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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Can you teach resilience? What makes one person more resilient than the next?

186 replies

Lanzarotelady · 20/01/2025 12:52

Genuinely interested in this, what makes one person more resilient than the next?
Two people go through the same, ie nurses working in covid ICU, what makes one person cope better than the other?
Can resilience be taught?
I am asking as we have a pot of money to use at work ( NHS ICU ) and people have asked for resilience training, but I can't help but think, you can't be taught it?

OP posts:
MsMarch · 20/01/2025 15:09

BetterWithPockets · 20/01/2025 14:57

Would love to know if/how resilience can be taught! Would teach it to my DD if it were possible: beyond being happy and healthy, it’s the one thing I’d wish for her — to be more robust. I think it would make her life so much easier…

TW: suicide
On a separate note, the team at my old company all had resilience training a while back; I remember nothing about it, so don’t think it could have been great. The facilitator had been a tennis player then a sports coach (I think). Tragically, a year or so after our training with him, he killed himself. It made me think resilience really can’t be taught.

How old is she? DD is 10. It's definitely not something that comes naturally to her, in part I think it's because she's quite smart, articulate etc, and so many things came so easily to her or just didn't matter that she finds it quite hard when she actually has to put effort in.

But things we've done that have helped her:

When she says she can't do something/ something is too hard/ too scary - just constant reassurance that actually, ANY progress is progress etc. eg I think she's got a fear of heights but can't articulate it. So things like monkey bars or some of the climbing frames she finds hideiously difficult. But we encourage her, stand by, and point out that yes, she did go one rung further than last time etc (because when they're in that spiral they can only see that they can't go the WHOLE way, not that they've made progress).

Things she's terrified/stressed by we talk about in advance and then very specifically about after. eg first school residential. Didn't want to go, was terrified etc etc. We had very specific conversations about how she feels that but we KNOW when she comes back it wil be okay. And then when she DID come back, we pointed it all out again (because, again, they get irrational so I know from experience if you try to be subtle they'll change the narrative in their head or promptly forget that they even found it hard and had to overcome it).

Sometimes we force her to do things she doesn't want to do - it's a thin line here so getting this right is tricky. But again, ti teaches her she CAN do it.

Offer her specific help to improve things and I am not hugely sympathetic to any braod "no, nothing will help" statements. So she was getting stressed about some stuff in maths she couldn't do. Obviously nothing will ever work, she will never crack it, she's useless etc. When we discussed a tutor she told me it was pointless..... needless to say, she's nailed it, she does also ahve a tutor and is doing very well but the thing I'm MOST pleased about is that last week she told me she was struggling with a particlar maths thing again without any of the hysterics that came last time, and she asked if I could let her tutor know so that they could work on it next time.

Also for botg DC we try to help them learn to put things in perspective. "Yes DS, maths is really hard for you but you're really good at these other things. Also, you're very very good at working at things that are hard, so can you apply those skills to improving your maths?" Or "Yes, DDOG is sick and she could die and that would be super super sad. But we'v ehad so many happy times with her and I will always be so glad we've had that - do you remember that time she jumped on DCAT's head and he was so cross? hahahahaha"

LiarLiarKnickersAblaze · 20/01/2025 15:10

Tapofthemorning · 20/01/2025 14:02

I don't know if you have shit resilience. Why would you think that? I've got excellent resilience but, honestly, I found that out the hard way. I don't think resilience is bottling things up, I think it's acknowledging you need support, you need a break, that things are hard.

I crumble like an overcooked cookie. Keep carrying on though.

C8H10N4O2 · 20/01/2025 15:15

Lanzarotelady · 20/01/2025 14:04

Colleagues aren't asking for it. There is a pot of money to be used and this has been suggested

Suggested by "above"? Or representatives of the target audience?

In either case my first question would be "what do you mean by resilience" to get a clearer picture on the specifics they have in mind. Resilience is like "happiness" - you can't teach it but you can help people work out what makes them happy, how to focus on those things and see the positives in their lives. In much the same way you can teach people specifics such as coping with loss of patients, talking to relatives, accepting that what you can't change is not your monkey etc etc. Focus on specifics.

I also have a rule of thumb on personal development courses with broad titles and some diversity intiatives - half a day in a room with colleagues talking about it will always get good feedback for the course but rarely makes any difference to actual behaviours when measured weeks or months later. (and in the case of some diversity courses can make behaviours worse).

However there are banks of online courses which can be used a bit like workbooks building up over time using a hour a week or similar, sometimes in a sequence of modules. If you have access to a system of self paced online training schemes for skill based training then there may be something suitable in a personal development section.

