R Life
We would like to acknowledge that this workshop is
being held on traditional ___________ land.
Workshop Outline
–Introductions and Icebreaker
–Understanding Resilience
–Break
–Understanding Resilience
–Resiliency and Trauma
–Lunch
–Resiliency and Culture
–Exploring the Youth Curriculum and Toolkit
“The most beautiful people we
have known are those who have
known defeat, known suffering,
known struggle, known loss, and
have found their way out of the
depths. These persons have an
appreciation, a sensitivity, and an
understanding of life that fills
them with compassion,
gentleness and a deep loving
concern. Beautiful people do not
just happen.”
-Elizabeth Kubler-Ross, M.D.
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What is Resiliency?
In what ways are you resilient?
What skills do you use when you are being
resilient? How do you know?
Who needs resilience?
When is resiliency needed?
What is Resiliency?
Small Group Discussion
1.Why are some people able to bounce back from
adversity while others are harder hit?
2.How does the family we grow up in make a
difference between whether or not we are resilient?
3.What else influences resilience?
4.How can service providers promote resilience in
individuals? Families? Community?
Resilience is the ability to:
Persevere or adapt when things go awry
Overcome obstacles
Bounce back from major setbacks
Reach out and broaden your world
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What is Resiliency?
»Stress
»Perception
»Action
Why is Resilience Important?
• Why do you think resiliency is such an
important factor for individuals? In families? In
community?
Why is Resilience Important?
• Resilience is ever-present: the thread that runs through all
aspects of our lives.
• Personal development, health or happiness will be affected by
adversity, making it through these challenges is vital.
• People who view adversity as a challenge are more likely to
thrive in whatever they do and handle stress with more ease.
• Practicing resilience can promote mental health and reduce
substance misuse.
What is Resiliency?
A resilient view means:
 Accurate and flexible thinking
 Creative problem solving
 The capacity to see other points of view and to adjust
your own
 Ability to move on with daily life despite obstacles
A Resilient attitude can be learned!
Who is Resilient?
• Are some people just born resilient? Do some
people just ‘have it’ while others do not?
Resilient Qualities
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Emotional Regulation
Impulse Control
Causal Analysis
Realistic Optimism
Empathy
Attachment
Self-Efficacy
Belonging
Reaching Out
Language and Culture
Emotional Regulation
The ability to express our emotions in ways that
will help rather than hurt a situation
Examples:
 I am aware of strong emotions as they rise and I don’t get
swept away by them.
 I am able to take three deep breaths before reacting when I
am angry or upset.
 I am able to talk about my emotions and my physical reaction
to them.
 I am able to recognize when I am really frustrated or angry
and find a productive way of managing it.
Impulse Control
The ability to take action instead of have a
reaction
Examples:
 I am able to use words to express my emotions.
 I am able to be patient and to wait a little longer to get what I want
without becoming overly frustrated or anxious.
 I am able to come up with alternative solutions to a problem and not
just do the first thing that comes into my head.
 I am able to “let it go.”
Causal Analysis
The ability to analyze a problem and
accurately decide what the cause is
Examples:
 I am not making mountains out of molehills.
 I feel clear and at least relatively calm about a situation, not
confused and out of control.
 I realize when I situation is temporary and affects only a specific
part of my life and not my whole life.
 I am able to turn “I never” into “I didn’t this time, but could next
time.”
Realistic Optimism
The ability to maintain hope for a bright future
Examples:
 I am patient with a negative situation and keep working at a solution.
 I am able to see my successes even if I struggle or fail.
 I am able to adjust my plans when circumstances outside of my control
arise.
Empathy
The ability to understand the feelings and
needs of another person
Examples:
 I am able to understand the feelings and needs of someone else.
 I am able to recognize the emotion someone else is experiencing
based on the way they are communicating non-verbally.
 I recognize that others are different from me and might see and feel
things differently than I do.
 I can look at things through another person’s eyes, not my own.
Self - Efficacy
The feeling of being effective in the world,
making a difference and having a positive
impact
Examples:
 I use the choices I make and the actions I take to direct my life.
 I feel as though I have what it takes to tackle problems and bounce
back from them.
 I rise up to challenges rather than shy away from them.
 I believe that what I to day to day matter.
Attachment
 Attachment develops between a child and his/her primary
caregiver(s).
 It begins in early infancy when a child relies on his/her primary
caregiver to meet emotional and physical needs.
 When those needs are consistently and positively met, the child
feels safe and secure and develops a solid foundation for
positive emotional and cognitive development.
 A child with positive attachment experiences learns that the
world is safe and they are valued. This leads to positive selfesteem and more successful inter-personal relationships.
 Positive attachment can also help to promote healthy brain
function and thought patters.
Belonging
The feeling that we are a part of something
larger than ourselves
Examples:
 My neighbour knows my name.
 A stranger smiles at me on the street.
 There are services in my community that represent me.
 I feel welcome and accepted for just who I am.
 My community lends a helping hand and recognizes when I may need
one.
