Mental Health Awareness Month: Resilience and Community
May 21, 2024Of the many concepts in psychology that have taken root in popular culture, perhaps one of the most fascinating ones is resilience. The idea that we can “bounce back” from adversity, hard times, or other challenges is empowering. We are so quick to distill this down to pulling ourselves up by our own bootstraps. This week, there is an invitation to explore resilience as a practice, rather than an innate ability or a box to check off, that is cultivated collectively and individually in the context of community.
According to YMCA of the USA’s Mental Health Community Care glossary, resilience is, “Our ability to thrive, adapt, and cope despite tough and stressful times. Resilience is nurtured through caring, supportive relationships, the development of effective coping skills, and connecting to a sense of belonging and purpose.” This definition expands beyond the what of resilience, i.e. the ability to bounce back, and helps us to identify the how of resilience, i.e. the ingredients that empower us to create actions that build resiliency. Another critical piece of the definition is, that “resilience is nurtured through caring, supportive relationships.” No pulling ourselves up by our own bootstraps here! We need people, and people need us.
To put this week’s topic into practice, we will focus on continued learning, skills-building, and taking action from wherever we are.
To Watch
In this video, enjoy a clever and entertaining explanation of resilience and how it is nurtured throughout the lifespan.
To Read
The Resilience Center offers further insight into the ins and outs of resilience as well as some fun self-reflective assessments to check in on personal resilience.
To-Do (Weekly Challenge)
The actions related to resilience include learning and employing effective coping skills to help us identify, manage and regulate our emotions and behaviors. This Emotions Wheel Exercise is a great practice in identifying and understanding our emotions!
To Reflect (A Bonus!)
Think of the people in your life. Who would you say is your model of resilience? What about that person do you notice that makes their name come to mind? What effective coping skills do they use that you could learn from or try in your life?
The key takeaway this week is that resilience is a practice that one can start working on at any time. There is no endpoint; it will be a lifelong journey. Finally, in the words of renowned educator Maggie Favretti, “We are only as resilient as the strength of our relationships.” Everyday relationship-building and strengthening matters! We are strengthening our individual and collective resilience when we connect.
Looking to engage further or have questions? Please contact Katie Soule, Director of Social and Emotional Wellbeing, at ksoule@graniteymca.org.
