving, proud

Example – Respectful of others and a person people can love

I CAN: (social and interpersonal skills) Communicate, problem solve, manage feelings

Example – Control myself and be an advocate for myself

To build resiliency in children they need:

love and trust food and shelter hope and autonomy safe haven safe relationships

Resiliency in children from Birth to age 3

Child learns trust and autonomy

Parents and care givers can promote resiliency by

Encouragement Modeling Behavior Enforcing rules Providing unconditional love Balancing freedom to explore Providing a stable environment

Examples of Resilience versus

Non-resilience promoting activities A baby is screaming/crying and kicking

You can promote resilience by picking up child, checking diaper, comforting

You don’t promote resiliency if you tell the baby it is find and walk away

A Resilient 3 year old

feels secure in parents love will explore new things Feels proud of accomplishments knows daily routines

Resiliency in children 4 to 7

Child learns about initiative and is busy

Child is involved in all kinds of play and pretend activities

Parents and caregivers can promote resiliency by

Providing unconditional love Express love verbally Model behaviors when facing adversity Calm and soothe Encourage Offer explanations Help child begin to accept responsibility

Examples of Resilience versus

Non-resilience promoting activities Children are pretending to run a

restaurant and take food from the fridge and cupboards.You can promote resiliency by explaining

that he food is needed for the family and by helping them “make” food from boxes/paper.

You do NOT promote resiliency by taking the food away without explaining why or yelling at the children and leaving them to cry it out.

A resilient 7 year old is:

Proud of accomplishments Solves problems independently Getting getter at accepting responsibility Can communicate with increasing

effectiveness Secure Feels loved

Resiliency in children 8 to 11

Child learns about industry

Engaged in mastering life skills (ex. Schoolwork)

Wants to be successful

Parents and caregivers can promote resiliency by

Providing unconditional love Use limits Model consistent behaviors Encourage communication Provide opportunities for children to

practice dealing with problems Modulate consequences

Example of Resilience versus Non-resilience activities:

A child sneaks out of the house after

you told them they couldn’t go.You promote resiliency by talking to the child

when they return, making clear behavior was unacceptable.

You do NOT promote resiliency by yelling or spanking when the child comes home or if you make the child feel guilty and label them as a “bad child.”

A resilient 11 year old

Knows appropriate dependence and autonomy

Is confident Can complete many tasks Demonstrates empathy Can recover from adversities

Signs of a resilient child

Ability to bounce back Knows how to ask for help Shows empathy Has love and compassion Knows themselves Has courage Ability to move forward

RESILIENCY FOR

TEACHERS

Burnout Burnout rate in teachers

“Nearly half of all teachers quit within their first five years.”

Reasons for burnoutNot enough moneyDifficult state/national standardsPoor working conditionsToo much preparation and paperworkDifficult students

Importance of being preparedResilience

Teachers Without Resilience

Less effective teachersLoss of organizationDecreased healthReduced self confidence/self esteemDecreased responsiveness to students

○ Academically○ Behaviorally○ Emotionally

Damaged personal relationships

Tips to Improve Resilience 1

Find meaning Get connected Start laughing Learn from experience Remain hopeful Take care of yourself

Tips to Improve Resilience 2

Keep a journal Accept and anticipate change Work toward a goal Take action Maintain perspective Practice stress management and

relaxation

Proven Resiliency Strategies

from Teachers 1 Depersonalize difficult events Assess what happened Be supportive of coworkers Acknowledge times when you could

have performed better

Proven Resiliency Strategies

from Teachers 2 Looking at events from student’s point of

view Caring leadership Continue learning behavior

management skills Whole school behavioral management

strategies

Why Do I Need to Have Resilience?

Prevent burnout Enables you to develop a reservoir of

internal resources Provides strategies for dealing with

difficult situations Improve self confidence/self esteem Increase effectiveness in teaching

HOW RESILIENT AM I

Everyone is born with the potential to develop these abilities:

The Five Levels of Resiliency

Level One: Maintaining your emotional stability, health and well-being.

Level Two: Focus Outward: Strong sense of self

Level Three: Concentrating on the inner world – strong sense of self

Level Four: Well-developed Resiliency Skills

Level Five: The talent of changing bad fortunes into good luck - serendipity

More on the levels First Level: Is essential to sustaining your

health and energy. Second Level: Concentration on the

elements in the outer world that must be handled. Must be based on research and identification of the problematic aspects of the given situations more that the emotional problems.

