From 2010 till 2020, scientific publications on resilience increased by over 87%. The psychological phenomenon is apparently of great public interest, and we can assume that with the Covid pandemic happening from 2020 on, research as well as media coverage on resilience grew even further. Resilience however doesn’t have its origin in psychology, but in material science: The term is used to describe a material that gets back into its original shape after experiencing change – a soft foam ball or rubber for example have very high resilience, whereas glass and ceramics have very low resilience.

Transferred to psychology and the human mind, resilience means the ability to deal with burden and stress. The authors of a report on resilience research published in 2015 define psychological resilience “as a dynamic [lifelong] psychosocial process through which individuals exposed to sustained adversity or potentially traumatic events experience positive psychological adaptation over time.”

According to the authors, resilience research originated in two fields: traumatology (looking at adults) and developmental psychology (looking at children and youth). One of the first and most cited long-term studies on resilience by Emmy Werner and Ruth Smith looked at the development of children born in Hawaii in 1955. Despite bad conditions (mostly defined by poverty, alcoholism, and violence) some children were developing well and thriving in later life. Werner and Smith identified humor, the ability to ask for help, optimism, and some form of spirituality, but also the bond with a caregiver, such as a parent or teacher, as the success factors. Until nowadays, researchers align on the idea that not only personal attributes, skills and characteristics lead to resilience, but also the environment of a person, meaning their social relationships, community, culture, and available resources (Masten and Wright, 2010).

Becoming more resilient has more benefits than just surviving the next crisis: A study by psychologist Mark Seery and his team (2011) found that “having some life experience of adversity is associated with better mental health and well-being than having had no adversity at all.” The results showed that crisis-tested people were less shaken by negative events. Other research shows that even severe negative events like a divorce or death can have a positive outcome in people over time. It was and is assumed that experiences like these make us humble and change how we view the world and our own lives, and often people report to feel more connected to others in crises. All this strengthens our sense of belonging and our resilience, and so ironically there is truth in saying that adversity and setbacks make us happy.

Of course, not all adversity will eventually turn into positive adaptation; especially if adversity is severe and/or happening again and again, individuals may feel continued despair or even develop trauma / PTSD. The authors of the resilience report summarized that “what appears to be most important in distinguishing whether a situation of adversity will set into motion a trajectory of resilience or a trajectory of maladjustment is whether the adversity is manageable.” And this in turn, as we have learned, is dependent as much on the individual’s coping skills as on their support network, conditions and resources.

While we can only influence to some extent how our support network looks and what resources we have available to face a challenge, much of the research focuses on what we can actually do ourselves to strengthen our resilience. According to resilience expert, coach and trainer Prof. Dr. Jutta Heller, there are 7 factors that protect us and make us resilient: (1) acceptance, (2) optimism, (3) self-efficacy, (4) (self-) responsibility, (5) network orientation, (6) solution orientation, and (7) future orientation. When we attended a lecture about resilience hosted by psychologists and trainers Ludwika Fichte and Bettina Löhr, they shared that they experience acceptance as the least and solution orientation as the most lived and practiced factor in our society. “We observe a kind of a correlation between those two factors: it seems that people want to take control over their lives, which means also of every situation they face. If we experience a situation we do not like, we immediately look for solutions because we don’t want to accept unexpected and unwanted things”, shares Ludwika. “However, resilience begins with acceptance. It is arguably the most important protective factor.”

All of these factors are a matter of mind, how we view the world and the situation, and what we make of it. It is scientifically proven that the decision to view things with optimism and to understand stress as something that is not inherently negative, helps people thrive. Researcher Alia Crum has found (2007) that a positive mindset about stress (meaning that stress is good for me and helping me) supports people in dealing with their stress, making them more productive, successful, and resilient.

Such a positive mindset is working on 4 levels: (1) I pay attention to the chances rather than the struggles and risks, (2) I don’t “stress about the stress” as much, but think rather solution-oriented about it, (3) I behave and react in the most helpful way rather than bursting in anger for example, (4) and my body helps me deal with the situation better on a hormonal level, as it breaks down the stress hormone cortisol quicker. It seems that positive thoughts have a direct connection with our body, releasing those hormones that support us in dealing with stress and adversity – a positive chain reaction, if you will.

Apparently, a lot is in our hands when it comes to cultivating resilience in us. The American Psychological Association shares this view, and published a practical guideline “Road to Resilience” that features ways to build resilience. All the research we looked at in this article suggests that we can indeed train our resilience, both by adapting supportive mindsets and protective factors, and by learning how to deal with setbacks through the lived experience. 

Neurologist Achim Peters explains that many people ‘habituate’ when confronted with stress, which means that they get used to this kind of stress and become more calm and confident when similar stress arises next time. This quality is not equally present in everyone, and even genetics might have a role in how well a person is able to habituate to stress. For some people it is therefore easier to deal with stress and to become resilient than for others.

However, resilience remains a complex dynamic process to be viewed in its context. We can never fully predict how well a person reacts to stress: Someone who was resilient in one situation is not necessarily resilient in the next one, or vice versa. The strongest learning factor for resilience seems to be to actually go through challenges and adversity, and to learn from experience. Learning to be resilient is therefore always a learning by doing and reflecting, and cannot be completely achieved in a ‘dry learning sense’, such as a day workshop might provide. Or to say it with Nvidia CEO’s Jensen Huang’s words to Stanford students: “I don’t know how to teach it to you except for I hope suffering happens to you. (…) I wish upon you ample doses of pain and suffering.”

Coaching is one of the most effective ways to learn resilience. In this long-term guidance and safe space for reflection, clients get to work on their specific challenges individually, with their resources and solutions that feel right and good to them – like we heard in the client stories from our two coaches Susanne and Susanne. Instead of learning about resilience in theory, coaching – much like therapy – works with what’s happening in life, and so clients will build up their individual resilience strategies.

Teams as well as individuals benefit from professional guidance to find a fit solution on the one hand, and to learn about different coping strategies along the way on the other hand. Contact us or book a demo if you wish to learn how we can support your organisation and employees with programs, coaching, and more.

Header Illustration: Johanna Goldmann