From time to time, we all face setbacks in our personal and work lives. Usually, these setbacks are relatively minor, like an argument at home with a spouse or partner, or a botched project at work. Sometimes, however, we suffer a major loss or experience a traumatic event that carries with it the potential for more long-term or debilitating consequences. Regardless of the nature or frequency of the stressors we face, we can all benefit from learning new or better ways of coping with these difficulties. In this training, we'll move beyond coping, and discuss the concept of resilience, our natural ability to overcome life's setbacks and, as a result, become better prepared to tackle the next challenge that lies ahead.
Building resilience is about more than just coping. While developing the ability to cope with stress is very important, resilience moves beyond coping and involves growing stronger with each challenge or hardship we face.
WHAT IS RESILIENCE?
Resilience is the process of adapting well in the face of adversity, trauma, tragedy, threats or significant sources of stress - such as family and relationship problems, serious health problems or workplace and financial stressors. It means "bouncing back" from difficult experiences.
Research has shown that resilience is ordinary, not extraordinary. People commonly demonstrate resilience. One example is the response of many Americans to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and individuals' efforts to rebuild their lives.
Being resilient does not mean that a person doesn't experience difficulty or distress. Emotional pain and sadness are common in people who have suffered major adversity or trauma in their lives. In fact, the road to resilience is likely to involve considerable emotional distress.
But resilience is not something that you either "have" or "don't have." Resilience is about the way you approach situations and can be strengthened in the same way as you strengthen your muscles - through repetition and practice.
While resilience can sometimes seem difficult to define in words, it is a quality that is usually easy to identify.
EXAMPLES OF RESILIENCE
By working together as a community to rebuild after the devastating storm, the town showed incredible resilience
Attending a support group and staying connected with friends and family helped the new manager move on following a painful divorce;
The employees' commitment to their organization's mission, and the support and clear communication they received from leadership, helped the company make it through a difficult period of change.
IMPACT OF STRESS
At the most basic level, resilience involves our ability to manage stress effectively over time. Stress is directly related to performance and productivity at home and at work. Think about how you handle stress in the workplace. While some stress can actually help performance, sustained stress at too high a level decreases performance and productivity. The response of some employees is to try to over compensate for decreasing performance. This creates more stress, further decreasing performance and productivity. It's a vicious cycle that can eventually end in burnout.
Most employees are resilient and can actually handle a relatively high level of work or personal related stress for a short period of time. However, the effects of stress are cumulative. When stressors are so severe or prolonged that they overwhelm an individual's ability to cope, an employee may benefit from additional support and resources, such as those available through the Supportlinc EAP.
By providing employees with stress management skills and other practical tools and resources, employees are able to get back on track more quickly. Unfortunately, without the proper support, some employee may turn to unhealthy ways of coping, which can cause or exacerbate a variety of physical and mental health issues, all of which impact productivity, as you can clearly see on this slide.
At the end of this presentation, we'll discuss further how to access the Supportlinc EAP to assist in coping with stress and building resilience. But first, let's talk a little more about how we can identify the different types of stress we encounter in our daily lives.
BUILDING RESILIENCE AT WORK
In today's 24/7 society, workplace pressures continue to mount. Productivity demands, information overload and increasing pressure to balance work and home lives can take a toll on employees' health, well-being and job satisfaction.
According to a national public opinion poll conducted by the American Psychological Association, two thirds of both men and women say work has a significant impact on their stress level, and one in four has called in sick or taken a "mental health day" as a result of work stress.
Also a significant concern for employers, job stress is estimated to cost U.S. industry $300 billion a year in absenteeism, diminished productivity, employee turnover and direct medical, legal and insurance fees.
Faced with skyrocketing healthcare costs, global competition and economic uncertainty, employers are concerned about attracting and retaining high-quality employees and keeping up morale. Minimizing workplace stress plays a significant role in employee retention.
Some companies have responded to these business challenges by thinking of new ways to support their employees. These employers are creating workplaces that do more than just improve productivity—they build a strong, vibrant organizational culture that supports the company itself. In short, they build a psychologically healthy workplace.
