Resilience: The Ability To Bounce Back Stephanie Dean, LPC, Work-Life Connections EAP Counselor and Assistant Manager, discusses Resilience, and the ways we can learn to "bounce back" from periods of change and transition.
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Janet McCutchen: Welcome to this edition of the Vanderbilt University Health and Wellness Wellcast. I am
Janet McCutchen with Work/Life Connections. I am here today with my colleague, Stephanie Dean, who is one of the clinical counselors at Work/Life Connections-EAP and the assistant manager, and today, we are going to talk about resilience, and we have heard that word kind of batted about, but Stephanie, talk a little bit about it, what exactly do we mean when we talk about resilience. How do we define it?
Stephanie Dean: The concept is actually pretty simple. It is the ability to bounce back from whatever life hands us, and sometimes we could be bouncing back from something negative like a sickness or a loss, but you could also be having to bounce back from a transition like getting married or starting a new job, so it could be either of those things. The beauty of resilience is that it is typically something we can learn and build on, so you may have one part of your life where you are very resilient and then another part where you are not so resilient, and you can build skills to help build resilience in that part of your life.
Janet McCutchen: What you are saying then, for example, is resilience is a learned skill, and you do not have to naturally be born with resilient skills?
Stephanie Dean: Exactly.
Janet McCutchen: Talk a little bit then, if you would, about the benefits of building resilience.
Stephanie Dean: There is quite a few. There are lots of studies out there that are showing that building your stress resilience and your coping skills is as good for your mental and your physical health. There are studies that show that people who have an optimistic outlook, which optimism is one of the skills often associated with resilience, that if you have an optimistic outlook that you have better outcomes. If you have had surgery or even cancer, there is some evidence to suggest that when we think things are going to go well or when we plan for things to go well or make plans in terms of like I cannot control my cancer diagnosis; however, I can control am I having good nutrition, am I getting enough sleep, am I trying to be as optimistic about the diagnosis as I can, then I am more likely to do better.
Janet McCutchen: So, we are not talking about optimism as having rose-colored glasses on?
Stephanie Dean: No.
Janet McCutchen: We are talking about being realistic about what we are facing and yet looking at silver lining? Is that safe to say or we are not discounting that in the face of bad news like a cancer diagnosis that there are some aspects of our lives that we do have control over?
Stephanie Dean: Right, there are still some things you can control. So, yes, you are right when you say that optimism is not about rainbows and pink teddy bears, but it is about sort of facing the good and the bad realistically and then planning for as many pieces of the puzzle that you can so that you feel like you have more control that you are actively taking a role say in your treatment. You are going to feel like you have more control and you are likely to do better.
Janet McCutchen: What have I left out that our listeners might need to hear about the concept of resilience? You are using terms interchangeably like you are using resilience, coping, sort of interchangeably.
Stephanie Dean: Well, I think being able to cope with what life hands us is a big part of resilience. There are many other pieces and specific skills, optimism being one we have already talked about, but there are some other things that lot of us already know how to do that if we just remember to practice these things that we might feel better. For example, laugh at yourself, do not take yourself so seriously, find something enjoyable in the day, pay attention to is that a pretty tree or is the weather nice or let yourself enjoy things during the day even if you are not having a great day. It can also help to build resilience.
Janet McCutchen: Is there are anything else that we might need to know about either how to define it or really more importantly maybe in the context of Vanderbilt, given the challenges that we all have. Working here in this fast-paced environment, it is exciting on the one hand, but it is also very stressful. What might we need to learn fundamentally in a workplace?
Stephanie Dean: Well, I think it is same in the workplace really as in the rest of our lives that change is going to happen. It is going to happen whether we expect it or whether we do not expect it. It will catch us by surprise sometimes; the other times, we can plan for it; but to realize the change is a fact of life, it is happening, and that if we can keep our eyes open and be realistic and take good care of ourselves and focus and change the things we can, we are going to be better through that change and come out better on the other side than if we deny it or if we avoid dealing with whatever is happening.
Janet McCutchen: That makes sense, so that is really how we develop resilience because you are right, change happens and it is never ending. So, great introduction to resilience, and if our listeners would like any more information about this topic or if you are facing some changes or challenges and would like to see any of the clinicians here at Work/Life Connections, we would love to hear from you. Thanks Stephanie.
Stephanie Dean: Thank you.
Janet McCutchen: Thanks for listening. Please feel free to leave us any comments on this Wellcast by clicking the “Add New Comment” link at the bottom of this page. If you have a story or suggestion, please email it to us at health.wellness@vanderbilt.edu or you can use the “Contact Us” link on our website at healthandwellness.vanderbilt.edu. Thanks for listening. -- end of recording --
