You are here

Learning from Resilient People
Share

Learning from Resilient People
Lessons We Can Apply to Counseling and Psychotherapy



June 2006 | 296 pages | SAGE Publications, Inc
Resilience is a human trait that is key to understanding how people successfully cope with crisis and trauma. This book will explain the inner self-healing processes of resilient people and will help people training in the helping professions to learn to use these processes in working with their clients.
 
Preface
 
Acknowledgements
 
PART I: WHAT WE CAN LEARN FROM RESILIENT PEOPLE
 
Ch 1: Understanding Resilience
Definitions of Resilience

 
Attributes of Resilient People

 
Coping With Stress as an Additional Aspect of Resilience

 
Examples of Resilient Responses of Traumatized Adolescents

 
Summary

 
 
PART II: HOW RESILIENT PEOPLE USE CULTURE, SPIRITUALITY, AND SUPPORT SYSTEMS TO IMPROVE THEIR SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL FUNCTIONING
 
Ch 2: Resilience and the Impact of Spiritual and Religious Beliefs on Health and Mental Health
The Impact of Spirituality and Religious Involvement on Health and Mental Health

 
A Story About an Abusive Relationship That Ended After a Religious Conversion

 
Lessons to Be Learned From This Story

 
Why Religious and Spiritual Involvement May Lead to Resilience

 
A Story About the Impact of Religious Differences on an Intimate Relationship

 
Lessons to Be Learned From This Story

 
Should Issues of Religion and Spirituality Be Included in Our Work With Clients?

 
Summary

 
 
Ch 3: Helping Others as an Attribute of Resilience
Indigenous Helpers

 
Examples of Indigenous Helpers

 
Self-Help Groups and Indigenous Helpers

 
Attributes of Indigenous Helpers

 
A Story of an Indigenous Helper

 
A Story About an Indigenous Helper Starting a Self-Help Group

 
Summary

 
 
Ch 4: The Powerful Helping Impulse of Our Cultural Heritage: Examples From Three Ethnic Groups
Resilience in Latinos

 
Introduction

 
How Latino Cultures Cope With Social and Emotional Problems

 
The Importance of Cultural Metaphors (Dichos) in Latino Life

 
A Focus on Feelings

 
Cultural Issues That Affect Latino Resilience

 
A Story About How a Resilient Latina Copes With Life

 
Lessons to be Learned From This Story

 
Resilience in African Americans

 
How Resilient African Americans Cope With Life

 
A Story About Abandonment by a Father

 
Another Story About Abandonment

 
Lessons to be Learned From These Stories

 
Resilience in Ethnically Traditional Asian Americans (With Steven Ino)

 
The Collective Self

 
The Importance of Family and Social Harmony

 
When Asian Americans' Resilience Fails

 
Issues That Test Resilience

 
A Story About James and Lisa, a Bicultural Couple

 
An Interview With James and Lisa

 
Summary

 
 
PART III: EXAMPLES OF RESILIENCE ACROSS AREAS OF PSYCHOSOCIAL DIFFICULTY
 
Ch 5: How Resilient People Cope With Substance Abuse
The Extent of the Problem

 
The Research on Resilience in Coping With Drug and Alcohol Abuse

 
A Story of Family Resilience and Alcohol Abuse

 
Lessons to be Learned From This Story

 
A Story of a Baseball Player and Attorney Jailed Because of Drug and Alcohol Abuse

 
Lessons to be Learned From This Story

 
A Story About an Adolescent Substance Abuser

 
Lessons to Be Learned From This Story

 
A Story About Recovery From Substance Abuse

 
Lessons to Be Learned From This Story

 
Summary

 
 
Ch 6: How Resilient People Cope With Mental Illness
The Extent and Impact of Mental Illness

 
Traditional Treatments of Mental Illness: A Research Review

 
Evidence of Resilience in People Diagnosed as Mentally Ill

 
A Story of a Spontaneous Remission From Mental Illness

 
An Interview With the Storyteller

 
A Story About Long-Term Emotional Problems

 
Summary

 
 
