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Strengths and weaknesses of resilience
Strengths and weaknesses of resilience
Strengths and weaknesses of resilience
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The term resilience has recently become a popular topic, and somewhat of a buzz word in popular psychology. It is a term that is commonly thrown around; however, the literature behind it is less commonly discussed. This paper explores the various concepts of resilience as well as the contributing factors. The factors that contribute to resilience include both those which are internal and external to the individual. The internal factors explored include those that are part of the individual’s internal emotional and mental state, and the external factors explored include those associated with economic security and relationships.
Conceptualization
Although there is general agreement to the concept of resilience, there is some disagreement as
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There are many internal factors which contribute to resilience, including the emotions that an individual feels. Repressive coping has been shown to increase resilience, by increasing postive emotions and avoiding negative emotions. Unfortunately, avoiding negative emotions has also been shown to negatively impact health (Bonanno 2008). However the reduction in negative emotions may not be the crucial factor operating in promoting resilience. Experiencing positive emotions can greatly contribute to resilience by decreasing the harmful effects of negative emotions (Bonanno, 2008), by providing a reprieve from difficult experiences, increasing the ability to cope, refilling personal resources, and by increasing social acceptance. Additionally, positive emotions may prevent a delay in the recovery process. While individuals who are resilient may have an overall more positive outlook on life and be better able to evoke positive emotions, they are also able to experience both positive and negtive emotions at the same time. Resilient individuals are able to feel a variety of both positive and negative emotions, and it is not the reduction in negative emotions that contribute to resiliencey, but it is the ability of the individual to keep their positive and negative emotions distinct, thereby preserving “emotional complexity” (Ong et al., 2006, p. 743). Since having better health has been shown to increase resilience (Benzies & Mychasiuk, 2009) these …show more content…
The ways that an individual views both themselves and the world has been shown to contribute to resilience. The ability of an individual to change the way in which they view the traumatic or stressful experiences is one way that resilience can increase (Tebes, Irish, Vasquez, & Perkins, 2004). After stress or trauma some individuals are able to undergo a “cognitive transformation” (Tebes et al. 2004, p. 771.) in which they realize that new opportunities have become available to them as a result of going through challenges, and are able to reframe the adversity as an opportunity for growth (Tebes et al., 2004). By changing the way the individual thinks about the stressor, cognitive transformation also can increase self-esteem or self-efficacy, and decrease the chances the individual will succumb to a downward spiral as a result of the trauma (Tebes et al., 2004). The experience of cognitive transformation is so powerful, that those who engaged in it following a trauma were found to be even better adapted than those who had not survived a trauma. (Tebes et al.,
According to psychology, the ability of humans to adapt to negative life situations and withstand stress and adversity is centered in a concept called resilience. An individual with resilience may experience the stress and pain that oppression and adversity brings; however, they are better able to control their negative emotions, rather than allowing these emotions to control their thoughts and actions. Resilience is not something people are born with or without, it is a trait that is developed. However, there are causational factors that contribute to the development of resilience. A few of these factors are: Having at least one close friendship and or having a
Echterling et al. (2005), claim that survivors who recover from a trauma and return to their state of well being, achieve positive transformation and transcendence involving a period of dramatic personal growth. Moreover, Chessick (as cited in Echterling, 2005) suggests that survivors in their response to crisis, either take a neurotic path whic...
Imagine a man who was recently laid off from his job at an oil and gas company and can no longer financially support his family. The decision this man makes to either push through this adversity to find a new job or let his life go in a downwards spiral will be determined by if the man is resilient or not. According to the Oxford English Dictionary the word resiliency means, “capacity to recover from misfortune, shock or illness.” However I believe the definition for the word resiliency goes much deeper than what the dictionary says. Resiliency is the ability to push through physical, mental, and emotional challenges. People should always strive to be resilient and never give up in any situation and to always stay positive
Judith Herman, from Trauma and Recovery, said “Traumatic events are extraordinary, not because they occur rarely, but rather because they overwhelm the ordinary human adaptations to life” (John A. Rich, Theodore Corbin, & Sandra Bloom, 2008. Trauma does not involve the same experiences for everyone; each individual is unique in that they, and only they, can decide what is traumatic for them. Before discussing what positive things can come from suffering a traumatic experience, one must first understand that negative things can arise as well. Trauma “shatters people’s basic assumptions about themselves and the world they live in”. Three basic assumptions are challenged by trauma: (1) the belief in personal invulnerability; (2) the perception of the world as meaningful and comprehensible; and (3) the view of ourselves in a positive light” (Baumgardner & Crothers, 2009, p. 67)....
