Resilience is the capacity to bounce back in the face of adversity and to go on to live functional lives with a sense of well-being. People can become resilient even though they may have lived in stressful and neglectful family and community environments. The author describes three case vignettes that illustrate how therapists and clients working together in a resilience framework can discover and bolster strengths that can lead to more enhanced and satisfying lives.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AnthonyE. J. (1987). Children at high risk for psychosis growing up successfully. In AnthonyE. J., & CohlerB. J. (Eds.), The invulnerable child.New York: Guilford Press, 147–184.
2.
BanduraA. (1977). Social learning theory.Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
3.
BeckA. T. (1976). Cognitive therapy and the emotional disorders.New York: International Universities Press.
BemS. (1993). The lenses of gender.New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
6.
BenardB. (1991). Fostering resiliency in kids: Protective factors in the family, school and community.San Francisco: Western Regional Center for Drug-Free Schools and Communities.
GarmezyN. (1981). Children under stress: Perspectives on antecedents and correlates of vulnerability and resistance to psychopathology. In RabinA. I., AronoffJ., BarclayA. N., & ZuckerR. A. (Eds.), Further explorations in personality.New York: John Wiley and Sons, 196–269.
9.
GarmezyN. (1991). Resiliency and vulnerability to adverse developmental outcomes associated with poverty. American Behavioral Scientist, 34(4), 416–430.
10.
GeneroN. P., MillerJ. B., SurreyJ., & BaldwinL. M. (1992). Measuring perceived mutuality in close relationships: Validation of the Mutual Psychological Development Questionnaire. Journal of Family Psychology, 6, 36–48.
11.
GilliganC., LyonsN. P., & HanmerT. J. (1990). Making connections: The relational worlds of adolescent girls at Emma Willard School.Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
12.
GilliganC. (1991). Women's psychological development: Implications for psychotherapy. In GilliganC., RogersA. G., & TolmanD. L. (Eds.). Women, girls, and psychotherapy: Redefining resistance.New York: Haworth.
HarrisJ. R. (1998). The Nurture Assumption.New York: The Free Press.
15.
HawkinsJ. D., CatalanoR. F., & MillerJ. Y. (1992). Risk and protective factors for alcohol and other drug problems in adolescence and early adulthood: Implications for substance abuse prevention. Psychological Bulletin, 112(1), 64–105.
16.
JordanJ. V., KaplanA. G., MillerJ. B., StiverI. P., & SurreyJ. L. (1991). Women's growth in connection.New York: Guilford.
17.
JordanJ. V. (1992). Relational resilience.Wellesley, MA: Stone Center Publications.
18.
JordanJ. V. (1998). Toward connection and competence.Wellesley, MA: Stone Center Publications.
19.
KumpferK. (1993). Resiliency and AOD use prevention in high-risk youth. Unpublished manuscript.
20.
LewisM. (1998, August 4). The New York Times, F1.
21.
LutharS., & ZiglerE. (1991). Vulnerability and competence: a review of research and resilience in children. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 61(1), 7–22.
Ms. Foundation. (1994). Body politic: Transforming adolescent girls' health.New York: The Ms. Foundation.
24.
PhillipsL. (1998). The girls report.New York: National Council for Research on Women.
25.
RichardsonG. E., NeigerB. L., JensenS., & KumpferK. (1990). The resiliency model. Health Education, 21(6), 33–39.
26.
RutterM., (1989). Psychosocial resilience and protective mechanisms. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 57(3), 316–331.
27.
SaleebeyD. (Ed.). (1997). The strengths perspective in social work practice (2nd ed.). New York: Longman.
28.
StiverI. (1991). Beyond the Oedipus complex: Mothers and daughters. In JordanJ. V., KaplanA. G., MillerJ. B., StiverI. P., & SurreyJ. L.Women's growth in connection (pp. 97–121). New York: Guilford.
29.
SurreyJ. L. (1991). The self-in-relation: A theory of women's development. In JordanJ. V., KaplanA. G., MillerJ. B., StiverI. P., & SurreyJ. L.Women's growth in connection (pp. 51–66). New York: Guilford.
VaillantG. E. (1993). The wisdom of the ego.Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
32.
WallersteinJ. (1983). Children of divorce: Preliminary report of a ten-year follow-up of older children and adolescents. Journal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry, 24, 545–553.
33.
WernerE. (1985). Stress and protective factors in children's lives. In NicolA.R. (Ed.). Longitudinal studies in child psychology and psychiatry (pp. 335–355). New York: Wiley & Sons.
34.
WernerE. (1989, April). Children of the garden island, Scientific American, 106–111.
35.
WernerE., & SmithR. (1982). Vulnerable but invincible.New York: McGraw-Hill.
36.
WernerE., & SmithR. (1992). Overcoming the odds: High risk children from birth to adulthood.Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
37.
WolinS., & WolinJ. (1993). The resilient self.New York: Villard Books.
