Posts
Thursday's Therapy
The Road to Resilience
Part Four
Places to look for help
Getting help when you need it is crucial in building your resilience. Beyond caring family members and friends, people often find it helpful to turn to:
Self-help and support groups. Such community groups can aid people struggling with hardships such as the death of a loved one. By sharing information, ideas, and emotions, group participants can assist one another and find comfort in knowing that they are not alone in experiencing difficulty.
Books and other publications by people who have successfully managed adverse situations such as surviving cancer. These stories can motivate readers to find a strategy that might work for them personally.
Online resources. Information on the web can be a helpful source of ideas, though the quality of information varies among sources.
For many people, using their own resources and the kinds of help listed above may be sufficient for building resilience. At times, however, an individual might get stuck or have difficulty making progress on the road to resilience.
A licensed mental health professional such as a psychologist can assist people in developing an appropriate strategy for moving forward. It is important to get professional help if you feel like you are unable to function or perform basic activities of daily living as a result of a traumatic or other stressful life experience.
Different people tend to be comfortable with somewhat different styles of interaction. A person should feel at ease and have good rapport in working with a mental health professional or participating in a support group.
Continuing on your journey
To help summarize several of the main points in this brochure, think of resilience as similar to taking a raft trip down a river.
On a river, you may encounter rapids, turns, slow water, and shallows. As in life, the changes you experience affect you differently along the way.
In traveling the river, it helps to have knowledge about it and past experience in dealing with it. Your journey should be guided by a plan, a strategy that you consider likely to work well for you.
Perseverance and trust in your ability to work your way around boulders and other obstacles are important. You can gain courage and insight by successfully navigating your way through white water. Trusted companions who accompany you on the journey can be especially helpful for dealing with rapids, upstream currents, and other difficult stretches of the river.
You can climb out to rest alongside the river. But to get to the end of your journey, you need to get back in the raft and continue.
(If you haven't done so, you may want to take the following inventory to assess where you might be in your rebuilding resilience after your tragic loss of your child.)
~The American Psychological Association
About this guide
Information contained in this brochure should not be used as a substitute for professional health and mental health care or consultation. Individuals who believe they may need or benefit from care should consult a psychologist or other licensed health/mental health professional.
Acknowledgments:
The American Psychological Association gratefully acknowledges the following contributors to this publication:
Lillian Comas-Diaz, Ph.D., Director, Transcultural Mental Health Institute, Washington, D.C.
Suniya S. Luthar, Ph.D., Teachers College, Columbia University, New York City, NY
Salvatore R. Maddi, Ph.D., The Hardiness Institute, Inc., University of California at Irvine, Newport Beach, CA
H. Katherine (Kit) O'Neill, Ph.D., North Dakota State University and Knowlton, O'Neill and Associates, Fargo, ND
Karen W. Saakvitne, Ph.D., Traumatic Stress Institute/Center for Adult & Adolescent Psychotherapy, South Windsor, CT
Richard Glenn Tedeschi, Ph.D., Department of Psychology, University of North Carolina at Charlotte
American Psychological Association
The American Psychological Association (APA), located in Washington, DC, is the largest scientific and professional organization representing psychology in the United States and is the world's largest association of psychologists. APA's membership includes more than 155,000 researchers, educators, clinicians, consultants and students. Through its 53 divisions and its affiliations with 60 state, territorial and Canadian provincial associations, APA works to advance psychology as a science and profession and as a means of promoting health and human welfare.
Discovery Health Channel
Discovery Health Channel takes viewers inside the fascinating and informative world of health and medicine to experience firsthand, compelling, real life stories of medical breakthroughs and human triumphs. From the people who bring you the Discovery Channel, the most trusted brand on television, Discovery Health Channel is part of a major, multi-media business designed to help consumers lead healthier, more vigorous lives. Discovery Health Channel and Discvoery.com/health were formed by Discovery Communications, Inc. (DCI), a privately held, diversified media company headquartered in Bethesda, MD.
No comments:
Post a Comment