The Road To Resilence
American Pychological Association, http://www.helping.apa.org
What is Resilence?
Resilience is the process of adapting well in the face of adversity, trauma, tradegy and even significant sources of stress, such as family or relationship problems, serious health problems, workplace or financial stress. It means bouncing back from difficult experience.
Research has shown that resilience is ordinary, not extraordinary. People ordinarily demonstrate resilience. Resilience is not a trait that people either have or do not have. It involves thoughts, actions, behaviors and habits that can be learnt and developed in anyone.
Being resilient does not mean that a person doesn't experience difficulty or distress. Emotional pain and sadness is common in people who have suffered major adversity or trauma in their lives. In fact the road to resilience is likely to involve considerable emotional distress.
Some Factors In Resilence
Several factors associated with resilience include:
The capacity to make realistic plans and take steps to carry them out
A positive view of yourself and confidence in your strengths and abilities
Skills in communication and problem-solving
The capacity to manage strong feelings
All these are factors that people can develop in themselves (if you know how to).
Ten (10) Ways To Build Resilence
1) Make Connections: Good relationship with close family members, friends or others are important. Accepting help and support from those who care about you and will listen to you strengths your resilience.
2) Avoid Seeing Crises As Insurmountable Problems: You can't change the fact that highly stressful events happen, but you can change how you interpret and respond to these events.
3) Accept that Change is Part of Living: Certain goals may no longer be attainable as a result of adverse situations. Learning to adapt our goals to changing situations help us focus on circumstances that we can alter.
4) Move Towards Your Goals: Develop realistic goals. Do something regularly. Start with some small actions that enables you to move towards your goals. Ask yourself "What is one thing I can do today to help me move in the direction I want to?". If you feel that you have reached a dead-end, be ready to move a few steps backward and then move forward again as there are many paths that leads to the destination you want to go.
5) Take Decisive Action(s): Act on adverse situations as much as you can. Take decisive actions, rather than detaching completely from problems and stresses and wishing that they would go away.
6) Look For Opportunties For Self-Discovery: People often learn something about themselves that may find that they have grown in some respect as a result of struggling with loss. Many people who have experienced tradegies and hardship have reported better relationship, greater sense of personal strength even while feeling vulnerable, increased sense of self-worth, a more developed spirituality and heightened appreciation for life.
7) Nurture a Positive View of Self: Develop confidence in your ability to solve problems by first taking small steps to help you move in the direction you want.
8) Keep Things in Perspective: Even when facing very painful events, try to consider the stressful evens in a broader perspective. If you need to compare your situation with others, always compare with someone who is in a worst-off situation.
9) Maintain a Hopeful Outlook: An optimistic outlook enables you to expect that good things will happen in your life. Try visualizing what you want, rather than worry about what you fear.
10) Take Care of Yourself: Pay attention to your own needs and feelings. Engage in at least some activities that you enjoy and find relaxing. Exercise regularly. Taking care of your mind and body will help you better deal with situations that require resilience.
There are additional ways to strengthen your resilience. For example some people write about their deepest thoughts and feelings related to the trauma or other stressful events in their life. Meditation and spiritual practices help some people build connections and restore hope. The key is to identify ways that are likely to work well for you.
Staying Flexbile
Resilience involves maintaining flexibility and balance in your life as you deal with stressful circumstances and traumatic events. This happens in several ways, including:
Letting yourself experience strong emotions and also realising that you may need to avoid experiencing them at times in order to continue functioning. The key is in the balance (sometimes the term "middle way" is used)
Stepping forward and taking actions to deal with your problems and meet the demands of daily living, and also stepping back to rest and re-energize yourself
Spending time with loved ones to gain support and encouragement and also nurturing yourself
Relying on others and also relying on yourself.
Places to Look For Help
Getting help when you need it is crucial in building your resilience. Beyond caring family members and friends, people often found it useful to turn to:
Self-Help and Support Groups
Books & Other Purblications
Online Resources (e.g. www.helping.apa.org)
Licensed mental health professional
What is Resilence?
