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ResilienceTRANSCRIPT
Incorporating Positivity into Your Perspective
Steven Spidell, DMin, BCCChaplain
Houston Methodist St. John Hospital
Western Cultural Perspective:Pathology based
• Problem focused: Concern for Healing• Mind (psychology), body (medicine), and spirit
(religion)• Bent toward negative• Our western spiritual, medical, psychological, and
social science culture has been tuned in to disease (brokenness), pathology (alienation), symptoms (sin), and treatment (salvation).
Recovery Model
Negative emotions drive reactionDefensive reactions Withdrawal into self for safetySlow recovery of personal stabilityAdjustment to (acceptance of)
changed situation
Recovery Model
Pathological
“Psychology after World War II became a science largely devoted to healing. It concentrated on repairing damage using a disease model of human functioning. This almost exclusive attention to pathology neglected the idea of a fulfilled individual and a thriving community, and it neglected the possibility that building strength is the most potent weapon in the arsenal of therapy.” Martin E.P. Seligman
The Goal is the Solution
• We analyze the issue to find the answers• We focus on the problem to get the solution• We learn about illness to find the cure
Yet, we can begin to feel as if problemsand questions are what life is all about.
Then we lean almost unintentionally toward the negative.
A Wisdom TaleOn night a man saw his neighbor on all fours obviously looking for something by his front door. He asked what was going on. The neighbor said he had lost his keys.“You dropped them on the porch?”“No, somewhere out in the lawn.”“Then why are you looking there on the porch?”“The light is a lot better here.”
Positive Psychology
Goal: To create a field focused onhuman well-being and the conditions,
strengths and virtues that allow peopleto thrive.
Positive psychology advances, with growing painsApplications of positive psychology are moving ahead fast and furiously, but some question whether the interventions are outpacing the science. By Beth Azar, April 2011, Vol 42, No. 4, Print version: page 32
Resilience: Internal Capacity for Adaptation
Various resilience factors come together within a particular individual who is
facing a potentially traumatic event, to enable the individual to meet challenges and
persevere through hardship without losing his/her basic self-orientation.
“…the study says!”
Research into reactions to grief, loss,and potential traumatic events
show a much different response thanthose traditionally expected.
Disruptions in Normal Functioning (Bonanno, 2001)
Bonanno YouTube Presentation on Resilience
What is your perspective?
“Helping, fixing, and serving arethree different ways of seeing life.
When you help, you see life as weak. When you fix, you see life as broken. When you serve, you see life as
whole. Fixing and helping maybe the work of the ego, and servicethe work of the soul.”
Rachel Remen
What we overlook whenwe focus only on the negative
• Power of the spirit to effect change• Effect of outside materials and situations to work
within and on the system• Body’s ability to heal itself• Effects of the transfer of energy• Creation of new pathways in the brain• The environment’s correcting power• Inner capabilities and resources to respond to the
situation
Outcomes of Positivity
Celebrate the Strength of the Human Spirit
Coming through hard timesResilience brings faster recovery from grief*
George B. Bonnano (2001).
Pathology Vs. Positive Outlooks
Our cultural orientation seems grounded in the negative pole so much that we seldom become grounded in the
positive.
Pathological Outlook Positive Outlook
Problem Solution
Despair Hope
Suffering Recovery
Doubt Faith
Mistrust Trust
Apathy Love
Assumptive Worldviews
Pathology Wellness• Broken• Sinful• Disease• Symptoms• Treatment (External)• Healed…but something else
will occur to restart the never-ending cycle
• Whole• Saintly• Health• Indications of recovery• Utilizing resources (internal)• Well
Recovery ModelNegative emotions drive reactionDefensive reactions Withdrawal into self for safetySlow recovery of personal stabilityAdjustment tochanged situation
Resilience ModelPositive and Negative Emotions under controlResilience FactorsEngagement with the traumatic situationLittle loss of personal stabilityAdaptation to the changed situation
Healing Pathways following Traumatic Event
The Positivity Scale
ResilienceSelf-Assessment
Tool
Bringing Balance to Care
StressChallengesDeficitsComplexes
ResourcesExperienceStrengthsResilience
Resilience FactorsOptimismSelf-confidenceEnjoy making plans
and carrying them outAbility to control one’s
emotionsHave a purpose in lifeGratefulKnow one makes a
differenceHigh self-esteemLife has meaning
Sense of humorFlexibleAble to think through
possibilitiesSpiritual and/or
ReligiousGenerousStrong role modelsWilling to changeSelf-directedEnjoys learningAdaptable
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RECOGNIZING RESILIENCE
Expect good outcomes.
Optimism
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RECOGNIZING RESILIENCE
Know you can make it through anything.
Self-Confidence
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RECOGNIZING RESILIENCE
Accepts new situations aspossibilities
Adaptability
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RECOGNIZING RESILIENCE
Makes own decisions
Self-directed
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RECOGNIZING RESILIENCE
Always willing to learn more.
Enjoys Learning.
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RECOGNIZING RESILIENCE
Participates in planning ahead.
Enjoys making plans and carrying them out.
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RECOGNIZING RESILIENCE
Are able to express positive and negative emotions
maturely.
Ability to control emotions.
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RECOGNIZING RESILIENCE
Strong support system
Healthy involvement with family and friends. Active in a religious or community organization.
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RECOGNIZING RESILIENCE
Believe your life has purpose.
Meaningful life.
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RECOGNIZING RESILIENCE
Gratitude
Says “thank you” and expresses appreciation.
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RECOGNIZING RESILIENCE
Accomplishment
Share what you are proud about in your life.
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RECOGNIZING RESILIENCE
Humor
Can laugh at yourselfor a situation.
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RECOGNIZING RESILIENCE
Flexibility
Don’t have to have everything your way right away.
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RECOGNIZING RESILIENCE
When faced with the unexpected, can work with new options.
Able to think through possibilities
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RECOGNIZING RESILIENCE
Faith
Experience “the something more” to life than meets the eye
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RECOGNIZING RESILIENCE
Generous
Are kind and caring about others
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RECOGNIZING RESILIENCE
Believes their life hassignificance
Makes a difference
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RECOGNIZING RESILIENCE
Describes persons in their lives whom they greatly admire
Strong role models
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RECOGNIZING RESILIENCE
Incorporate your experiences into your life story.
Willing to change
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RECOGNIZING RESILIENCE
Spiritual perspective
Spirituality
Resilience Self-Assessment
A Template for ChartingPatient
Resilience
Sharing ourTimes of Resilience
Small Group Conversations