RAD & RESILIENCE
Written 2009. Revised April, 2014, Updated Sept 2017.
RAD -
Rapid Assessment of Psycho-social Wellness Resources and Resilience in Disasters
is a set of Laceweb Documents.
PREPARING ASSESSORS TO IDENTIFY RESILIENCE IN ITS MANY FORMS
This page draws upon the profound insights of Professor Violeta
Bautista and her colleagues Action Research in the Philippines. Refer: Bautista, V., A. Roldan & M.
Garces-Bacsal, 2001. Working With Abused
Children - From the Lenses of Resilience and Contextualization. Save the
Children Sweden, UP Centre for Integrative and Development Studies, and UP CIDS
Trauma and Human Rights Program.
The Action Research identified and wrote up resilience themes
and resilience processes used by very resilient homeless children in the
Philippines. These Ways have been effectively passed on to other at risk
children, adolescents, and adults who are not so resilient.
Below are
a few of the themes that may be explored from a vast repertoire of Resilience
Ways.
EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING OF RESILIENCE WAYS IN GROUPS.
After
trust building experiences, often attendees start with mapping their own
resilience repertoire.
Modes
of Resilience – Examples
o
Body approaches to transforming:
o
Breath
o
Posture
o
Moving
o
Moving, sensing, feeling, thinking
o
Cause oriented
o
Seeing issues as natural to life
o
Knowing how to cope with life issues
o
Issues helping strengthen character
o
Learning from experience
o
Evolving realistic and clear goals
o
Personality related
o
Inner strength
o
Sense of humour
o
Positive disposition
o
Strong sense of identity
o
Engaging in inner dialogue
o
Articulating feelings
o
Using all emotional states as guide to restore wellness
o
Having a positive view of the future
o
Exploring life’s possibilities
o
Creating positive futures with others
o
Result oriented
o
Having happy disposition
o
Flexibility and being able to transform states and change ways
o
Task oriented
o
Engaging in life-long learning
o
A culture of continual improvement
o
Participating in tasks
o
Value laden
o
Other centeredness
o
Strong sense of spirituality
o
Embodying loving, caring respecting and nurturing values
o
Dedicated to responsibilities
o
Sustained lovingness
o
Spirit of voluntarism
RESILIENCE WAYS
1.
Acceptance of and
Adjustment to the Demands of Difficult Life Situations
The capacity to adjust
to current life situation, no matter the difficulty, was an emerging
characteristic of children who survived experience of abuse. The more resilient
children were able to come to terms with their traumatic life experiences and
also cope with the demands of their present situation.
2.
Competent Functioning in
the Presence of Major Life Problems
Abused children
manifested resiliency when they were able to function competently in the
presence of major life problems.
3.
Learning from Life’s
Adversities
The stories of children
who were able to move on in life despite adversities showed their capacity to
learn from life experience.
4.
The Self as the Teacher
and the Source of Valuation
Resilient children
seemed to be those who were able to teach themselves and have an internal locus
of valuation.
5.
Forbearance and Not
Making a Big Thing of Problems as Major Modes of Coping
Many of the children who
showed strength and competence in dealing with life’s problems talked of
forbearance as their common response to abuse and hardships.
6.
Finding Happiness in the
Midst of Difficulties
The ability to find
happiness while they were in a dreary situation was a frequent theme in the
stories of children who survived abuse.
7. Ability to Maintain Sanity in the Face of
Traumatic Experiences
The more resilient
children seem to have the capacity to take problems without losing their grip
on reality.
8. Recovering from Past Wounds
Abuse leaves wounds
which bring pain and bitterness. What was remarkable among some of the more
resilient children in the study was their ability to recover from these wounds.
Exploring
Resilience Themes – Examples:
o
Accepting and adjusting to the demands of difficult situations
o
Being other-centred
o
Competent functioning amidst difficult contexts
o
Finding happiness in the midst of adversity and difficulty
o
Having an ethical mindset
o
Keeping a good wholesome character amidst deprivation
o
Keeping the self sane in the face of traumatic experience
o
Learning from experience, context, and adversaries
o
Recovering from past wounds
o
Resisting temptations
o
Seeing situation as temporary
o
Seeing things in perspective
o
The self as teacher and source of valuation
o
Therapeutic construction of reality
Resilience
Resources - Examples
o
Ability to learn quickly
o
Engaging with emotional flooding effectively
o
Evolving a good peer group
o
Evolving plans for the future
o
Have folk that we can relate intimately with
o
Having good things to look forward to
o
Initiating action
o
Learning and profiting from experience
o
Learning from experience, especially learning ways that work
o
Participating in action – personally and with others
o
Talking to one’s self
o
The gift of self-talk with a kind and caring voice
o
Transparency regarding feelings including painful and aversive
feelings
o
Visualising good futures
o
Volunteering to help in action
Resilience
Coping Strategies - Examples
o
Confiding in trusted others
o
Dissociating from discomfort by concentrating on other things
o
Looking at life positively
o
Passing on resilience ways that work
o
Physical activities, e.g. climbing trees
o
Sharing stories
o
Singing
o
Thinking through issues
OTHER RAD LINKS:
o
Rapid Assessing of Local
Wellness Psycho-Social Resources & Resilience Following Disasters
o
Recognising
and Evolving Local-lateral Links Between Various Support Processes
o
Action
Researching RAD in the Field
o
Regaining Balance Through Mutual-Help
o
Outline
of a RAD Project Proposal
o
RAD Experiential Learning Gatherings
o
Self
Care of the RAD Rapid Deployment Team
o Possible
Terms of Reference for a RAD Assessment of Local Psychosocial Resources and
Wellness
o
Responsibility
for Distributing RAD Reports
Other Links:
o
Evolving a SE Asia Pacific Self Help Trauma Support Intercultural Network
- A Small Micro Proposal
o
Short version of the above project
o
Nurturing Community
for Wellness