Zippymonkey · 20/01/2025 15:17

Hi op I think one of the key fundamentals to increase resilience is appropriate level of debrief and reflecting on challenges. Next time the same thing happens, you remember what happened last time and you are more resilient but I imagine you already do that in a ICU environment. Really interesting thread

MrsTerryPratchett · 20/01/2025 15:17

@MsMarch That's all the things I would have suggested Grin Bloody good job, Mum!

We have to acknowledge the hard things, acknowledge their innate skills and challenges, and then teach them hard work.

It sounds like she's a bit 'slow-approach' which is one of the traits which is innate and observable from close to birth until old age. It's very consistent. Some people need a run-up to new or scary things. Some dive right in. You won't change that but you can change how she processes it.

Caroparo52 · 20/01/2025 15:21

I don't think you can learn it on a course
It's called life. Get knocked down pick yourself back up. Repeat.

iamnotalemon · 20/01/2025 15:21

I've got more resilient over the last few years because I've been through some horrible situations. My life would have been so much easier had I had these skills when I was younger that's for sure.

MsMarch · 20/01/2025 15:26

MrsTerryPratchett · 20/01/2025 15:17

@MsMarch That's all the things I would have suggested Grin Bloody good job, Mum!

We have to acknowledge the hard things, acknowledge their innate skills and challenges, and then teach them hard work.

It sounds like she's a bit 'slow-approach' which is one of the traits which is innate and observable from close to birth until old age. It's very consistent. Some people need a run-up to new or scary things. Some dive right in. You won't change that but you can change how she processes it.

Yes, definitely. DS is probably also a bit slow-approach but he's naturally extraordinarily determined which helps him overcome this more easily. So he has a natural ability to understand that somethign is hard or scary and then to think proactively about how to overcome that. But we've still worked with him on some of the perspective bit or helping him to figure how to do that calculation - sometimes it's obvious, "if you want to be better at basketball, you need to practice shooting" but other times it's less obvious and we have to step in to help him figure it out.

Vikingess · 20/01/2025 15:27

There is an established research evidence base for the effectiveness of resilience training. Basing your decision on that, rather than subjective views from Mumsnet, would be a better use of NHS resources.

Knowitall69 · 20/01/2025 15:30

Errrr? Yes you can teach Resilience to adults.

It's an absolute core skill in the military.

Loads of Special Forces use it - particularly the concept of "drown proofing."

Have a look for "Stress Inoculation Training."

Loads of info out there. Basic concept is that you start exposing a subject to small amounts of a stressor. Increased exposure allows the brain adapt and get used to the stressor and then is ready to take on more.

Same concept also useful for dealing with phobias.

My suggestion would be to get a guest speaker in. An Ex Military type who can talk about hard times and how to overcome them.

Anyotherdude · 20/01/2025 15:32

I sometimes coach people to work through their perceived issues with work.
Right from the start, we identify what is immovable from the Company’s global policies, and what can be changed by the workers (normally 30/70% ratio).
Guiding people to identify and fix the things they have an influence over teaches them resilience. One of the most life-changing ideas is to have a scheduled meeting regularly with Management, in which each pain-point is discussed, a course of action agreed, and a task assigned to one person or team to brainstorm a solution, then prepare a follow-up/follow-ups until resolved.
Many former participants have mentioned, months and years later, that this type of coaching helped them enormously in all aspects of their lives.
It’s not a waste of time, as it introduces people to thinking critically about ways they can better cope with their situation and how being able to be adaptable, rather than expecting everything to fit around yourself, is the key.

vivainsomnia · 20/01/2025 15:32

It's not about teaching to be resilient, it's about raising awareness of what it means to be resilient, looking at examples, and exploring ways to build it gradually for those who conclude they could become more so.

ACynicalDad · 20/01/2025 15:33

Without wanting to sound like a Daily Mail columnist, I do think the awards for all culture in schools doesn't help, kids need setbacks. We learn from them and learn how to cope with disappointment. If a child falls over maybe don't pick them up straight away, my youngest would fall off his bike and put his arm out and thumb up and say I'm OK. Clearly, if he stays down and is badly hurt, I'll give him all the love in the world, but I think they need challenge and failure as part of a childhood that prepares them for the world. How you do it retrospectively for adults... I haven't a clue.

Knowitall69 · 20/01/2025 15:37

C8H10N4O2 · 20/01/2025 15:15

Suggested by "above"? Or representatives of the target audience?

In either case my first question would be "what do you mean by resilience" to get a clearer picture on the specifics they have in mind. Resilience is like "happiness" - you can't teach it but you can help people work out what makes them happy, how to focus on those things and see the positives in their lives. In much the same way you can teach people specifics such as coping with loss of patients, talking to relatives, accepting that what you can't change is not your monkey etc etc. Focus on specifics.

