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Resilience Isn’t Just Bouncing Back
An opportunity for growth?
While the popular view of resilience is that we can and should bounce back from adversity, this may not be a helpful outlook for life. It suggests that the resilient person effortlessly overcomes tough times to return to ‘normal’ without missing a beat.
After all, trauma is part of life and will be faced by all of us at some point. While it will lead to prolonged distress for some, others will return from the ordeal stronger in mind and spirit, having met the challenge and returned to purposeful lives.
And yet, although it is neither realistic nor advisable to shield yourself from risk, it is possible to develop resilience and rise to “the challenge of tough times and find unimagined strengths within yourself” (Neenan, 2018, p. 3).
The following article explores how counseling can help build such resilience in clients, helping them see adversity as an opportunity for growth and using existing and new psychological potential to overcome challenges.
To find out more, check out the full article here:
