Inspiring confidence with responsibility

Resilience: Everyday Courage

Morag Kerr

Resilience – Everyday Courage

‘Courage is resilience to fear – mastery of fear, not absence of fear’ Mark Twain

Resilience

Why is it that some people can bounce back after experiencing difficult times and others are floored by the same experience

How would you define resilience?

‘Resilience is normal development under difficult circumstances’ (Fonaghy, 1994)

‘A set of qualities that help a person withstand many of the negative effects of adversity’

(Gilligan 2000)

Resilience: Why is it important?We all have things to

overcome

• Failure in exams• Illness• Accidents • Relationship problems• Financial problems • Disappointments• Unfairness• Bereavement • Challenges - rejection• Not getting that

interview, that job, that promotion

Life throws things at us

Resilience: Everyday Courage

Resilient young people are better equipped to resist stress and adversity, cope with change and uncertainty, and to recover faster and more completely from traumatic events or episodes.

(Newman and Blackburn, 2002)

Research shows it looks as if it is becoming harder for

young people to bounce back after setbacks.

What might be causing this?

What undermines resilience

• Sense of entitlement• Risk averse culture• Need to be ‘perfect’• Too much choice • Psychological cleanliness

Spotlight on the individual

1 in 10 children between aged 1 – 10 has a mental health problem.

Disorders affect 10.4% of boys aged 5 -11 and 5.9% of girls aged 5 -10.

This rises to 12% for boys aged 11- 15 and to 9.65% of girls aged 11 -15Mental Health Foundation stats

Depression linked to:

● poor academic achievement ● conduct problems ● substance abuse – drugs and

alcohol● teenage pregnancy self harm ● suicide

Cheer up.........

Tell your partner what you do to perk yourself up if you’ve had a bad day? What works best?

Tell your partner a couple of things you’re grateful for in life.

Resilience: can it be taught?

7 Learnable skills of Resilience

Emotional awareness Impulse control Optimism Causal Analysis Empathy Self-efficacy Reaching out

Dr Karen Reivich Ph.D.Pennsylvania UniversityDirector of the Penn Resiliency Programme

http://www.ppc.sas.upen.edu/prpsum.htm

Teaching Resilience: Bounce Back

Toni Noble Helen McGrath Professor at Australian Professor at RMIT University  Catholic University (ACU)

Authors of Bounce Back A Well Being and Resilience Programme ABC thinking

Optimist or Pessimist?

The optimist would say The pessimist would say

Your partner/son/daughter phones to say they’ve had an accident with your car.

Mindsets

Carol Dweck Professor of Psychology, Stanford

UniversityAuthor - Mindset

‘ fixed mindset is based on the belief your qualities are carved in stone.........growth mindset is based on the belief that your basic qualities are things you can cultivate through your efforts’.

Growth and Fixed Mindsets

Growth FixedDoes not believe

potential is fixedSeeks out new

challengesPuts success down

to factors within control

Sets positive goals and copes with setbacks/failure

Ability is fixed from birth

Avoids challenges where there might be a possibility of failure

Puts success down to luck or other external factors

Does not believe effort makes any difference

Process Praise How you praise really makes a

difference...Focus praise on effort not ‘brains’ and ‘talent’

Being praised for being bright/smart/clever means when I make mistakes and fail ‘I’m stupid /dumb’ – Iwon’t risk that.

Making an Effort = I am thick Being praised for effort means that it’s ok

to have to persist, make mistakes, fail – this is what learning is so I can take a risk

Dweck: Develop a growth mindset

• The Power of ‘yet’• Mind your language • Teach pupils that their brain is

continually developing and changing – use it or lose it!

• Praise persistence and acknowledge effort

Three building blocks of resilience

Secure base / sense of security and attachment – connectedness

Self-esteem – belief in own worth

Self-efficacy – confidence in own ability

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Resilient people can say:‘I HAVE………….…people I trust and

love’

‘I AM……………………..a loveable person’

‘I CAN…………find ways to solve problems’

Grotberg, E. (1997) ‘The international resilience project.’ In M. John (ed) A Charge against Society:The Child’s Right to Protection. London: Jessica Kingsley.

School Connectedness

• A sense of belonging to a good school• Meaningful participation & contribution • Opportunities for strengths to be affirmed• Opportunities for taking initiative• Pro-social, collaborative school culture• Physical and psychological safety at

school• Strong school rules about bullying &

violence

Young People’s Development

• Change is always possible• It may come from low–key and

unexpected sources• One small shift may produce

significant systemic change(Professor Robbie Gilligan, Adversity,

Resilience and Young People)

Improving Resilience

increasing our awareness of how our thoughts influence our emotions and behaviour and therefore how we can gain more control over them

avoiding ‘thinking traps’ such as always blaming yourself or others when things go wrong, assuming a bad situation will be permanent

Do a reality check, double-check the facts, do you have evidence for what you think?

Improving resilience

challenging deep beliefs that may be working against us such as ‘I must never make mistakes’ or ‘adults should be perfect’

putting things in perspective – don’t catastrophise

learning to calm yourself down at

times of stress

Boundin’

http://www.metatube.com/en/videos/38424/Boundin-Pixar-HD-Short-Film-Walt-Disney/

Thank you

Enjoy the rest of your day!