A psychologically healthy workplace fosters employee health and well-being while enhancing organizational performance and productivity.
Psychologically healthy workplace practices can be grouped into five categories:
Employee involvement:
Self-managed work teams
Employee committees or task forces
Continuous improvement teams
Participative decision-making
Employee suggestion forums, such as a suggestion box and monthly meetings
Work-life balance:
Flexible work, childcare assistance and eldercare benefits
Personal financial resources
Benefits for family members and domestic partners
Flexible leave options
Employee growth & development:
Continuing education
Tuition reimbursement
Career development or counseling
Skills training
Opportunities for promotion and internal career advancement
Coaching, mentoring and leadership development
Health & safety:
Training and safeguards
Health promotion programs
Adequate health insurance
Health screenings
Access to health/fitness/recreation facilities
Resources for life problems
Employee recognition:
Fair monetary compensation
Competitive benefits packages
Acknowledge contributions and milestones
Performance-based bonuses and pay increases
Employee awards
Recognition ceremonies
It is important to note that there is no "one-size-fits-all" approach to creating a psychologically healthy workplace. Success is based, in part, on addressing the challenges unique to a particular organization and tailoring programs and policies to meet those needs.
Communication also plays a key role in the success of any workplace program or policy and serves as the foundation for all five types of psychologically healthy workplace practices.
RESILIENT PEOPLE
While no two people are exactly the same, most people who are highly resilient have developed several important personal qualities:
They routinely look for opportunities in any problems that may arise.
They generally have a positive, can-do attitude;
They fight the victim mentality, or see themselves as "survivors."
They are able to draw on their internal resources in challenging situations;
They are confident in their ability to overcome difficulties;
They learn from their mistakes.
FACTORS IN RESILIENCE
A combination of factors contributes to resilience. Many studies show that the primary factor in resilience is having caring and supportive relationships within and outside the family. Relationships that create love and trust, provide role models and offer encouragement and reassurance help bolster a person's resilience.
Several additional factors are associated with resilience, including:
The capacity to make realistic plans and take steps to carry them out.
A positive view of yourself and confidence in your strengths and abilities.
Skills in communication and problem solving.
The capacity to manage strong feelings and impulses. All of these are factors that people can develop in themselves.
STRATEGIES FOR BUILDING RESILIENCE
Developing resilience is a personal journey. People do not all react the same to traumatic and stressful life events. An approach to building resilience that works for one person might not work for another. People use varying strategies.
Some variation may reflect cultural differences. A person's culture might have an impact on how he or she communicates feelings and deals with adversity- for example, whether and how a person connects with significant others, including extended family members and community resources. With growing cultural diversity, the public has greater access to a number of different approaches to building resilience.
Some or many of the ways to build resilience in the following pages may be appropriate to consider in developing your personal strategy.
10 WAYS TO BUILD RESILIENCE
Make connections. Good relationships with close family members, friends or others are important. Accepting help and support from those who care about you and will listen to you strengthens resilience. Some people find that being active in civic groups, faith-based organizations, or other local groups provides social support and can help with reclaiming hope. Assisting others in their time of need also can benefit the helper.
Avoid seeing crises as insurmountable problems. You can't change the fact that highly stressful events happen, but you can change how you interpret and respond to these events. Try looking beyond the present to how future circumstances may be a little better. Note any subtle ways in which you might already feel somewhat better as you deal with difficult situations.
Accept that change is a part of living. Certain goals may no longer be attainable as a result of adverse situations. Accepting circumstances that cannot be changed can help you focus on circumstances that you can alter.
Move toward your goals. Develop some realistic goals. Do something regularly- even if it seems like a small accomplishment- that enables you to move toward your goals. Instead of focusing on tasks that seem unachievable, ask yourself, "What's one thing I know I can accomplish today that helps me move in the direction I want to go?"
Take decisive actions. Act on adverse situations as much as you can. Take decisive actions, rather than detaching completely from problems and stresses and wishing they would just go away.
Look for opportunities for self-discovery. People often learn something about themselves and may find that they have grown in some respect as a result of their struggle with loss. Many people who have experienced tragedies and hardship have reported better relationships, greater sense of strength even while feeling vulnerable, increased sense of self-worth, a more developed spirituality and heightened appreciation for life.
