Promoting Resilience in the Traumatized

Defining Resilience

In its simplest definition, resilience refers to an individual's ability and potential to develop significant psychological and emotional skills, as well as the ability to use familial, social, and external support, to better deal with stressful life events or experiences. From a psychological perspective, resilience is more than just the absence of psychopathology, and it includes the capacity for transformation and positive affect. In addition, resilience is a process, and over time, it has been found that individuals are able to bounce back and heal from the devastating effects of trauma. As a concept in itself, however, the definition of resilience varies in outcome: Some researchers define resiliency as the absence of negative outcome or pathology, other researchers define resilience as the presence of positive outcome, and others still understand resilience as a combination of both.

Anette Quale and Anne-Kristine Schanke state that resilience is a two-dimensional construct. This implies that resilience consists of the following: exposure to adversity and the positive adjustment outcomes to the adversity. Thus, to experience resilience, the result of a traumatic or adverse situation must be constructive and positive.

A more formal definition of resilience is given by George Bonanno, who proposed that resiliency is the ability of individuals

This is a comprehensive definition because it clearly states that no matter the varying levels or degree of trauma an individual is faced with, he or she still has the capacity to develop a positive outcome despite the adverse experience(s). But what contributes to a positive outcome? What enables an individual to bounce back from a traumatic experience, sometimes even to the point of significant personal growth and transformation?

The following section provides an outline of some of the significant factors that result in resiliency.

Promoting Resilience

Most theorists and researchers believe that resilience is ordinary, not extraordinary. Furthermore, being resilient does not imply that a person does not experience difficulties or distress, but that the person can create and experience positive outcomes even in the face of trauma. Anyone can learn and develop resilient behaviors, thoughts, and actions.

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