To be resilient is to have the ability to bounce back after misfortune or change.
Psychology Today describes it this way:
"Resilience is the quality that allows some people to be knocked down by the adversities of life and come back at least as strong as before. Rather than letting difficulties, traumatic events, or failure overcome them and drain their resolve, highly resilient people find a way to change course, emotionally heal, and continue moving toward their goals".
In theory, when we face disappointment, defeat, or failure, changing course and moving toward our goals seems like the obvious next step, the only thing to be done. In reality, it can be a struggle. For many people. Up to a quarter of the population as a matter of fact.
According to one of the most influential psychotherapists of our time, Dr Donald Meichenbaum, 75% of individuals who are impacted by a traumatic event are able to bounce back (and even thrive in some cases) while 25% remain stuck and go on to display clinical problems such as PTSD, anxiety and depression. Meichenbaum has devoted much of his 40-year research career and clinical practice working with trauma victims and trying to find answers to the question: What makes some people more resilient than others?
In his book, Roadmap to Resilience, Meichenbaum not only discusses the difference between adults who evidence resilience after a traumatic experience and those who have persistent difficulties adjusting, but he also offers practical, down to earth, clinically proven concepts and skills that we can all use to bolster resilience. In the face of lost lives, lost dreams, lost jobs, lost business, lost social contact, all of which have been heightened by the Coronavirus pandemic, resilience is perhaps the one skill what we need now more than any other.
Meichenbaum has transformed Roadmap to Resilience into a free website which he hopes will help individuals cope with ongoing adversities and losses. If you are feeling particularly stuck and at this time or simply want to build up your resilience, you can access the free book here: https://roadmaptoresilience.wordpress.com/