Nurture a positive view of yourself. Developing confidence in your ability to solve problems and trusting your instincts helps build resilience.
Keep things in perspective. Even when facing very painful events, try to consider the stressful situation in a broader context and keep a long-term perspective. Avoid blowing the event out of proportion.
Maintain a hopeful outlook. An optimistic outlook enables you to expect that good things will happen in your life. Try visualizing what you want, rather than worrying about what you fear.
Take care of yourself. Pay attention to your own needs and feelings. Engage in activities that you enjoy and find relaxing. Exercise regularly. Taking care of yourself helps to keep your mind and body primed to deal with situations that require resilience.
Additional ways of strengthening resilience may be helpful. For example, some people write about their deepest thoughts and feelings related to trauma or other stressful events in their life. Meditation and spiritual practices help some people build connections and restore hope.
The key is to identify ways that are likely to work well for you as part of your own personal strategy for fostering resilience.
LEARNING FROM YOUR PAST
Focusing on past experiences and sources of personal strength can help you learn about what strategies for building resilience might work for you. By exploring answers to the following questions about yourself and your reactions to challenging life events, you may discover how you can respond effectively to difficult situations in your life. Consider the following:
What kinds of events have been most stressful for me?
How have those events typically affected me?
Have I found it helpful to think of important people in my life when I am distressed?
To whom have I reached out for support in working through a traumatic or stressful experience?
What have I learned about myself and my interactions with others during difficult times?
Has it been helpful for me to assist someone else going through a similar experience?
Have I been able to overcome obstacles, and if so, how?
What has helped make me feel more hopeful about the future?
STAVING FLEXIBLE
Resilience involves maintaining flexibility and balance in your life as you deal with stressful circumstances and traumatic events. This happens in several ways, including:
Letting yourself experience strong emotions, and also realizing when you may need to avoid experiencing them at times in order to continue functioning.
Stepping forward and taking action to deal with your problems and meet the demands of daily living, and also stepping back to rest and re-energize yourself.
Spending time with loved ones to gain support and encouragement, and also nurturing yourself.
Relying on others, and also relying on yourself.
CONTINUING THE JOURNEY
To help summarize several of the main points in this training, think of resilience as similar to taking a raft trip down a river.
On a river, you may encounter rapids, turns, slow water and shallows. As in life, the changes you experience affect you differently along the way.
In traveling the river, it helps to have knowledge about it and past experience in dealing with it. Your journey should be guided by a plan, a strategy that you consider likely to work well for you.
Perseverance and trust in your ability to work your way around boulders and other obstacles are important. You can gain courage and insight by successfully navigating your way through white water. Trusted companions who accompany you on the journey can be especially helpful for dealing with rapids, upstream currents and other difficult stretches of the river.
You can climb out to rest alongside the river. But to get to the end of your journey, you need to get back in the raft and continue.
ADDITIONAL HELP
Getting help when you need it is crucial in building your resilience. Beyond caring family members and friends, people often find it helpful to turn to:
Self-help and support groups. Such community groups can aid people struggling with hardships such as the death of a loved one. By sharing information, ideas and emotions, group participants can assist one another and find comfort in knowing that they are not alone in experiencing difficulty.
Books and other publications by people who have successfully managed adverse situations such as surviving a hardship or illness. These stories can motivate readers to find a strategy that might work for them personally.
Online resources. Information on the web can be a helpful source of ideas, though the quality of information varies among sources.
For many people, using their own resources and the kinds of help listed above may be sufficient for building resilience. At times, however, an individual might get stuck or have difficulty making progress on the road to resilience.
A licensed mental health professional such as a counselor, social worker, or clinical psychologist can assist people in developing an appropriate strategy for moving forward. It is important to get professional help if you feel like you are unable to function or perform basic activities of daily living as a result of a traumatic or other stressful life experience.
Different people tend to be comfortable with somewhat different styles of interaction. A person should feel at ease and have good rapport in working with a mental health professional or participating in a support group.
