Understanding 7Cs of Resilience - What makes children resilient


We all go through ups and downs in life and learn to navigate through tough situations. Resilience can be defined as the process of adapting well in the face of adversity, trauma, tragedy, threats or significant sources of stress. Resilience involves "bouncing back" from these difficult experiences, it can also involve profound personal growth (APA)


Resilience help children navigate in stressful situations. When children have skill set to confront and work through difficult problems they learn to prepared for similar situation in future and build up on better problem solving and stress management strategies. 

Kenneth Ginsburg in his new book- Building Resilience in Children and Teens talks about 7Cs of resilience that can help children to effectively cope with a crisis:

1. Competence

  • Competence is the ability to handle situation effectively
  • Children need to be recognized when they are doing something right 
  • Give them opportunity to develop new skills
  • Encourage and reinforce them when you see them performing a new skill
2. Confidence
  • Confidence comes from building skills that parents/ caregivers and educators can teach and nurture.
  • Children gain confidence as they demonstrate their competence in real situations.
  • Encouraging a child to ask questions and praise children honestly
3. Connection
  • Being part of a community helps kids know they aren’t alone in their struggle and that they can ask for help and develop creative solutions to problems.
  • It increases a child’s sense of belonging and safety in a wider world.
4. Character
  • Strengthen a child’s sense of character by helping her explore who she is (identity), what her values are, and what wisdom and gifts she has that she can share with others.
5. Contribution
  • Help a child or teen acknowledge that although he may be in a position of receiving more than he is able to give, the world is a better place because he is in it.
  • Explore situations where the young person can truly feel he is contributing, and find ways to bring those situations into his life.
6. Coping
  • Children need to learn mechanisms to manage their stress by learning methods to both engage and disengage at times.
  • A wide range of positive, adaptive coping mechanisms can also help kids steer clear of dangerous quick fixes for stress.
  • Some coping strategies involve: Breaking down difficult and challenging problems into smaller, achievable steps, avoiding things that trigger extreme anxiety, and just letting some things go.

7. Control
  • When children’s decisions affect their lives, they learn that they have control. 
  • They see that they can do what it takes to bounce back after challenges.
  • Children who lack a sense of control feel like their actions don’t matter. They can become passive, pessimistic, or even depressed.
  • Resilient children know they have internal control. They know they can make a difference.
When kids have the skills and the confidence to confront and work through their problems, they learn that they have what it takes to confront difficult issues. The more they bounce back on their own, the more they internalize the message that they are strong and capable. 







Sanjina Bose


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

8 Steps For Effective Problem Solving

Image
“I suppose it is tempting, if the only tool you have is a hammer, to treat everything as if it were a nail.” -Abraham Maslow We encounter problems everyday and everybody can benefit from having a good plan to overcome them.   Some of these problems are obviously more severe or complex than others. Problem solving is the act of defining a problem; determining the cause of the problem; identifying, prioritizing, and selecting alternatives for a solution; and implementing a solution. Planning and structuring well makes process of problem solving more successful.  Here is a step by step breakdown of how you can easily solve a problem: 1. Identify the problem    "A problem well stated is a problem half solved." -John Dewey Define the problem i.e. what exactly is that you want to solve What are the causes What are the possible maintaining factor Is it situation specific? 2. Break it down into smaller steps and decide which part do you want to work on first Break down ...
Read more

Understanding Communication Styles

Image
What is your style? The ways we present ourselves says a lot about us. The way we dress, the way we speak, the way we behave with others affect our relationships not only with others but also with ourselves. We have patterns and habits of how we communicate with others. We adopt unique communication styles which reflect on our mood, personality as well the type of conversation we have with people. Each person has a unique communication style. These communication styles come under four broad categories: Passive, Aggressive, Passive-Aggressive, and Assertive. Understanding different communication styles can improve the quality of our relationships with others. Let’s understand 4 types of communication styles. Passive Have you noticed some people who constantly say, “It really doesn’t matter” or “I don’t like confrontation” or “I want to keep the peace?” These are some of the things people with passive communication style say. In the passive communication style, people usually don’t expre...
Read more

The Subtle Art of Persuasion

Image
In the recent past, how many times someone has tried to change your point of view or attitude towards something? If you sit down and think about it, you will realize that every day we are bombarded with such attempts. Let’s understand what persuasion is. Persuasion is an attempt to change people’s attitudes through various kinds of messages and information. Persuasion is a very powerful skill which plays an important role in our daily life.  What influences persuasion? Let’s look at some of the factors that impact persuasion. Factors that Impact Persuasion The credibility of the communicator Would you listen to someone who doesn’t know what they are talking about? Do you take advice from your peers when you are sick? Credibility is an important factor that influences persuasion. People usually listen to and follow those people who seem to know what they are talking about or people who are experts or are trained in the field. For example, you will follow the advice of a doctor inste...
Read more