I also have a rule of thumb on personal development courses with broad titles and some diversity intiatives - half a day in a room with colleagues talking about it will always get good feedback for the course but rarely makes any difference to actual behaviours when measured weeks or months later. (and in the case of some diversity courses can make behaviours worse).

However there are banks of online courses which can be used a bit like workbooks building up over time using a hour a week or similar, sometimes in a sequence of modules. If you have access to a system of self paced online training schemes for skill based training then there may be something suitable in a personal development section.

Rubbish.

Knowitall69 · 20/01/2025 15:38

Caroparo52 · 20/01/2025 15:21

I don't think you can learn it on a course
It's called life. Get knocked down pick yourself back up. Repeat.

Rubbish.

Knowitall69 · 20/01/2025 15:39

mondaytosunday · 20/01/2025 14:16

It's accumulated from life experiences as well as the character they were born with. I don't really think you can teach it, though you can teach coping mechanisms for when times are tough.

Rubbish

Tapofthemorning · 20/01/2025 15:39

Knowitall69 · 20/01/2025 15:30

Errrr? Yes you can teach Resilience to adults.

It's an absolute core skill in the military.

Loads of Special Forces use it - particularly the concept of "drown proofing."

Have a look for "Stress Inoculation Training."

Loads of info out there. Basic concept is that you start exposing a subject to small amounts of a stressor. Increased exposure allows the brain adapt and get used to the stressor and then is ready to take on more.

Same concept also useful for dealing with phobias.

My suggestion would be to get a guest speaker in. An Ex Military type who can talk about hard times and how to overcome them.

Edited

That sounds - and I say this kindly - like an absolutely horrific idea to underpaid, overworked NHS workers.

Knowitall69 · 20/01/2025 15:40

umberellaonesie · 20/01/2025 13:41

I don't think resilience can be taught and telling staff they need to be more resilient is pointless.
But I do think people can cope better with adverse things if they have more capacity.
So in healthcare that looks like fair rostering, good skill mix on shift, opportunities to advance/ learn. Quality supervision like happens in social care. Proper debriefs after adverse events. Psychological safety at work.
Zero tolerance of bullying. Quality management and leadership.
All of the above allows the individual to have more capacity to do a very challenging job

Edited

Rubbish.

Sissix · 20/01/2025 15:41

Knowitall69 · 20/01/2025 15:30

Errrr? Yes you can teach Resilience to adults.

It's an absolute core skill in the military.

Loads of Special Forces use it - particularly the concept of "drown proofing."

Have a look for "Stress Inoculation Training."

Loads of info out there. Basic concept is that you start exposing a subject to small amounts of a stressor. Increased exposure allows the brain adapt and get used to the stressor and then is ready to take on more.

Same concept also useful for dealing with phobias.

My suggestion would be to get a guest speaker in. An Ex Military type who can talk about hard times and how to overcome them.

Edited

I think that's the single worst idea I've seen lately on Mn, or close to it.

Knowitall69 · 20/01/2025 15:41

BeeCucumber · 20/01/2025 13:21

In my experience, you cannot teach resilience, empathy or compassion. You either have it or you don’t. If you are working in a NHS ICU environment and you are asking for resilience training - I would suggest you may need to think about a career change.

Horse poo.

Tapofthemorning · 20/01/2025 15:42

Sissix · 20/01/2025 15:41

I think that's the single worst idea I've seen lately on Mn, or close to it.

I think it may be the worst. It's totally insane.

Knowitall69 · 20/01/2025 15:43

Tapofthemorning · 20/01/2025 15:42

I think it may be the worst. It's totally insane.

Why?

TrixieFatell · 20/01/2025 15:46

I think in the NHS the word resilience has been used incorrectly in putting the responsibility onto an individual to "deal" with the utter crap conditions they work within as opposed to looking at the system as a whole and the failings and challenges within it. It becomes a stick to beat yourself up with.

Knowitall69 · 20/01/2025 15:51

Sissix · 20/01/2025 15:41

I think that's the single worst idea I've seen lately on Mn, or close to it.

Why?

Tapofthemorning · 20/01/2025 16:01

Honestly @knowitall69? So, and this is my perspective, you take a group of people who are overwhelmed and overworked. Perhaps they've seen difficult things or experienced tragedy. You don't know what's going on at home. Maybe they're ill, or their children are sick, or their parents are unwell - there could be a myriad of reasons - and instead of offering support you implement an authotarian military-style approach that totally ignores empathy and doesn't consider people as individuals. Having someone from the army saying "well I did XXX" in Iraq (which bear in mind a lot of people still don't agree with) so you should be able to cope" invalidates their feelings. It would not increase the productivity of stressed employees. Believe me.