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Resiliency After Breast Cancer

Grab a piece of paper and a pen! . Resiliency After Breast Cancer. Julie Larson, LCSW www.julielarsonlcsw.com. RESILIENCE : re-sil-ience [re-zil-yuhns]. NOUN The ability to return to the original form, position, etc… after being bent, compressed or stretched.

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Resiliency After Breast Cancer

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  1. Grab a piece of paper and a pen!  Resiliency After Breast Cancer Julie Larson, LCSW www.julielarsonlcsw.com

  2. RESILIENCE: re-sil-ience [re-zil-yuhns] NOUN • The ability to return to the original form, position, etc… after being bent, compressed or stretched. • Ability to recover readily from illness, depression, adversity or the like; buoyancy.

  3. What is Resilience? • MYTH: Resilience is a genetic trait. You either have it or you don’t. • We are all born with innate resiliency. An inborn capacity for “self-righting”. • Resilience is found in a variety of thought processes and behaviors that can be learned throughout a lifetime. • Resilience develops as people grow and develop better thinking, self-management skills and knowledge. NOT TRUE

  4. When Active Treatment Ends When others are ready to celebrate the end of your treatment, cancer survivors often experience a mix of emotions/reactions after treatment ends. THE POSITIVE FEELINGS: • Acknowledging personal strengths • Deepened relationships with loved ones • Excited about the future • New desire to set personal goals • A sense of gratitude and appreciation for life …. RESILIENCE!

  5. Resilient people are NOT immune to stress and negative emotions….

  6. When Active Treatment Ends THE “Not-so-Positive” FEELINGS • Fear of Recurrence: Worry about future unknowns • Anxiety: Concern about not being in active treatment • Concerns about physical appearance • Sadness • Depression • Grief • Anger about having had the life disruption of cancer • Financial concerns • Guilt or Regret • Emotional numbness • Spiritual uncertainty • Learning new ways to care for yourself

  7. Personal Growth – Resiliency! • Most people who experience a major life crisis or event experience feelings of grief, anxiety, anger, and other negative emotions. • Growth comes not from the avoidance of these negative emotions but rather from the struggle to cope with them. Stress!!!

  8. So who here is Resilient? Of course you are! But…What is your personal “brand” of resiliency? Can you articulate how you’ve made it this far? What habits or qualities would you like to cultivate within yourself as you move forward in your survivorship?

  9. Your “personal brand” of Resilience • Make a list of different ways you care for yourself • Consider your five senses • How do you care for yourself at: • Work? • Home? • When you are out socially? • In the middle of the night? • If being with people is part of your list, what are you doing together? Ground yourself: *Look up *Breathe *Feel your feet on the ground *Tune into your body

  10. Getting to Know YOU… The “YOU INVENTORY” The best parts of being me! • What underlying qualities would you want others to know about you? • Did you learn anything new about yourself since you were diagnosed with cancer? • How are these qualities important in your relationships with others? • What one, two or three things can I do better than everyone else in this room? Skills, Talents, Passions, Past successes

  11. Common Traits of Resilient People: • Social Competence: • Responsive • Flexible • Empathetic • Caring • Communicative • Sense of humor • Problem Solvers: • Planning • Help-seeking • Critical thinkers • Creative. Benard, B. (1991). Fostering Resiliency in Kids: Protective Factors in the Family, School, and Community. Portland, OR: Western Center for Drug-Free Schools and Communities.

  12. Common Traits of Resilient People • Autonomous: • Strong sense of identity • Self-aware • Task mastery oriented • Adaptive • Able to set boundaries from negative messages/conditions. • Sense of Purpose & Belief in the future: • Goal oriented • Educational aspirations • Optimism • Faith • Spiritual connectedness Benard, B. (1991). Fostering Resiliency in Kids: Protective Factors in the Family, School, and Community. Portland, OR: Western Center for Drug-Free Schools and Communities.

  13. Personal Resiliency Builders • Relationships • Service • Humor • Inner Direction • Perceptiveness • Independence • Positive View of Personal Future Henderson, N. (2003). Hard-wired to bounce back. Prevention Researcher (10), 1, 5 – 7.

  14. Personal Resiliency Builders • Flexibility • Love of Learning • Self-motivation • Competence • Self-Worth • Spirituality • Perseverance • Creativity Henderson, N. (2003). Hard-wired to bounce back. Prevention Researcher (10), 1, 5 – 7.

  15. ACTIVITY: Role Model Search! Who are the people you admire? (or who inspire you, are enjoyable and feel “good to you”) • You might have different role models for different aspects of your identity. • You may know these folks: family members, friends, colleagues, people in your larger community • Role models can also be people you don’t personally know (or characters who aren’t even real!) • Bottom line: What are the qualities or characteristics about this person that you like? • It is highly likely that those qualities or characteristics are traits you’d want to embody as well. So… give it a go!

  16. Why does resiliency matter? • Resilient people often find meaning even in times of trouble and gain confidence from overcoming adversity. In this way, resilience can contribute to a deeply satisfying life. • Resiliency and Happiness are closely linked • Happiness involves feeling more positive emotions than negative emotions. • Positive emotions help us build skills and internal resources…a larger repertoire of assets that we can draw on in stressful times. • In other words, “Happy people become more satisfied not simply because they feel better, but because they develop resources for living well.” Bauer & Bonanno

  17. The Upward Spiral of Wellbeing

  18. Reacting to Stress • Distressed • Tired • Sick • Overwhelmed • Emotional Stress, itself is not the solitary issue. Its how we react to the circumstances and events in our life that can be healthy or “not so healthy”. STRESS Stress-vulnerable Stress-resistant • Strong • Character Building • Growth • Reward • Fulfillment

  19. Affirmations • Affirmations are healing, positive messages you give to yourself to counter your negative self-talk. • Three Types of Affirmations: • “I am…” (A statement about you) • “I can…” (A statement of your potential) • “I will…” (A statement of change in your life) • “The real tragedy of life is not that each of us doesn’t have enough strengths, • its that we fail to use the ones we have” – Gallop Organization

  20. Cultivating Resiliency • Be mindfully present • Celebrate everyday successes • Play to your strengths (that list we just made!) • Nurture gratitude • Random acts of kindness Emmons & McCollough, 2005 Lyubomirsky, 2005

  21. Make it Real… … • GlorifiedHonest. What is right with you is more powerful than anything that is wrong with you. MysticalReal.

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