 I have access to the things I need.
Reaching Out
Being accurate and realistic about how much
we can cope with and being able to ask for
help when we need it
Examples:
 I am willing to take risks.
 I continue trying even when I make mistakes. A mistake is not a
failure.
 I know myself and know how much I can handle and am not
afraid of asking for help when I need it.
Language & Culture
Having a connection to Language and Culture means:
 Having a connection to your language and culture of choice.
 For First Nations and Aboriginal Peoples, and in many other ethnic
communities, being able to speak your traditional language and live
according to cultural traditions is fundamental to resilience.
Importance of Language and Culture:
 It can be much harder for the other factors to take root without this
basic ground.
 For First Nations and Aboriginal Peoples resiliency includes healing
from Residential School experiences (may be intergenerational) and
reclaiming their language and culture.
 Some languages contain a framework for ways of viewing self and
the world that are quite different from English.
 Culture of choice isn’t always culture of birth.
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Obstacles to Resiliency
 Stressful events
 Adversity
-Trauma
 Environment
-Unhelpful early learning, current living situation is
chaotic
 Cognitive factors
-Belief system, thinking habits
Stress and Adversity
»Imagine for a moment the following scenario:
»You are told you have 10 minutes to put together a
role play in pairs where you must demonstrate three of
the qualities just discussed.
»You will also have to perform this role play in front and
the group and it will be recorded for evaluation
purposes.
1. What would some of your first
thoughts be?
2. How many people would feel nervous
or unsure about this task? How many
people would feel angry?
3. Would you feel this stress anywhere in
your body?
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Stress and Adversity
Many of us believe that negative events cause us to act
in certain ways.
When something bad happens, one of the first things
we try to understand is why it happened.
Our beliefs about the cause of the adversity set off our
reaction – how we feel and what we do.
Stress and Adversity
 Dr. Albert Ellis created the ABC model to help us
understand our reactions to adversity:
 A is the adversity – the situation or event
 B is our belief – our explanation about why the situation
happened
 C is the consequence – the feelings and behaviours caused
by our belief
Stress and Adversity
Example 1:
Natasha has been working really hard and saving up for a trip she
wants to take with her family. Then she finds out that her hours are
being cut back at work. Natasha thinks to herself, this always
happens to me, I always work so hard and just have to start back at
square one. I must not be doing a very good job at work. I am such
a loser. My family will be so disappointed in me. She gets very sad,
and spends a good amount of the money she’d been saving for her
trip on toys for her kids and a new pair of shoes for herself.
Stress and Adversity
 Example 2, a different reaction:
That’s disappointing, but this actually wasn’t a surprise: at the staff
meeting last week they mentioned there may be cut backs. I know
it has nothing to do with my quality of work, I just haven’t been
there as long as some of the others so I don’t have as much
seniority. That’s probably why my hours were cut instead of some
of the others. I will talk to my supervisor tomorrow and see if there
is anything I can do to get more hours, maybe in another
department.
She decides to go home and do an activity with her family.
Explanatory Style
 Thinking habits - preferred ways of explaining
what is going on around us
 Occur subconsciously
 May be accurate or may be distorted
 Can help or hinder our ability to respond
resiliently to inevitable bumps in the road
Trying to Make Sense of Adversity…
1.Personalization – who caused the problem?
Me/Not me
2.Permanence – how long will this problem last?
Always/Not always
3.Pervasiveness – how much of my life does this
problem affect?
Everything/Not everything
Explanatory Style
Example
Natasha has been working really hard and saving up for a
trip she wants to take with her family. Then she finds out
that her hours are being cut back at work. Natasha thinks
to herself, this always happens to me, I always work so
hard and just have to start back at square one. I must not
be doing a very good job at work. I am such a loser. My
family will be so disappointed in me. She gets very sad,
and spends a good amount of the money she’d been
saving for her trip on toys for her kids and a new pair of
shoes for herself.
Explanatory Style
Thinking Habits Associated with Depression
“Me/Always/Everything” thinking
Loss of hope and depression
Explanatory Style
Thinking Habits Associated with Aggression
“Not me/Always/Everything” thinking.
Blaming others when something bad happens.
Can make people feel trapped and angry, or
cause them to lash out at others.
Explanatory Style
Thinking Habits Associated with Optimism
“Not me/Not always/Not everything” thinking
Able to see the situation as temporary and that
not all aspects of her life are affected.
May not be an accurate or realistic view of a
situation.
Thinking Traps
1) Jumping to conclusions
2) Personalizing
3) Externalizing
4) Mind-reading
5) Emotional reasoning
6) Overgeneralizing
7) Magnifying/minimizing
8) Catastrophizing
Which ones trap you?
•
Iceberg Beliefs
 Deep beliefs about how the world should operate
and how we should operate in the world.
 Cause reactions that seem out of proportion to
actual situations.
 Start to form in childhood and are often passed
down unconsciously, without question, from
generation to generation.
Iceberg Beliefs
Example
I KNOW I shouldn’t have blown up at Anna that way, but I just
couldn’t help it!
