Building Resilience What is it and what builds it Ed Sipler South Eastern Trust February, 2104 Title

A way of working together… What ground rules can we agree on? What ground rules can we agree on?

Why is resilience and mental health important? Mental health is the emotional and spiritual resilience which enables us to enjoy life and to survive pain, disappointments and sadness. It is a positive sense of well being and an underlying belief in our own and others dignity and worth. NI Promoting Mental Health Strategy There is no health without mental health By 2020 mental disorders are expected to be second only to heart disease as a leading source of disease.

What do you think resilience means? The word “resilience” is derived from the Latin verb “salire,” which means to jump. The prefix “re-“ means “back” or “again.” Thus, “resilience” is literally about jumping back. Title

RESILIENCE is… The capacity for healthy development and successful learning in spite of challenges.” ( B Benard ) Resilience is the capacity to spring back, rebound, successfully adapt in the face of adversity and develop social, academic, and vocational competence despite being exposed to extreme stress or simply to the stress that is inherent in today’s world. (Henderson and Milstein, 1996)

The challenge of promoting resilience While our understanding of processes that promote resilience is extensive, we need a better range of practical applications. A ray of hope One of the most important thing things that came out of the years of research is that “there is no age that has a monopoly on risks and no age beyond which it is too late to intervene”. (Rutter 2000)

Are we born with resilience or is it shaped? Risk factors are cumulative Transition points are both threats and opportunities Acute stresses are usually less harmful than chronic ones Building our strengths or assets

How resilient are you?

Road to resilience… Models of building resiliency The Road to Resilience What we do does matter. Resilience can be built We just need to know how 9

Factors that build resilience Adopted from Resiliency in Schools Making it happen for Students and Educators, Henderson and Milstein 1996 Opportunities For Meaningful Participation Positive Relationships & Bonding Set and Communicate High Expectations Set Clear, Consistent Boundaries Provide Care And Support Adapted from ‘Resiliency in schools: Making it Happen for Students and Educators’ by Nan Henderson and Mike Milstein (1996) Henderson and Milstein have looked at developing resiliency in schools. We have spent time in schools looking at developing the School Ethos. This is a different lens to look at schools ethos. If you are going to help pupils develop resilience you need these six key building blocks:- Providing care and support Set and communicate High expectations Opportunities for meaningful participation Positive relationships and bonding Set clear and consistent boundaries Teach Life Skills Exercise as Individuals Give out Word handout on ‘How Resilient is your school?’ They can mark two numbers per area, one for the whole school and one for their classroom (suggest different coloured pens, or circle and square the issues). Discussion in Pairs Have a short discussion in pairs about your assessment. Teach Life-Skills 10

The 7 C’S Kenneth Ginsburg Competence Confidence Connection Character Contribution Coping Control

Building blocks of resilience I have, I am , I can Supports and supportive people around each individual to promote resilience Inner strengths of confidence, self-esteem, and responsibility Use and develop skills/make use of support Grotberg, E. (1997) ‘The international resilience project’.

Strengths related to resilience Being in charge of our emotions Create thinking time Analyzing the cause of problems Maintaining realistic optimism Having empathy for others Believing in our own competence Reaching out Karen Reivich and Andrew Shatte (2003)The Resilience Factor

Which do you like best?

Building resilience thinking Self Calming Deep core beliefs Building skills that build resilience- Low Intensity CBT Tools: Build on skills found in INSYNC Building resilience thinking Self Calming Deep core beliefs Self care- Feeling positive in the midst of stress Using support Principles of coping Action plan 16

What do you think of this statement? We can’t control everything that happens to us. What we can control is how we how we react.

How our thinking manages our emotions Feelings Thinking Calm times Strong emotions

Our Thinking Affects What We Feel and Do Something happens. We think about it. We respond. Events Thoughts Response To help us, let’s think of it as learning our ABC’S: (A) Something bad happens (Adversity) (B) We have certain thoughts (Beliefs) (C) Feelings/behaviour follow (Consequences )

What influences our thinking? Unhelpful thinking habits that are automatic Core beliefs about ourselves and the world. (Rules, demands, assumptions) Emotional and physical well being Style of explaining things 20 20

How can we deal with stress. It is more than just “think positive” How can we deal with stress? It is more than just “think positive”. It is about recognizing our feelings and developing “good thinking skills”

Why the ABC’s are so important: The B/C connections Thoughts Feelings Feeling attacked, our rights violated… Anger Loss or loss of self worth ……… Sadness Future threat …………………… Fear. Anxiety Comparing yourself others neg Embarrassment Hurting someone else…………… Guilt The beliefs (our thinking) matter because they will shape the intensity of our feelings and what we do. When we are more resilient we are not saying we don’t have strong feelings… We are able to regulate and control them to respond to situations in ways that work better for us.

Ten Common Unhelpful Thinking Habits All or nothing thinking Jumping to conclusions Overgeneralising Making a mountain out of a mole hill Emotional reasoning Should Statements Taking things personally Wishful thinking Mental filter Discounting the positive Have we learned to view life and every day situations with negative goggles on?

The change skills Catching that unhelpful, initial reaction Putting on the brakes. Stopping that chain of unhelpful self talk Create thinking time. Examine what is really going on Being flexible and creative in your thinking. Challenging negative thinking Substitute more reasonable thinking 24

Looking After Yourself So what is stress? Stress is the perception that something is more of a problem than the resources you have for coping with it. Stress puts your well being at risk. 25 25

Using positive emotions in the midst of stress 1. Notice positive things 2. Express these positive things 3. Gratitude 4. Mindfulness 5. Positive rethinking 6. Focus on your strengths 7. Attainable goals 8. Acts of kindness 26 26

I would like to share a poem to finish today with: Attitude Found in the Bouncing Back workbook on page 14

Our other work Self help materials for adults and young people affected by substance misuse in the family Self help material to help people look at their drinking or drug use Self help material to help people change behaviour All these resources can be found on the South Eastern Trust web site the under healthy living tab www.alcoholandyouni.com 28

Thanks for having me here today “Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not be bent out of shape.” Dr. Michael McGriffy ed.sipler@setrust.hscni.net 29 29