Building Resilience
According to the American Psychological Association, “resilience is the process of adapting well in the face of adversity . . . .” and, surprising to many, “research has shown that resilience is ordinary, not extraordinary.”
Resilience does not mean the absence of distress or sadness, and usually the road to resilience takes time and involves an emotional journey.
We all know people who have come back from difficulty or loss, and while some people may seem to be more resilient than others, anyone can develop resilience through a variety of strategies including observing, identifying and managing strong feelings, having a positive view of ourselves and our strengths and capacity to solve our own problems, and making realistic plans and communicating well.
The good news is that resilience is not a trait that people either have or do not have. It involves behaviors, thoughts and actions that can be learned and developed in anyone. Though connections and compassionate parenting, we are helping our children both heal and build necessary resilience.
When Everything We Know is NOT ENOUGH
My son came with trauma I could barely comprehend and all I could ask was…What was I doing wrong? Why wasn’t my parenting working? What was I missing? What could I do differently?
Reactive Attachment Disorder and Treatment of RAD
there are thousands of children who have been impacted by trauma and exhibit many of the symptoms that are part of the RAD definition . Some children are diagnosed with PTSD or other conditions instead of (or in addition to) RAD. It is often used as a catch-all term for children who are struggling due to problems in their past.