EMOTIONAL
RESILENCE &
INTERVENTION
PROGRAM
IVY DENICE M. ABOGADO, RGC
• It may seem a little old-fashioned now, but it
wasn’t that long ago that hanging your clothes
out on a line was the only way to get them
dry. Now we’re blessed with automatic dryers
and wash-and-wear shirts, but it used to be
you had to keep an eye on the weather when
you were doing your laundry or dace spending
a day walking around in damp jeans.
• You are back in the era when everything was washed
by hand and hung out to dry. The dirty clothes have
started to pile up, and you really need to do the
laundry today. But when you look at the sky, you see
dark clouds threatening rain. What goes through your
mind?
1. “oh no, you’ve got to be kidding! You mean I’ve got to wait
till tomorrow? What am I going to wear?”
2. “Let’s wait for a little while and see if the weather clears
up?”
3. “Well I guess I won’t have to do laundry today after all.”
4. “I’m going to do this damn laundry whether it rains or
not.”
1.“oh no, you’ve got to be kidding! You mean
I’ve got to wait till tomorrow? What am I going
to wear?”
• Stress level: 80. You’ve been letting all the
little things that can go and do wrong in life
to get you, and now the stress has built up
so much that even the smallest annoyance
can send you into a funk all day. It’s time
for you to take a break and relax before it
stars affecting your health
2. “Let’s wait for a little while and see if the
weather clears up.”
• Stress level: 50. You aren’t overwhelmed by
stress in your life, and you manage to keep
a good perspective when things don’t go as
planned. Keep working on those problems
you can solve as they arise, and you’ll be
fine. Remember, not all stress is bad. Let the
stress in your life motivate you.
3. Well, I guess I won’t have to do laundry after
all.”
• Stress level: 0. You don’t let small problems
bother you and don’t see the point in
worrying. You may be on something with
your easygoing philosophy; you can’t stop
the rain by worrying about it.
4. “I’m going to do this damn laundry whether it
rains or not.”
• Stress level: close to 100. You feel so much
stress in your life that you ignore reality and
try to achieve the impossible. And when you
fail, you end up with bigger problems and
more stress that before. If you’d just take the
time to relax and think things through, you’d
see how much effort you’ve been wasting. Slow
down and take things easier. It won’t kill your
to wear that same pair of socks one more day
An individual’s ability to
properly adapt to stress and
adversity
Removing the struggles to
manage emotional reactions
Ability to spring back
emotionally after suffering
through difficult and stressful
times in one’s life
CHARACTERISTICS SHARED BY
EMOTIONALLY RESILIENT PEOPLE
Emotional awareness
Can identify what they are feeling and why they
are feeling that way
Sad or angry?
Perseverance
“the only way to get through it is to go through it”
Action – oriented and don’t give up
CHARACTERISTICS cont.
Internal locus of control
They are in control of themselves most of the
time and they have a choice in most situations
optimism
can see or find positive aspects in most
situations and believe that they can handle
them whatever comes along
CHARACTERISTICS cont.
support
Know the value of support
Able to find and surround themselves with
supportive friends and family
perspective
able to learn from their mistakes rather than
deny them
See obstacles as challenges to be overcome or
adjusted to
CHARACTERISTICS cont.
Sense of humor
Able to laugh at themselves and life’s
difficulties as a way of coping
Handling troublesome emotions
capacity to manage strong feelings and
impulses rather than give into them
HOW
RESILIENT
ARE YOU?
This is an abbreviated
version of the Nicholson
McBride Resilience
Questionnaire (NMRQ).
For each question, score
yourself between 1 – 5,
where 1 = strongly
disagree and 5 =
strongly agree. Be
honest.
1. In a difficult spot, I turn at once to what
can be done to put things right.
2.I influence where I can, rather than
worrying about what I can’t influence.
3.I don’t take criticism personally.
4.I generally manage to keep things in
perspective.
5.I am calm in a crisis.
6.I’m good at finding solutions to problems
7.I wouldn’t describe myself as an anxious
person.
8.I don’t tend to avoid conflict.
9.I try to control events rather than being a
victim of a circumstances.
10.I trust my intuition
11.I manage my stress levels well.
12.I feel confident and secure in my position..
YOUR SCORE:
0 - 37 38 -43
A developing level or An established level of
resilience. Your score resiliency. Your score
indicates that, although indicates that you may
you may not always occasionally have tough
feel at the mercy of days when you can’t
events, you would in quite make things go
fact benefit significantly your way, but your
from developing aspects rarely feel ready to give
of your behaviour up
44-48 49-60
A strong level of An exceptional level of
resilience. Your above – resilience. Your score
average score indicates indicates that you are
that you are pretty very resilient most of
good at rolling with the the time and rarely fail
punches and you have to bounce back –
an impressive track whatever life throws at
record of turning you. You believe in
setbacks into making your own luck.
opportunities
10 WAYS TO BUILD
RESILIENCE
MAKE AVOID SEEING CRISIS
CONNECTIONS AS INSURMOUNTABLE
PROBLEMS
• Good relationships
with close family • Change how you
members, friends or interpret and respond
trusted adults are to them
important • Interpret the situation
• “don’t do it alone” or event realistically
• We need both positive • Think things through
and negative feedback before responding
in order to grow
ACCEPT THAT CHANGE IS
PART OF LIVING
• One constant in life is that
things change
• Once we admit &
understand that life is
simply difficult at times, it
ceases to be so difficult
(Scott Pecks, The Road
Less Travelled)
MOVE TOWARD YOUR GOAL
• Realistic vs. unrealistic
• Some goals are currently unreachable unless
smaller goals are met first
• Do something regularly, even if it seems
small, until you reach your ultimate goal
TAKE DECISIVE ACTION LOOK FOR
OPPORTUNITIES FOR
• Rather than detach, SELF - DISCOVERY
take decisive action
One of the best ways to
• “when in doubt, just do
the next right thing” learn something about YOU
is going through a difficult
• Sometimes taking
decisive action is situation
deciding to do nothing We need to learn how we
until there is more handle a variety of things in
information
order to identify the things
we want to change
NURTURE A POSITIVE VIEW OF YOURSELF
• Develop confidence in your
ability to solve problems
• Positive talk: “I am a good and
worthy person regardless of
how I perform”
• Can lead to self – acceptance
in the face of less than perfect
performance
KEEP THINGS IN PERSPECTIVE
• Avoid blowing things out of proportion
• Try to consider the stressful situation in
a broader context and keep a long –
term perspective
MAINTAIN A HOPEFUL OUTLOOK
• Being optimistic enables you to expect
that good things will happen in your life
• Try to visualize what you want to
happen, rather than worrying about
what you fear most
• Optimism is a choice
• “dead things don’t grow”
• We have to feed and nourish ourselves or we
end up empty
• Know when you need time away
• Pay attention to our own needs, feelings and
signals from your body
