Part 2 of Emerging from COVID- 19 — Resilience and Post-Traumatic Growth in Children.

“When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves…” we are challenged to grow! Viktor Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning.

Photo by Ravi Roshan on Unsplash

There is a common misnomer in society that children are “resilient” and “they will adapt,” with the connotation that resiliency is inherent in the individual and pre-determined, so to speak, by genetics or personality. While adaptability is certainly a valuable “learned” skill to teach a child, children are not inherently “resilient.” They need guidance to build this skill. Resilience can be broadly defined as “the capacity of a system to adapt successfully to challenges that threaten the function, survival, or future development of the system” (Masten,2014). According to Masten and Barnes, fundamental to this definition is the idea that the resilience of a developing person is not inherent in the encapsulated body and mind of the individual. Rather, the ability of the individual to adapt is to challenges is dependent on “their connections to other people and systems external to the individual through relationships and other processes” (p. 2). Resilience is not a trait. It is not a quality, genetic marker, or set of biological processes that exist “within a child,” although differences in personality and cognitive skills play a role. Resilience…