Recovery and Resilience

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The study of psychological resilience aims to understand why some people can withstand – or even thrive on – difficult life events and has been defined as “a dynamic process encompassing positive behavioral adaptation within the context of significant adversity or trauma”. In other words, a resilient person can quickly recover or bounce back from adversity and positively adapt to the novel demands of the situation.

 

The evidenced-based interventions included in this module have been generated from applied research in several emerging areas such as survival psychology, stoicism, self-compassion, post-traumatic growth, and fear setting (vs. goal setting) as well as resilience. Taken together they reflect the focus on helping individuals flourish by using their existing strengths and resources more, connect to a place of inner peace when necessary, become aware of factors within and beyond their personal control, practice acceptance-based coping, and remain calm, focused and composed in the face of stress.

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Why important: Arguably the times we currently live in pose levels of both real and existential threat never before experienced coincidently e.g., ravages attributed to climate change, global famine, terrorism, economic dislocations, wars, and of course pandemics. Subsequently, for optimizing both mental health and enhancing performance purposes, the demand for understanding and applying protective resilience processes has rarely been so significant.  

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CF2 Foundational sub-factors: Several CF2 sub-factors load onto this module including executive control, energy management and arousal regulation, adaptability, tolerance to stress, frustration, uncertainty, and cognitive recovery (e.g., sleep hygiene, meditation, social support).

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In summary: This module reflects the view that psychological resilience is essentially a process or set of skills – as opposed to a disposition or personality trait – that make it possible for people not only to get through hard times but to thrive during and after them. So, with a little practice, anyone can develop and improve their resilience.