Resilience in Social Work: Strategies for Overcoming Challenges

This essay delves into the concept of resilience, defining it as the ability to recover quickly from difficulties and adapt well in the face of adversity. It emphasizes that resilience is a learned process involving thoughts, behaviors, and actions acquired throughout life. The essay discusses how life cycle stages present inevitable hardships and stresses, requiring resilience to overcome them. It explores challenges faced during childhood, adolescence, and adulthood, highlighting the importance of supportive environments and coping strategies. Furthermore, the essay examines the role of resilience in families and the cultivation of a resilient spirit through commitment, patience, and optimism. It underscores the significance of mindfulness and emotional well-being, particularly for social workers who face demanding and potentially traumatizing situations. The essay concludes by advocating for resilience as a means to foster a positive attitude, promote problem-solving skills, and enhance self-discovery, ultimately enabling individuals to bounce back from adversity and thrive. Desklib offers a range of similar essays and study resources for students.

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Running head: RESILIENCE
Resilience
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation

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Resilience
Throughout life, people face tough situations and occurrences that are inevitable and can
hit at any time and stage in life even when they are least expected. When we read the newspaper
and listen to the news on public media such as television, we hear heartbreaking and
traumatizing news that leave us with painful emotions. We also experience these occurrences in
our daily lives at the workplace, at home, in school, in social gatherings name it. Other
experiences that can cause trauma and heartbreaks are tragedies such as accidents, loss of a loved
one, loss of a job, broken relationship among others. We all react differently to these life
challenges. Some become victims of life occurrences while others are able to cope with the
challenges and emerge victorious and stronger at the end of it all. This is what is called
resilience. The dictionary defines resilience as the ability to recover quickly after a hard time or
after going through some difficulties. According to American psychological association,
resilience is being able to adapt well in the face of adversity like sickness, loss of a loved one,
heartbreaks, financial problems, sudden disability and such tragic and traumatizing incidences of
life. Some people mistake resilience with a smooth life void of life stressors or difficulties which
is not true. Sadness and feeling pain due to difficult times of life is common to human beings, the
ability to take things as they come and come out strong is what makes the difference. Resilience
is a process that people learn with time, it involves thoughts, behavior, and actions that one
acquires throughout one's lifetime which makes them stand out in times of adversity. No one is
born with resilience (Cloninger, 2013).
A human lifecycle composes of transformative stages where a person is expected to grow
before he/she can move to the next viable life stage (Erickson, 1980). Each stage of life comes

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with events which are sources of inevitable hardships, stress, and trauma. Despite all the
challenges that we come across at different life stages we are expected to overcome them in
order to develop and move to the next stage. A level of resilience must be developed. Resilience
involves characteristics that enable an individual to adapt and cope with situations and life
challenges. Life experiences vary with individuals and family and this calls for different coping
strategies. Example during childhood one may face challenges like obesity, bullying, disability,
loss of parents, learning disability and absentee parents. This challenges are critical as they carry
a huge impact in the development of a child. They cause children to miss out on the important
development part of bonding. During adolescence, the challenges go beyond the above
challenges to issues like; anxiety, low self-esteem, identity crisis, academic pressure, relation
problems including romantic relationships and health. These life challenges and issues keep
changing as life advances to adulthood. In adulthood, people go through stressors like family
responsibilities, housing, debt, employment, divorce and diseases among others.
Researches show that children who have gone through adversity tend to have low
resilience in life. Naturally, there is the absence or lack of complete control of one’s life in
childhood which gives rise to fear of independence and responsibility which work against
resilience. However, research has shown that children whose life is surrounded with love and
support from parents and their teachers, for example quality relationships with teachers and
parents, have higher coping skills to adversities. Thus the best way to build resilience in children
is by providing a conducive environment in terms of safety, love, and stability. The adolescent
stage is known to be the most stressful period in life as teenagers are at a stage of self-assertion
as they experience rapid changes even with their bodies. At this stage, the teenager's body
undergoes rapid change both emotionally and physically. Apart from these changes, this stage is