Third Level: Focus on the inner world for increasing self esteem for developing a positive conception on ourselves.

More on the levels continued

Fourth Level: Covers the characteristics and abilities that we find with people with his degrees of resiliency.

Fifth Level: Describes what is possible at the highest level of resiliency. It is talent for serendipity – the ability to convert misfortune into good fortune.

Building Resiliency Skills

Your mind and habits will create either barriers or bridges to a better future.

Resiliency can’t be taught, but it can be learned. It comes from working to develop your unique combinations of inborn abilities.

The struggle to bounce back and recover from setbacks lead to developing strengths and abilities that you didn’t know were possible.

RESILIENCY QUIZ HOW RESILIENT ARE

YOU? Developed by Al Siebert, Ph.D.

Rate yourself from 1 (very little) to 5 (very

strong) on the following: 1. In a crisis or chaotic situation, I calm

myself and focus on taking useful actions.

2. I’m usually optimistic. I see difficulties as temporary and expect to overcome them.

3. I can tolerate high levels of ambiguity and uncertainty about situations.

4. I adapt quickly to new developments. I’m good at bouncing back from difficulties.

5. I’m playful. I find the humor in rough situations and can laugh at myself.

6. I’m able to recover emotionally from losses and setbacks. I have friends I can talk with. I can express my feelings to others and ask for help. Feelings of anger, loss and discouragement don’t last long.

7. I feel self-confident, appreciate myself, and have a healthy concept of who I am.

8. I’m curious. I ask questions. I want to know how things work. I like to try new ways of doing things.

9. I learn valuable lessons from my experiences and from the experiences of others.

10. I’m good at solving problems. I can use analytical logic, be creative, or use practical common sense.

11. I’m good at making things work well. I’m often asked to lead groups and projects.

12. I’m very flexible. I feel comfortable with my paradoxical complexity. I’m optimistic and pessimistic,

13. trusting and cautious, unselfish and selfish, and so forth.

14. I’m always myself, but I’ve noticed that I’m different in different situations.

15. I prefer to work without a written job description. I’m more effective when I’m free to do what I think is best in each situation.

16. I “read” people well and trust my intuition.

17. I’m a good listener. I have good empathy skills.

18. I’m non-judgmental about others and adapt to people’s different personality styles.

19. I’m very durable. I hold up well during tough times. I have an independent spirit underneath my cooperative way of working with others.

20. I’ve been made stronger and better by difficult experiences.

21. I’ve converted misfortune into good luck and found benefits in bad experiences.

Total _________

Resiliency Quiz Scoring

Low scores: A self-rating under 50 indicates that life is probably a struggle for you and you know it. You may not handle pressure well. You don’t learn anything useful from bad experiences. You feel hurt when people criticize you. You may sometimes feel helpless and without hope.

If these statements fit you, ask yourself, “Would I like to learn how to handle my difficulties better?” If your answer is “yes.” Then a good way to start is to meet with others who are working to develop their resiliency skills. Let them coach, encourage, and guide you. Another way, if you work for a large employer, is to get resiliency coaching from a counselor with the Employee Assistance Program. The fact that you feel motivated to become more resilient is a positive sigh.

Scoring Continued

Lower middle scores: If you scored in the 50-69 range, you appear to be fairly adequate, but you may be underrating yourself. A much larger percentage of people underrate themselves than overrated themselves on the quiz. Some people have a habit of being modest and automatically give themselves a 3 on every item for a total score of 60. If your score is in the 50-69 range, you need to find out how valid your self-rating is. See the suggestion below.

Scoring Continued

High scores: If you rated yourself high on most of the statements, you have a score over 90. This means you know you’re already very good at bouncing back from life’s setbacks and hold up well under non-stop pressure. For you, the quiz validates many things you are doing right. And, because you like learning new ways to be even better, it will show you how to take your already good skills to a very high level – something like reaching an advanced degree black belt level in the martial arts.

Scoring Continued

Upper middle scores: If you agreed with many of the statements and scored in the 70-89 range, that is very good. It means you can gain a lot from reading and learning about resiliency and will become even more self-confident and resilient than before. You are a self-motivated learner and can become better and better at bouncing back from adversities.

A question for you to consider is how much you feel willing to tell your resiliency stories to others and make yourself available to people who are trying to learn how to cope better with their adversities. People gain inspiration from real-life role models. You could be one.

Note: A validity check for your scoring is to ask two people who know you well to rate you on the items and see what scores they come up with. Have a discussion with them about each of the items where there is a discrepancy and listen to what they say.