The 6 C’s of Fostering Resilience in Children

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As a systems therapist working primarily with adults and children impacted by trauma, I’ve found that fostering “resilience” helps mitigate the impact of trauma. In general, fostering resilience helps “insulate” against the negative impact of stress and lessen the impact of traumatic experiences (Harvard University, 2018).

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).

Photo by Elijah Hiett on Unsplash

Resilience building has become more important now than ever! The changing world and landscape has created an immediate need for cultivating “insulating” factors in children to help protect them for future success. Resilience is not solely based on a set of genetic factors or intrinsic personality traits. Relationships foster resilience. Try the 6 C’s of Resilience Building strategies.

1. Community — Relationships foster resilience. Help your child form strong friendships by teaching the qualities of being a good friend. Find activities and institutions that have supportive, positive adult role models who are willing to form a relationship with…