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characterized by social pressure, parental conflict as teenagers seek to have the autonomy,
impending adulthood, and huge school workload. Some of the things that are believed to be
resilience builders in adolescent are; internal locus of control, social engagements, having
supportive families, high self-esteem and ability to be independent. Another stage in human life
when resilience is required is in the context of family. A family that lacks resilience gives rise to
weak children and does not just affect an individual but the whole family. Lack of resilient in
families leads to instability. To create resilience in families, parents are required to create good
communication with children and instill self-worth and value in them. Such a family will be able
to deal with family stressors like deployment of a parent on a job-related basis. Another stressor
that affects families and children consequently is a situation where a child is left with other
caregivers as parents pursue careers and education. It is obvious that such a child lacks quality
time spent with parents it may lead to low resilience (Kail, 2018).
For one to cultivate a resilient spirit, they should learn some coping strategies that help in
times of adversity. This will help one to pass through thick and thin and still have the motivation
and strength to continually perceive success. According to research, a resilient person will
exhibit the following characteristics; commitment, patience, a person of hope, optimism, action-
oriented people and having the ability to easily adapt to change. Research has found that factors
like having realistic plans and being able to carry them out contribute to resilience (UNDP,
2001). Other factors are the ability to manage feelings and impulses, good communication skills
and good problem-solving skills. As a person grows to adulthood they learn to cope with tough
life issues and are even able to take things positively and turn challenges into success. Coping
with life issues is all about the attitude that one cultivates about life and life events. It also
includes perceptions one has concerning life occurrences. Although no one is immune to

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emotional distress that comes with adversity and traumatic events, how strong one is and the
ability to cope makes all the difference. This is why the same life occurrences will break some
people while leaving others stronger than they found them. The difference is in how well a
person can cope with adversity. These coping strategies include; accepting change as part of life.
Change is inevitable. People who have accepted this fact are able to stand even in time of
adversity as they are able to appreciate the change as part of life and can acquire the energy
needed to move on with life. Such people are flexible and ready to change with circumstances
that call for a change. Focusing on one’s goals is another strategy to cope with life challenges
and stressors that may lower our resilience. If a person is focused on their goals they cannot
allow distractions or any challenge to deter them. Taking decisive action is another way to build
resilience. Decisive actions mean being able to make a decision quickly and with confidence
especially when faced with a problem. Resilience can also be built by having a positive view of
oneself and having a hopeful outlook among others.
Being resilient is beneficial in many ways as it creates a positive attitude towards life and
helps people understand that there is a solution to every problem in life. It leads to people who
can think critically around a problem and come up with a solution because to them nothing is
impossible and they believe that there are many ways to solve a problem. Such people are deep
thinkers and they do not allow issues to limit them. Resilience leads to self-discovery and makes
one have the ability to bounce back to normal quickly even after being hit by a difficult situation.
Social workers are one of the groups of people that need resilience than any other group.
This is because they deal directly with people and if not careful, they can get weary and quickly
discouraged. Being mindful is a non-judgmental awareness and a character that a social worker
is supposed to possess. Research shows that mindfulness stimulates positive emotions and lowers

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stress. A social worker needs to be an assertive person as the job requires creativity in solving
many issues that social workers come across. Being mindful is clearly a nonjudgmental
awareness. Social workers come across many issues as they serve people who are in need and as
a mindful social worker, one is supposed to deal with every issue with a nonjudgmental attitude.
Being mindful is a way of relieving stress. Mindfulness helps social give attention to people in a
better as they are not worried about over analyzing as they are not judgmental. Example when
working with clients who are grieving the social worker should realize that it is not about fixing
issues and doing this or that but is about being open and non-judgmental. Apart from helping the
social worker deal with their clients, mindful social workers are able to cope with burnouts and
tired, mindfulness can help them not to feel overloaded as it brings a sense of relaxation. It also
enables the social workers to serve their clients with a clear mind and more relaxed attention
hence they are able to help the people in the best way possible and therefore touch their hearts as
it is the main purpose of social workers. Social workers do a lot of work and their job is as
demanding as it touches almost every area in people’s lives. As a result, it may leave one
exhausted and worn-out and causes conditions like sleeplessness, physical tension, irritability
and restlessness among others. The practice of mindfulness is a way or relaxing and healing
hence a therapy that has been found working and so helpful by many. As a result of responding
to other people’s traumatic experiences, social workers can get traumatized themselves hence a
need for resilience. For a social worker to help people be more resilient about the life they should
experience it themselves since this puts them in a better position to help them thank lack the
resilient.
A resilient social worker will be flexible. This refers to the willingness to change even if
one has been in the field for a long time and they feel they know it all. A social worker that id

