21 st Century Survival Skills

1. Maine Resilience 21st Century Survival Skills

2. Webinar courtesy of www.kidsterrain.com.

4. What is Resilience? Module I • Re-sil-ience(ri-zil-’yens) • Resilience is the process of adapting well in the face of adversity, trauma, tragedy, threats, or even significant sources of stress. • It means “bouncing back” from difficult experiences. • American Psychological Association

5. What is Resilience? • The process of coping with and managing tragedy and crises. • It is bouncing back from hard times. • The skills and attitudes that make us resilient may be more common than we thought. • Skills and attitudes can be learned.

6. Factors that make up resilience… • Optimism • Awareness of feelings • Ability to confront and deal with feelings

7. Why Learn Resilience Skills? Terrorism and War Natural Disasters Personal Tragedies The Recession/ Depression

8. Why Learn Resilience Skills? The Politics of Fear The Politics of Hope Help Others Build Resilience

9. 11 Factors that make for resilient people • Eleven Skills and Attitudes Common to Resilient People • 1. Being connected to others. • 2 Being flexible in your thinking and in your actions.

10. 11 Factors that make for resilient people • 3. Being able to make realistic plans and take action to carry them out. • 4. Being able to communicate well with others and problem-solve.

11. 11 Factors that make for resilient people • 5. Being able to manage strong feelings. • 6. Being self-confident.

12. 11 Factors that make for resilient people • 7. Being able to find purpose and meaning in one’s life.

13. 11 Factors that make for resilient people 8. Being able to explain events without using: - Permanence - Pervasiveness - Personal Blame

14. 11 Factors that make for resilient people Being able to appreciate and use humor appropriately. Being able to take care of yourself eg. diet, exercise, etc. Being able to care for others physically and emotionally. Others?

15. Learning from your past. Module II • Unless we learn from our history, • we are doomed to repeat it.

16. Questions to think about... • Writing can be a helpful process. Seeing answers in black and white is different from simply thinking about them. • How have I managed stressful events in my life in the past? • How did I deal with the feelings that came up? • Did I talk with others about what was happening?

17. Questions to think about... • Who have been the role models in my life for dealing with adversity and hard times? • What have I learned from them? Good and bad.

18. Questions to think about... • During hard times, how was I able to use my head? • Was I able to think clearly and problem-solve in a crisis? • Could I use my thinking to help manage my feelings?

19. Questions to think about... • How was I personally impacted by 911? • Since 911, has my attitude toward others who are different from me by religious or race changed? • If so, how?

20. Learning resilience through storytelling…. Module III • We learn resilience by sharing stories about our lives. • From campfires to water coolers, we continue to tell stories about resilience. • Stories told through a novel or a movie are excellent vehicles for teaching resilience.

21. An exercise in Reaching Home • How would you apply resilience skills and attitudes in the following situation? The year is 2013. You are far from home and alone. An explosion occurs at a Department of Energy nuclear facility. Caught up in the ensuing disaster, you are implicated in what is mistakenly believed to be a terrorist plot. You escape the local authorities and begin your journey home. You must seek help from others in order to reach home.

22. Questions to ask yourself… • If you were cut off from your support system, whom would you seek assistance from? • How would you manage your feelings in this situation? • Would you attempt to help others? • Whom would you trust? • How would you get home?

23. Reaching Home - the Maine Resilience Project • Reaching Home, a novel about conquering fear and building resilience. • “Duct Tape Isn’t Enough,” a Reader and Resilience Coaches Guide. • The Maine Resilience Project, teaching resilience through storytelling. • To learn more: www.meresilience.org

24. What’s your plan for building and maintaining your resilience? Module IV • Develop a plan, write it down and review it periodically, e.g., the 1st Saturday in January, April, July and October. • Develop a readiness kit. For more information visit: www.ready.gov

25. Building Resilience • Ask yourself… • How can I strengthen and build my connection to others? • Is my community a major source of resilience for me?

26. Building Resilience • How should I change my thinking? • Can I learn to be more optimistic? • Am I willing to see things in my life as temporary rather than permanent? • Am I willing to view what happens as having a specific effect rather than a pervasive effect on my life in general? • How can I give up the blame game while still being accountable and holding others accountable for their actions?

27. Building Resilience • How can I take better care of myself each day? • Diet • Exercise • How can I get things done today rather than putting them off to tomorrow?

28. Building Resilience • What are my goals for the future? • Goals can push and pull us forward, especially in bad times. • Create SMART Goals S– Specific M– Measurable A– Attainable R– Realistic T– Time-specific

29. What’s your plan for maintaining your resilience while developing the skills of others? • Review the eleven factors/skills/attitudes that make for resilience and answer the following questions: 1. What support network will you utilize both in and outside of your home/organization/institution? 2. How flexible will you be? 3. Are your plans realistic?

30. What’s your plan for maintaining your resilience while developing the skills of others? • 4. Will you take action? • 5. With whom do you need to open or increase communication? • 6. What feelings will you have about what you are doing? How will you deal with them? • 7. How self-confident are you about the success you will have with your project? Will doing this activity build your self-confidence?

31. What’s your plan for maintaining your resilience while developing the skills of others? • 8. Will doing this activity add meaning and purpose to your life? • 9. How will your level of optimism or pessimism impact what you are doing?

32. Application of Resilience Skills to Others Module V • How will you integrate these skills into • the activities/”projects” you are • presently doing? • What is your SMART plan for building the resilience of others? • Who do you need to “sell” your “project” • to and how will you do this?

33. Resources • The American Psychological Association, www.apahelpcenter.org • Reaching Home, “Duct Tape Isn’t Enough”, • Partners with Maine Resilience • www.reachinghome.com • In the Wake of 911, the Psychology of Terror. Pyszczynski, Solomon & Greenberg, available through the American Psychological Association • Opening up: The healing Power of Confiding in Others,by James Pennebaker, New York: Avon Books, 1990 • Learned Optimism by Martin Seligman, New York: Knopf, 1990 (first printing) • Quiz, Q&A, Evaluation and Follow-up Thank you