For today, I thought I’d touch on resilience. Resilience is our ability to handle stress and to recover from or adjust to adversity. Resilience is “bouncing back” from hard things.
For “Littles”
For our littlest people, the best way to build resilience is through our relationships. Let’s model our coping skills, validate their feelings, facilitate connection to their culture of origin, provide reassurance and team up with our kids (co-regulation!).
For Teens
Teens draw resiliency from relationships to their cultures and ‘their people’ (people such as friends, family, and community members who have meaningful connections with them), from healthy lifestyle choices, from their sense of purpose, from things such as gratitude and growth mindsets (the belief that hard work and determination can develop their abilities); from their values; from confidence and a sense of self-worth; from the things in life that bring them joy; from their sense of accomplishment; and so on.
Supporting teens can be tricky. We want to balance their need for our support and help and respect their need for independence and freedom. To support our teens, we need to listen to them, participate with them in things they enjoy, validate their feelings, and provide them with opportunities to be independent and feel connected and engaged. We can support them in making choices, setting boundaries, and challenging themselves. Most of all, we can love them and meet them where they are.
To those who care for our young people: thank you for everything you do. You are the heroes, the helpers, the healers. You are amazing.