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flexible is capable of initiating change in individuals towards helping them get out of habits that
are not helpful. Change is part of life, therefore, a social worker who is struck by life difficulties
if they embrace change they are able to accept life changes and move on with life with the same
enthusiasm as before. Resilience among social workers cultivates a perspective of strength. The
concept of resilience gives people the notion that they have wisdom and capacity to persevere.
As a result of this perspective, a social worker is able to tap into these capabilities when faced
with adversity and bounce back as quickly as possible without having to give up. A resilient
social worker will rather seek to understand adversities that arise and seek for a solution than
give up. Another trait of a resilient social worker is having goals that express strongly held
values. These goals enable the social workers to move forward even when faced by adversity as
they consider their imagined future more rewarding than the challenges they may face. A
resilient social worker should have physical well-being. Studies have shown that physical
exercise has psychological benefits like, reducing stress, anxiety, depression and improve focus,
creativity, and memory as they help the brain to produce neurons which aid in proper functioning
of the brain (Miller and Scholnick, 2014). Resilience in social work brings about mindfulness or
emotional wellbeing. As a result, social givers are able to control their emotions, leading to a
reasonable approach to problem-solving. Practicing resilient is one area we fail in pursuit of
being resilient people. Most of us think that we already practice some of the things others keep
procrastinating. Adopting resilience requires that we change our attitudes and start practicing.
The rewards of resilience are experienced in practicing it. As social workers, we should approach
our work with an awareness of reality and hope for our wellbeing. This is the same promise we
should give to the people that we serve, that at the end of it all everything shall come to pass. It is
only that which we practice and know that we can give to others. (Cloninger, 2013)

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Resilience in children who have suffered adversity is focused on social relationships,
resources, culture, and community. Resilience among children is basically built by having
supportive adults around them especially from the immediate families. This relates to the work
that social workers do, that of reassuring the people who are faced by adversity and promising
them that things will be alright. In order for the parents to instill resilience in their children, they
should possess some of these qualities that social workers need to have. Example a parent should
practice resilience so as to be a good teacher to the children. It is the responsibility of a parent to
support the child’s self-esteem as the children learn about self-esteem from birth time. The
presence of the mother at all times when the baby cries and response to hunger cues is what
builds the esteem for the baby while young. This esteem needs to be supported to enable the
child to grow with high self-esteem which makes them more resilient as they grow and become
adults. Another way of building resilient in children is by giving them the opportunity to learn
new skills. This is just like the social workers are supposed to embrace change or new
happenings. Resilience in children and young adult differ in that adults have lived a longer life
practicing coping strategies hence are likely to exhibit more resilience than children. Older adults
face specific stressors like social isolation, chronic illness among others. It remains that social
and community support is vital for these adults to build resilience (Sigelman, 2014)
In a case study by Cohn and Frederickson, positive psychology proved that meditation,
love and kindness led to positive emotions (Peterson, 2013). People who meditated reported
positive emotions opposed to those who did not meditate. Positive emotion facilitates resilience
in later life as well as flexibility and creativity (Graber, 2015).
In conclusion, life which is well lived through all stages will translate to positive and
effective coping with life challenges. When everything is put in place to build resilience in a

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person from childhood, then such a person has lived well and so there are no challenges which
can get to them by surprise. Such people are more positive about life and they see challenges as a
stepping stone to the next level. The challenges in life makes them stronger people. They exhibit
positive energy and are always optimistic about life despite what it brings. They are able to
bounce back and continue with life even after a traumatizing event. It can be concluded that
resilience is the key to an effective and successful life, as it beats them all. A resilient man
cannot be stopped by anything.

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References
Cloninger Susan, C. (2013). Theories of Personality: Understanding Persons. Cram101,
Incorporated.
Erikson, E. H. (1980). Identity and the life cycle: A reissue.
Graber, R., Pichon, F., & Carabine, E. (2015). Psychological resilience. Retrieved from
https://www.odi.org/sites/odi.org.uk/files/odi-assets/publications-opinion-files/9872.pdf
Kail, R. V., & Cavanaugh, J. C. (2018). Human development: A life-span view. Cengage
Learning.
Miller, P. H., & Scholnick, E. K. (2014). Toward a feminist developmental psychology.
Routledge.
Peterson, C. C. (2013). Looking forward through the lifespan: developmental psychology.
Pearson Higher Education AU.
Sigelman, C. K., & Rider, E. A. (2014). Life-span human development. Cengage Learning.

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United Nations Development Program (UNDP). Human Development Report Office. (2001).
Human Development Report: Background papers. Human Development Report Office,
United Nations Development Programme.