Resilience concepts and applications

Resilience

Mancini and Bonanno (2006) described resiliency as an ability to maintain "relatively stable, healthy levels of psychological and physical functioning" in spite of experiencing some type of very dramatic or disturbing event such as loss of loved one or some other emotionally taxing tragedy (p. 972). The authors also make the important point that resiliency is quite different from recovery in that individuals who are considered to be resilient demonstrate more stable levels of functioning before and after such experiences and less overt distress during such experiences. According to the article there are a number of characteristics that appear to be associated with resiliency and that people who undergo more extreme levels of distress in response to a traumatic event appear to be the exception rather than the norm. An additional factor that I believe to be important is the idea that resilience does not mean being uncaring or unfeeling, certainly anyone experiencing the loss of a spouse, a horrific car accident, etc. is going to experience emotional distress; however, resilience describes the ability to "carry on" in spite of this distress (Mancini & Bonanno, 2006).

After reading this article I believe that there are several protective factors that contribute to resiliency in a person and that I can focus on to develop resiliency. One of the first of these factors would be very similar to what 12 -- step programs promote regarding controllable and uncontrollable events in one's life. Being realistic in understanding what I can control and not control is extremely important when dealing with any tragedy. This requires me to be mindful and examine my thinking. I would need to view uncontrollable events not as unbearable, but as part of living and of growing. Such an attitude requires me to adopt the notion of acceptance, particularly acceptance of things that cannot be changed, and for me to try to understand life in a broader context. This type of approach would require me to continue to concentrate on and to develop a good problem-solving skills, but also for me to be willing and to be able to disclose my feelings to significant others and friends and to be realistic and honest about how I feel regarding a particular experience. Perhaps a couple of key components associated with resilience as suggested by Mancini and Bonanno (2006) are having good healthy relationships, good social support, and also being willing to self-disclose regarding my feelings, even if it makes me feel somewhat vulnerable. I need to remember to use my social network. Possibly there is a cathartic effect to such self-disclosure that contributes to one's resiliency and provides strength and comfort in such times in addition to the obvious support and advice such a practice would produce.

A couple of other things that certainly would be quite helpful for me to develop resilience include being conscious of my health and attempting to maintain healthy habits or a healthy lifestyle. Based on the article it seems that being physically healthy would be a protective factor against stress and would also help me cope with stress more positively. When one is physically healthy one tends to have a more internal locus of control regarding how one can cope with stress; this would be a protective factor against stress. Locus of control goes back to remembering and identifying what I can and cannot control. I may not be able to control certain events in my life, but I can control how I chose to respond to them. Finally, I need to remember that developing or maintaining a spiritual outlook on life contributes to resiliency. I believe that being more spiritual will allow me to engage in all the aforementioned practices such as self-disclosure, developing more creative problem-solving strategies, understanding what I can control and cannot control in life, and not ruminating over uncontrollable events but learning to accept them and extract positive, growth -- oriented philosophies from them. A good book on this topic that I should reread is Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl (1985).

Perhaps the most dreaded event of psychotherapist/counselors is the suicide of a client. Spriegelman and Werth (2004) discuss their experiences with clients who have committed or attempted suicide. The first thing I noticed in these descriptions is that the importance of support from one's peers and/or supervisors in such an instance can affect how such a devastating event is processed by a therapist or therapist-in-training. This supports my aforementioned notion that developing a good social support system is important in the expression of resiliency. Part of my developmental plan (or one that any therapist should consider) is that it is important to maintain close contacts with peers and even past supervisors in an effort to get support on issues such as the suicide of a client, difficult cases, etc. Such support can be crucial in these situations. By maintaining some type of ongoing discussion group for therapists with my peers I can better address any number of potential difficult personal and professional issues including client suicide.

Spiegelman and Werth (2004) also briefly discussed the lack of training that developing therapists and counselors receive regarding experiencing a client attempt or commit suicide. It appears from the article that most of the formal training available occurs in clinical supervision while individuals in school and that this training may not often be adequate. It is important for me to continue to read articles such the one by these authors in order to develop an understanding of the experiences of other clinicians who had clients attempt to commit suicide. There is obviously a period of grief and guilt, the questioning of one's ability, and perhaps a questioning of one's decision to be a therapist following a client suicide attempt. While making a study of these cases may not be the most desirable of activities, Spiegelman and Werth indicate that a significant proportion of the therapists will experience a client who attempts or commits suicide, so it is important for me to study these cases in detail and understand what I should expect if this happens. There is quite a large literature on suicide and understanding suicide from various perspectives including those of therapists, medical doctors, families, etc. And this literature can help prepare me in the event that one of my own clients attempts suicide one day. The American Psychological Association has resources regarding this very topic and I will investigate these resources and include them in my personal library for future reference.