I don’t even really know why I’m so mad at her. All I know is I’m
STILL SO ANGRY that it’s hard for me to even look her in the eye.
I feel guilty for treating her this way, because it really doesn’t
seem fair. I am puzzled by my reaction, she was only a few
minutes late and we still made the movie on time. So now what
am I suppose to do? If I don’t even know why I’m so mad, how
am I going to talk with her about it?
Can make us over-experience certain
emotions
Can be at the root of personality clashes at
school and in other environments
Don’t always have negative outcomes
Examples of Iceberg Beliefs
“Giving people a chance to tell their side of the
story is important”
“Mistakes are part of the learning process”
“Honesty is the best policy”
“If you don’t succeed at first try again”
Examples of Iceberg Beliefs
“I should be able to handle anything that comes my way.”
“Women should never show their anger.”
“People should always be on time.”
“Things should always be fair.”
“Men should never cry. It shows weakness.”
Common types of Iceberg Beliefs
1) Achievement – Mistakes are seen as failures.
2) Acceptance – It is vital to be liked, accepted,
praised, and included by others.
3) Control – Having unrealistic expectations about the
level of influence you have over yourself or the
environment.
What is Trauma?
• A threat to my life, my person, or my dignity.
• A threat to the life, person or dignity of a
loved one.
Real or Imagined
Trauma can occur in many different ways…
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Natural disasters
Human made disasters
Personal loss
Health trauma
Victimization
Criminal violence
Wars and terrorism
• Ranges from mild stress to severe traumatic stress and can
occur as a single event or as multiple incidents
Trauma
• What is the impact of Trauma on Resilience?
• Trauma affects core beliefs about ourselves and the world.
• Being equipped with the right tools is a protective factor
against the potential impact of trauma.
• Working from a resilience-minded perspective helps trauma
survivors realize that they have the skills they need to heal
and recover.
The Effects of Trauma
•
•
•
•
•
Physical - stress reactions
Emotional - intense fear
Behavioural - helplessness
Cognitive – hypervigilance
Spiritual - loss of faith
Physiological Responses to Trauma
Cortisol
epinephrine
Repeated release over time
epinephrine
cortisol
Development of Autoimmune Disorders
Eg. Chronic
fatigue syndrome
eg.: Insulin
dependent
Diabetes
Physiological Responses to Trauma
Auto Immune diseases:
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
Chronic fatigue syndrome
Crohn’s disease
Fibromyalgia
Insulin dependent diabetes
Young onset diabetes
Juvenile arthritis
Multiple sclerosis
Rheumatoid arthritis
Intense sugar cravings
• Unmanaged stress is a risk factor for all major diseases,
including heart disease and cancer
Emotional, Cognitive, and Behavioural Effects of
Trauma
• Constricted intimacy and expressiveness
• Overt hostility with unpredictable verbal and physical
aggression
• Difficulties in bonding and attachment
• Difficulty with empathy skills
• Physiological reenactment of trauma
Effects of Trauma on Family
• Primary parenting functions such as protecting, loving, and
teaching become disturbed
• Trauma disrupts attachment bonds
• Trauma produces not only psychological and biological
wounds, but also social wounds...
• Trauma can often be intergenerational (passed on from family
to family)
Trauma, Resilience & Community
•
Trauma to individual community members can impact the
entire community.
•
The aftermath of large scale traumatic events can last for
generations.
•
However, shared traumatic experiences in communities can
also be a uniting force that builds collective resilience.
•Do we underestimate the impact of trauma?
•What resiliency building interventions are
available (or could be available)?
Culture
• Living in, or at least having access to your
culture of choice can be vital to resilience.
• What does Culture mean to you?
CULTURE IS…
• Language
– Ways of thinking and behaving are embedded in language
• Traditions – Customs – Habits – Practices
• Art – Food – Fashion
CULTURE IS…
• Our values
• Our beliefs
– Skills or activities we appreciate, what we consider to be
important
• Common patterns of behaviours which are transmitted
from generation to generation
• Culture is part of establishing/creating how we view the
world
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Culture & Resilient Qualities
• Belonging
– when people feel they belong, it can lead to a more
positive sense of self and make it easier to participate in
society
• Empathy
– Understanding and respecting the cultures of others
contributes to greater empathy
Culture & Resilient Qualities
• Reaching Out
– Feeling like you fit in makes it easier to try new
things and reach out for help
• Causal Analysis
– Knowledge of context and culture allows us to
better understand people, which supports flexible
and accurate thinking
Thinking About Your Culture…
• Social units often have a recognizable culture
(organizations, countries, ethnic groups, families)
• How do you feel about the culture of different social
units you belong to?
– Included/excluded - feeling a part of something or like an
outsider
– Fits/doesn’t fit with values – easy to participate or always
friction
Strategies for Resilience
• How to foster Resilience in…
– Self
– Family
– Community
– Workplace
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www.RLifeProject.ca
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Thank you!!!
•Questions?
•Comments?