The aim of this project was to explore how resilience factors could be utilized in a clinical intervention for young people with stressful background experiences. Four resilience factors constituted the basis for the intervention: positive peer relations, self-efficacy, creativity, and coherence. Four main therapeutic principles were derived and elaborated with technical operationalizations: (i) focus on group work with same-age peers, and foster prosocial, supportive and accepting interactions; (ii) organize group work around activities the participants are motivated to learn more about, and assist them in reaching specified group and individual goals; (iii) facilitate playful exploration and individual symbolic expression within the chosen activity; and (iv) encourage and assist participants’ attempts to make meaningful and beneficial connections between different aspects of their past, present and future lives. Nine groups underwent the intervention. As the case illustration shows, this approach gave inspiration to thinking and practice that was perceived as clinically meaningful. However, more knowledge of the interplay between positive and negative chain reactions is needed to develop adequate interventions.
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