Building ResilienceWhat is it and what builds it

Ed SiplerSouth 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?• 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.

Mental health is the 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…Road to resilience… Models of building resiliency

What we do does matter.

Resilience can be built

We just need to know how

The Road to Resilience

PositiveRelationships& Bonding

Set Clear,Consistent

Boundaries

OpportunitiesFor Meaningful

Participation

TeachLife-Skills

Set andCommunicateHighExpectations

ProvideCareAnd

Support

Factors that build resilienceAdopted 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 DoSomething 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

Core beliefs about ourselves and the world.(Rules, demands, assumptions)

Emotional and physical well being

Style of explaining things

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 Feelings • Feeling attacked, our rights violated… Anger• Loss or loss of self worth ……… Sadness• Future threat …………………… Fear.

Anxiety• Comparing yourself others neg

Embarrassment

• Hurting someone else…………… 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.

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

Have we learned to view life and every day situations with negative goggles on?

Ten Common Unhelpful Thinking Habits

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 Using positive emotions in the midst of stressthe midst of stress

1. Notice positive things2. Express these positive things3. Gratitude4. Mindfulness5. Positive rethinking6. Focus on your strengths7. Attainable goals8. 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

ed.sipler@setrust.hscni.net