Ch 7: How Resilient Children Cope With Abuse
Resilience in Abused Children

 
A Story of a Child Coping With Abusive Parents

 
Lessons to be Learned From This Story

 
A Story of a Resilient Child Coping With Adulthood

 
Lessons to be Learned From This Story

 
Factors Predicting Resilience in Abused Children

 
Biological Factors

 
Psychological Factors

 
Factors Within the Family

 
Factors Outside the Family

 
Summary

 
 
Ch 8: How Resilient People Cope With Life-Threatening Illness, Disabilities, and Bereavement
Coping With Serious Illness

 
A Story of a Resilient Woman Coping With Breast Cancer

 
Further Thoughts of the Storyteller

 
Lessons to be Learned From This Story

 
Coping With Serious Illness: Another View

 
Coping With Bereavement

 
Coping With the Death of a Loved One

 
A Story About the Death of Family Members

 
Lessons to Be Learned From This Story

 
Coping With Disabilities

 
A Case Study of Jack, a Man Coping With a Disability

 
Jack's Behavioral Chart

 
Summary

 
 
Ch 9: Resilience in Older Adults
Coping With Problems Related to Aging

 
Late Life Depression: The Case of Primo Levi

 
A Story of Resilience in Aging

 
Lessons to be Learned From This Story

 
A Case Study of Resilience in a Depressed Older Male

 
Discussion of the Case

 
A Case Study of a Depressed Older Female With a Substance Abuse Problem

 
Discussion of the Case

 
Summary

 
 
Ch 10. Resilience in Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual, and Transgender (GLBT) Individuals
Harassment, Homophobia, and Vulnerability

 
GLBT Resilience

 
A Story About a First Awareness of Being Gay

 
Lessons to be Learned From This Story

 
A Story About Coming Out

 
Lessons to be Learned From This Story

 
A Story About Confronting Homophobia

 
Lessons to Be Learned From This Story

 
Summary

 
 
Ch 11. How Resilient People Cope With Loneliness, Isolation, and Depression
Why Resilient People Sometimes Experience Loneliness, Isolation, and Depression

 
The Prevalence of Depression

 
The Nature of Loneliness and Depression

 
The Treatment of Loneliness and Depression

 
A Story About Loneliness and Isolation

 
Lessons to Be Learned From This Story

 
A Story About Loneliness in the Company of Others

 
The Storyteller's Self-Analysis

 
Summary

 
 
Ch 12. Family Resilience
The Changing American Family

 
A Small Sample View of Family Life in America

 
Stories About Family Life

 
What These Stories Say About Family Life

 
Characteristics of Family Resilience

 
A Story About a Resilient Immigrant Family

 
Lessons to be Learned From This Story

 
A Story That Needs No Explanation

 
Summary

 
References

 
 
Ch 13: How Resilient People Cope With Acts of Random Violence
Debriefing

 
Responses of Resilient People to Violence

 
A Story About Random Violence

 
Lessons to be Learned From This Story

 
A Story About a Resilient Woman Coping With an Act of Terrorism

 
The Storyteller's Self-Analysis

 
Summary

 
 
Ch 14: Resilient Communities
Resilience and Healthy Community Life

 
A Resilient Community Deals with Youth Violence

 
A Story of a Resilient Community Constructing a Violence Treatment Program

 
The Results of the Program: An Interview With Members of the City Council

 
A Story About a Resilient Community Coping With a Devastating Flood

 
Summary

 
 
PART IV: PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS
 
Ch 15: The Primary Behaviors of Resilient People: Application of Findings to Practice
The Attributes of Resilient People and Practice Recommendations

 
Additional Attributes of Resilient People

 
A Story About a Young Worker Finding Resilience in His Clients

 
Final Words

 
 
References
 
About the Author

"The research presented in this book is comprehensive, and it is obvious that the author is very well versed in the area of positive psychology. A definite strength of this book, and one that I think instructors and students will find particularly helpful, are the several case studies presented throughout the test, usually at the end of each chapter. These compelling case studies illustrate the concepts the are discussed in each chapter in vivid and real-world fashion."

Sameet Kumar
PsycCRITIQUES

Sample Materials & Chapters

Chapter 1

Chapter 3

Chapter 5

Chapter 5


For instructors

Select a Purchasing Option

SAGE Knowledge is the premier social sciences platform for SAGE and CQ Press book, reference and video content.

The platform allows researchers to cross-search and seamlessly access a wide breadth of must-have SAGE book and reference content from one source.