Over the course of a lifetime, one experiences a multitude of thoughts and emotions. Collectively, these thoughts and emotions relate to one another as they affect one’s mental health and well-being. According to the Oxford University Summer School program, “mental health refers to the psychological and the emotional well-being of an individual” (Mental Health). When one does not have a positive mental health state they struggle in quite a few areas. These areas involve coping, positivity, personal connections, expressing emotions properly, and their personal belief towards their value in society. One can cause a rift in relationships they have with others and can further deteriorate their mental health and overall well-being when they do not
Resiliency Model of Family Stress, Adjustment and Adaptation was developed from the Hill’s Family Stress Theory and is a method to describe how families perceive and respond to stress (Friedman et al., 2003). It can be an effective way for counselors to allow for the “consideration of cultural an...
Results of studies that focussed on internal versus external control suggests that strategies associated with positive psychosocial adaptation to change are connected to feelings of being in control of the threat or stressor, while feeling that external factors control the individual provoke coping responses for example blaming shifting.
Resilience is not an attribute or personality characteristic of an individual but a dynamic process wherein people show positive adaptation despite experiences of major adversity or trauma. (LUTHAR & CICCHETTI, 2000) Resilience is a two-dimensional construct regarding adversity exposure and the proper adjustment outcomes of that adversity. (LUTHAR & CICCHETTI, 2000) The two-dimensional construct means implies two judgments about the significance of adversity and a positive adaptation to adversity. (Masten & Obradovic, 2006).
Richardson, G. E. (2002). The Metatheory of Resilience and Resiliency. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 58(3), 307-321. doi:10.1002/jclp.10020
Ong, A. D., Bergeman, C. S., Bisconti, T. L., & Wallace, K. A. (2006). Psychological resilience, positive emotions, and successful adaptation to stress in later life. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 91(4), 730.
Posttraumatic Growth (PTG) describes the phenomenon of traumatized people growing – becoming stronger, healthier, happier, and in all aspects better – as a result of their traumatic experiences. PTG can be expressed as the improvement experienced in various facets of one’s life and self, as a result of having struggled with trauma. Calhoun and Tedeschi began asking, in the 1980s, about the possibility of people growing from their traumatic experiences. Tedeschi and Calhoun describe PTG as ‘positive psychological change experienced as a result of the struggle with highly challenging life circumstances’. Put differently, ‘posttraumatic growth is positive change that the individual experiences as a result of the struggle with a traumatic event’. The end result is that growth can occur after trauma. The key to the growth is struggle; the individual experiences growth after much struggle with the trauma to find its particular meaning and purpose, with a new worldview to better make sense of the traumatic experience. Trauma leads to struggle with painful experiences and suffering through the symptoms that consequently
Strengthening Family Resilience Family resilience can be described as the successful coping of family members under adversity that enables support and cohesion within the family (Walsh, 2006). According to the research, resilient families typically have many of the following protective factors: positive outlook, spirituality, family member accord, flexibility, family communication, financial management, family time, shared recreation, routines and rituals, and outside support networks (Walsh, 2003). These protective factors not only serve as a function within the family structure, but are a factor in the therapeutic process. The family resilience perspective in therapy shifts away from a deficit-based lens that views struggling families as
They are better able to cope with life’s challenges, build and sustain stronger relationships and to recover from setbacks that can happen to anyone of us. However, just as it requires energy and a commitment to build or to maintain physical health, so is it with mental and emotional wellbeing. Improving a person’s emotional health can lead to a number of benefits that are related to all aspects of life: it can enhance the person’s mood, foster resilience and improve an individual’s overall enjoyment of
Emotional health plays a hand in many parts of people’s lives. When you maintain good emotional health it can play an important role in your school, work, relationships and physical health. Researchers used to believe that our happiness came from being successful. To the contrary, research has since shown it is just the opposite. A person with a positive outlook is more likely to set goals and work towards them. People tend to attract people with a like-mined outlook and attitude, therefore a happy person is likely to be surrounded by other happy people. This creates a positive circle of support and healthy relationships. These are key building blocks of success. People with good emotional health have positive coping skills to deal
From my understanding, I have come to view resilience as the art of not dwelling. This personal definition, I recognize, only summarizes half of the word’s meaning, not even touching on the action of recovery. I chose to view it in this way because, I find it helps me to find it manageable. I often struggle with experiencing difficulties or changes, I often find myself internalizing my problems which leads me to introspection and self doubt. By concentrating on a single facet I am able to better manage resilience. Despite my choice to ignore the second half on the word’s meaning, by choosing not to dwell, I have found recovery becomes easier to achieve. As a person who prefers math and science, problem solving from an analytical perspective is an enjoyable task, but when emotions are involved the process gets derailed or takes longer. I have found that using my strategy of not dwelling I am able to analytically look at my situation and consider my next steps to