WHAT IS RESILIENCE?
counselling session, through to the last. The therapist is equipped to see the potential in the client, viewing each individual with positive regard and an eye for change. This keeps the focus on progress, which is essential for resilience to flourish.
Building capacity for resilience is discussed a lot these days. A quick search on Google will yield nine million results. Resilience is the capacity for bouncing back after difficulty. It is an important topic, post pandemic, as it concerns a changing world. When I think of resilience, a popular toy comes to mind: fidget toys. People use these squishy toys to relieve tension. When in use, the toy will be bent out of shape—compressed and crushed. When the pressure is off, the toy resumes its original shape. It is a picture of resilience.
WHAT STEPS ARE NEEDED TO SUPPORT RESILIENCY?
Individuals can take steps toward their desired future prior to their first counselling session. Tiny mental shifts toward hope are a means of developing resiliency. Willingness and desire to change are the necessary first ingredients. So to support one’s journey toward growth and recovery, with the hopes of cultivating resiliency, just small steps are necessary. Only one small step at a time. Growth is not always about mapping out a long- term plan. Post-traumatic growth and resiliency development entail whatever steps toward recovery the client is able to manage. The first step starts with making a commitment to reach out for support. That step is often the hardest one. Those changes that follow can be achieved through the momentum created by that initial first step.
Lori Gard is a registered counselling therapist at Your Life Design Inc., a PEI based company offering online therapy and training. Gard is also a Canadian Certified Counsellor and holds separate bachelor’s degrees in history and education. Gard also has a Master of Science degree from the University of West Alabama, as well as a Master of Education from UPEI. She has a certificate in Solution Focused Brief Therapy through OISE at the University of Toronto, and she is currently studying for her Advanced Certificate in Couple and Family Therapy at the University of Guelph. Gard specializes in working with children and their parents, with youth, teenagers, couples, and families, and offers Solution Focused Brief Therapy to her many clients. Gard lives in Mill River East with her husband Brian, and their four children.
THE ROLE OF SOLUTION FOCUSED THERAPY IN BUILDING RESILIENCE
According to the Institute for Solution Focused Therapy (2022), the Solution Focused Brief Therapy approach supports the client’s capacity to endure adversity and achieve post-traumatic growth. This therapy starts with the premise that the client has the capacity for change, as well as the belief that clients have the resources to build a more fulfilling life. How is this change achieved? Through conversation. Often, sessions start with the client establishing what they want to see happen in their life—and there are many who want to live more mindfully, as well as who want to create meaningful coping strategies while preparing for small next steps.
RESILIENCE IS POSSIBLE
We all have capacity for cultivating resiliency. The human story is one of adversity; it is also one of hope. The experience of cultivating resilience can happen vicariously. When individuals are able to see that the experience of resilience is possible, the potential to bounce back from challenge and hardship is then possible. That is the way resilience grows: little by little, in supportive, caring environments infused with hope.
TRAUMA INFORMED CARE
The qualities of the solution focused approach, that support resilience, are the emphasis on relationship and on creating safe, supportive environments for movement and progress. The client and therapist build space for reassurance and rapport from the first
www.yourlifedesign.ca 902.316.0745
SPRING 2023 www.pei-living.ca
25
Made with FlippingBook - Online magazine maker