A few weeks back, I ventured into blogland just briefly to share some thoughts about resilience in Part 1 of this series. A few days later, I was fortunate enough to speak to a group of parents about promoting resilience through an event hosted by the Northbrook Citizens for Drug and Alcohol Awareness (NCDAA). Through our discussion, it became clear to me that there is a common misperception that resilience is dichotomous—a have or have not—a pretty scary notion if you think about it and an awful lot of pressure for concerned parents to be carrying around. The good news is that everyone is resilient to some degree. The bad news is, after re-reading my last blog, I realized that I may have fed into this unfortunate misperception by suggesting that resilience is something only exhibited by the “outliers” in society. So, I’m here to clarify and maybe to put some minds at ease. Whether you consider yourself an outlier or not, you are resilient! Your children are resilient! We are all resilient! That said, there are things that can be done to maximize each person’s resilience quotient.

http://www.jcfscommunities.org/blog/2012/12/4/raising-resilient-kids-part-2.html

By Brandy Baker, PsyD, Clinical Psychologist