Academic – Professor of Child, Family and Community Health

-Child and Family Psychotherapist (National Health Service, working

with schools and families)-Adoptive parent of three children

with complex needs

CAPABILITY AND RESILIENCE: BEATING THE ODDS

FIGURE 1: IDENTIFICATION OF RESILIENCE

Outcome Adversity

Low High

Positive

Negative

A. Favourable experience of life

B. Resilience: Unexpected positive outcome

C. Unexpected negative outcome

D. Risk and vulnerability

(reference and downloadable copy: www.ucl.ac.uk/capabilityandresilience. Capability and Resilience: Beating the Odds Edited by Professor Mel Bartley, published by UCL Dept Epidemiology and Public Health on behalf of the ESRC Priority Network on Capability and Resilience (2003-2007).

Resilience: Lets Get Real! Professor Angie Hart

Resilient approaches:

• The kinds of things we need to make happen (e.g. events, parenting strategies, relationships, resources) to help children manage life when it’s tough. Plus ways of thinking and acting that we need ourselves if we want to make things better for children.’

(Aumann and Hart)

Resilience: Lets Get Real! Professor Angie Hart

‘Adequate provision of health resourcesnecessary to achieve good outcomes in spite of serious threats to adaptation

or development.’Source: Ungar 2005b: 429

• ‘Resilience is an emergent property of a hierarchically organized set of protective systems that cumulatively buffer the effects of adversity and can therefore rarely, if ever, be regarded as an intrinsic property of individuals.’Source: Roisman, Padrón et al. 2002: 1216

• 'Resilience does not constitute an individual trait or characteristic…Resilience involves a range of processes that bring together quite diverse mechanisms…' Source: Rutter 1999: 135

‘Parents, carers and everyone in day-to-day contact with children and young people need a better understanding of child development, the causes of mental health problems and things they can do themselves to build resilience and deal with issues as they emerge, whatever age their child.’

Source: CAMHS Review 2008

Resilience: Lets Get Real! Professor Angie Hart

Strands of Resilience Research

• Individual attributes• Social factors• Processes and

mechanisms• Cultural context

• Children & young people

• Adults (Reich et al 2010)

• Communities• Resilient practices

(Aumann & Hart 2009)

• Daud, Refugee children from Iraq. Some children who had a traumatised parent did as well as some of those who didn’t.

• WHY?

Resilient Therapy (RT)(Hart & Blincow 2007)

• RT strategically harnesses selected therapeutic principles and techniques

• Originally developed in relation to children, families and young people

• Now exploring relevance beyond that (adults – communities)• Developed for use across contexts and by different

practitioners, including parents and young people themselves• Designed to work in people) as co-collaborators in the

development of the methodology rather than as recipients• Is user-friendly and readily accessible – you don’t need a

lengthy specialised training• Non-pathologising – ‘upbuilding’

Resilience: Lets Get Real! Professor Angie Hart

• Two positive adult roles model • Three worthy hobbies • Doing good for two people, at least once a week • Steer towards positive kids• ‘Autobiographical narrative’ – find two positives• Point out meaning and joy in three small things• Keep their future in mind and help them to, too• Tackle inequalities in their life• Benevolent boot camp• Attend to your own resilience • If at first you don’t succeed, try again later

www.cupp.org.uk

Further reading

• Hart, A. and Blincow, D. with Thomas, H. (2007) Resilient Therapy: Working with children and families. London: Routledge

• Aumann, K. and Hart, A. (2009) Helping children with complex needs bounce back: Resilient Therapy for parents and professionals. London: Jessica Kingsley

• Tedex talk: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPUzjyAoOK4• Email: a.hart@brighton.ac.uk / • Website: www.boingboing.org.uk

Resilience: Lets Get Real !Professor Angie Hart