Resilience is the process of adapting well in the face of adversity, trauma, tradegy and even significant sources of stress, such as family or relationship problems, serious health problems, workplace or financial stress. It means bouncing back from difficult experience.
Research has shown that resilience is ordinary, not extraordinary. People ordinarily demonstrate resilience. Resilience is not a trait that people either have or do not have. It involves thoughts, actions, behaviors and habits that can be learnt and developed in anyone.
Being resilient does not mean that a person doesn't experience difficulty or distress. Emotional pain and sadness is common in people who have suffered major adversity or trauma in their lives. In fact the road to resilience is likely to involve considerable emotional distress.
Some Factors In Resilence
Several factors associated with resilience include:
The capacity to make realistic plans and take steps to carry them out
A positive view of yourself and confidence in your strengths and abilities
Skills in communication and problem-solving
The capacity to manage strong feelings
All these are factors that people can develop in themselves (if you know how to).
Ten (10) Ways To Build Resilence
1) Make Connections: Good relationship with close family members, friends or others are important. Accepting help and support from those who care about you and will listen to you strengths your resilience.
2) Avoid Seeing Crises As Insurmountable Problems: You can't change the fact that highly stressful events happen, but you can change how you interpret and respond to these events.
3) Accept that Change is Part of Living: Certain goals may no longer be attainable as a result of adverse situations. Learning to adapt our goals to changing situations help us focus on circumstances that we can alter.
4) Move Towards Your Goals: Develop realistic goals. Do something regularly. Start with some small actions that enables you to move towards your goals. Ask yourself "What is one thing I can do today to help me move in the direction I want to?". If you feel that you have reached a dead-end, be ready to move a few steps backward and then move forward again as there are many paths that leads to the destination you want to go.
5) Take Decisive Action(s): Act on adverse situations as much as you can. Take decisive actions, rather than detaching completely from problems and stresses and wishing that they would go away.
6) Look For Opportunties For Self-Discovery: People often learn something about themselves that may find that they have grown in some respect as a result of struggling with loss. Many people who have experienced tradegies and hardship have reported better relationship, greater sense of personal strength even while feeling vulnerable, increased sense of self-worth, a more developed spirituality and heightened appreciation for life.
7) Nurture a Positive View of Self: Develop confidence in your ability to solve problems by first taking small steps to help you move in the direction you want.
8) Keep Things in Perspective: Even when facing very painful events, try to consider the stressful evens in a broader perspective. If you need to compare your situation with others, always compare with someone who is in a worst-off situation.
9) Maintain a Hopeful Outlook: An optimistic outlook enables you to expect that good things will happen in your life. Try visualizing what you want, rather than worry about what you fear.
10) Take Care of Yourself: Pay attention to your own needs and feelings. Engage in at least some activities that you enjoy and find relaxing. Exercise regularly. Taking care of your mind and body will help you better deal with situations that require resilience.
There are additional ways to strengthen your resilience. For example some people write about their deepest thoughts and feelings related to the trauma or other stressful events in their life. Meditation and spiritual practices help some people build connections and restore hope. The key is to identify ways that are likely to work well for you.
Staying Flexbile
Resilience involves maintaining flexibility and balance in your life as you deal with stressful circumstances and traumatic events. This happens in several ways, including:
Letting yourself experience strong emotions and also realising that you may need to avoid experiencing them at times in order to continue functioning. The key is in the balance (sometimes the term "middle way" is used)
Stepping forward and taking actions to deal with your problems and meet the demands of daily living, and also stepping back to rest and re-energize yourself
Spending time with loved ones to gain support and encouragement and also nurturing yourself
Relying on others and also relying on yourself.
Places to Look For Help
Getting help when you need it is crucial in building your resilience. Beyond caring family members and friends, people often found it useful to turn to:
Self-Help and Support Groups
Books & Other Purblications
Online Resources (e.g. www.helping.apa.org)
Licensed mental health professional
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