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?

Persevere or adapt when things go awryOvercome obstaclesBounce back from major setbacksReach out and broaden your world

Resilience is the ability to:

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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. Emotional Regulation2. Impulse Control3. Causal Analysis4. Realistic Optimism5. Empathy6. Attachment7. Self-Efficacy8. Belonging9. Reaching Out10. Language and Culture

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.

Emotional Regulation

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.”

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.”

Causal Analysis

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.

Realistic Optimism

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.

Empathy

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 self-esteem 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

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.

Example

Explanatory Style

“Me/Always/Everything” thinking

Loss of hope and depression

Thinking Habits Associated with

Depression

“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 Aggression

“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.

Explanatory StyleThinking Habits Associated with

Optimism

Thinking Traps1) Jumping to conclusions

2) Personalizing

3) Externalizing

4) Mind-reading

5) Emotional reasoning

6) Overgeneralizing

7) Magnifying/minimizing

8) Catastrophizing

Which ones trap you?

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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

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?

Example

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

epinephrine

Cortisol

Repeated release over timecortisolepinephrine

Development of Autoimmune Disorders

Eg. Chronic fatigue syndrome eg.: Insulin

dependent Diabetes

Physiological Responses to Trauma

Auto Immune diseases:

o Chronic fatigue syndromeo Crohn’s diseaseo Fibromyalgiao Insulin dependent diabeteso Young onset diabeteso Juvenile arthritiso Multiple sclerosiso Rheumatoid arthritiso 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

Thank you!!!

•Questions?

•Comments?