
What is resilience?
- Resilience is the ability to adapt to difficult situations and or experiences.
- When a negative experience or “crisis” occurs, it is normal for us to lose some functionality temporarily.
- This loss or reduction of functionality can be mental, physical or both.
- Resilience is the ability to ‘bounce back’. A person with high resilience will return to their normal functionality much quicker and more effectively than someone with low resilience.
Domains of resilience
- There are 5-6 commonly accepted domains or aspects of resilience:
- Vision
- Composure
- Tenacity
- Reasoning
- Collaboration
- Health
Assessing resilience
- There are a number of resilience assessment scales; some commonly cited ones include:
- The Connor-Davidson resilience scale; with 25 statements you are assessed by how well you respond to disruptions to your normal
- The Brief Resilience scale uses 6 statements to assess your ability to “bounce Back” after a stressful event
- And The predicative 6 factor resilience scale. This 16-item scale assesses resilience across 6 domains; adding “Health Hygiene” to the common 5 domain construct
Assessing resilience -Activity
Grab a pen and paper and try the following activity
- There will be 2 questions connected to each aspect of reslience12 questions in all
- For each question you will select from the possible responses: Yes, No, sometimes
- The purpose of this activity is to help you better understand the aspects of resilience and how you view yourself currently.
Vision:
- I have a strong sense of purpose
- I am confidant that I will achieve my goals
Composure:
- I can handle unpleasant feelings
- I can recognize my weaknesses and work within my limitations
Tenacity:
- I can adapt to change
- I tend to bounce back after illness or hardship
Reasoning:
- I can focus and think clearly, under pressure
- My past success gives me confidence to take on new challenges
Collaboration:
- I know where to turn for help
- I have close and secure relationships
Health Hygiene
- I prioritize getting 7-9h sleep at night
- I achieve 150-300 minutes of exercise each week
Activity scoring
Let’s assign number scores to your responses:
- YES: 2 points
- SOMETIMES: 1 point
- NO: 0 points
Your total score will range from 0-24
What Now?
- Make note of your score
- In what domain/aspect did you have the highest/lowest score?
- Let’s use this insight to start building up our Resilience level- Check out the “Building Resilience Education series” for support
I encourage you too come back in the future and re-do the activity
* Note: This is not designed to be a clinical assessment. This activity has been adapted from the previously mentioned literature and is not considered a validated tool
Want more information?
- Speak to an Exercise Therapist.
- Check out the Next Steps Tool box- Introduction to Resilience
- Check out the Next Steps Tool box- Building Resilience- Vision
- Check out the Next Steps Tool box- Building Resilience- Composure