Building Resilience What is it and what builds it
Ed Sipler South Eastern Trust February, 2104
A way of working together… What ground rules can we agree on?
What ground rules can we agree on?
Why is resilience and mental health important? Mental health is the • There is no health without mental health
• By 2020 mental disorders are expected to be second only to heart disease as a leading source of disease.
emotional and spiritual resilience which enables us to enjoy life and to survive pain, disappointments and sadness. It is a positive sense of well being and an underlying belief in our own and others dignity and worth. NI Promoting Mental Health Strategy
What do you think resilience means? • The word “resilience” is derived from the Latin verb “salire,” which means to jump. The prefix “re-“ means “back” or “again.” Thus, “resilience” is literally about jumping back.
RESILIENCE is… The capacity for healthy development and successful learning in spite of challenges.” ( B Benard ) Resilience is the capacity to spring back, rebound, successfully adapt in the face of adversity and develop social, academic, and vocational competence despite being exposed to extreme stress or simply to the stress that is inherent in today’s world. (Henderson and
Milstein, 1996)
The challenge of promoting resilience While our understanding of processes that promote resilience is extensive, we need a better range of practical applications.
A ray of hope One of the most important thing things that came out of the years of research is that “there is no age that has a monopoly on risks and no age beyond which it is too late to intervene”. (Rutter 2000)
Are we born with resilience or is it shaped? • • • •
Risk factors are cumulative Transition points are both threats and opportunities Acute stresses are usually less harmful than chronic ones Building our strengths or assets
How resilient are you?
Road to resilience…
Models of building resiliency What we do does matter. Resilience can be built
The Road to Resilience
We just need to know how
Opportunities Positive For Meaningful Relationships Participation & Bonding Set and Communicate High Expectations Provide Care And Support
Set Clear, Consistent Boundaries
Teach Life-Skills
Factors that build resilience Adopted from Resiliency in Schools Making it happen for Students and Educators, Henderson and Milstein 1996
The 7 C’S Kenneth Ginsburg
• • • • • • •
Competence Confidence Connection Character Contribution Coping Control
Building blocks of resilience I have, I am , I can • I HAVE • I AM: • I CAN
• Supports and supportive people around each individual to promote resilience • Inner strengths of confidence, self-esteem, and responsibility • Use and develop skills/make use of support Grotberg, E. (1997) ‘The international resilience project’.
Strengths related to resilience Being in charge of our emotions Create thinking time Analyzing the cause of problems Maintaining realistic optimism Having empathy for others Believing in our own competence Reaching out Karen Reivich and Andrew Shatte (2003)The Resilience Factor
Which do you like best?
Building skills that build resilience- Low Intensity CBT Tools: Build on skills found in INSYNC • Building resilience thinking • Self Calming • Deep core beliefs • Self care- Feeling positive in the midst of stress • Using support • Principles of coping • Action plan
What do you think of this statement? We can’t control everything that happens to us.
What we can control is how we how we react.
How our thinking manages our emotions Feelings
Thinking
Calm times
Strong emotions
Our Thinking Affects What We Feel and Do Something happens. We think about it. We respond.
Events
Thoughts
Response
To help us, let’s think of it as learning our ABC’S: • (A) Something bad happens (Adversity) • (B) We have certain thoughts (Beliefs) • (C) Feelings/behaviour follow (Consequences )
What influences our thinking?
Unhelpful thinking habits that are automatic Style of explaining things
Emotional and physical well being
Core beliefs about ourselves and the world. (Rules, demands, assumptions)
How can we deal with stress? It is more than just “think positive”. It is about recognizing our feelings and developing “good thinking skills”
Why the ABC’s are so important: The B/C connections Thoughts • • • •
Feeling attacked, our rights violated… Loss or loss of self worth ……… Future threat …………………… Comparing yourself others neg
• Hurting someone else……………
Feelings Anger Sadness Fear. Anxiety Embarrassment Guilt
The beliefs (our thinking) matter because they will shape the intensity of our feelings and what we do. When we are more resilient we are not saying we don’t have strong feelings… We are able to regulate and control them to respond to situations in ways that work better for us.
Ten Common Unhelpful Thinking Habits Have we learned to view life and every day situations with negative goggles on?
All or nothing thinking Jumping to conclusions Overgeneralising Making a mountain out of a mole hill Emotional reasoning Should Statements Taking things personally Wishful thinking Mental filter Discounting the positive
The change skills • Catching that unhelpful, initial reaction • Putting on the brakes. Stopping that chain of unhelpful self talk • Create thinking time. Examine what is really going on • Being flexible and creative in your thinking. Challenging negative thinking Substitute more reasonable thinking
Looking After Yourself So what is stress? Stress is the perception that something is more of a problem than the resources you have for coping with it. Stress puts your well being at risk.
Using positive emotions in the midst of stress 1. Notice
positive things 2. Express these positive things 3. Gratitude 4. Mindfulness 5. Positive rethinking 6. Focus on your strengths 7. Attainable goals 8. Acts of kindness
I would like to share a poem to finish today with: Attitude Found in the Bouncing Back workbook on page 14
Our other work • Self help materials for adults and young people affected by substance misuse in the family • Self help material to help people look at their drinking or drug use • Self help material to help people change behaviour All these resources can be found on the South Eastern Trust web site the under healthy living tab
www.alcoholandyouni.com
Thanks for having me here today “Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not be bent out of shape.” Dr. Michael McGriffy
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