Psychologists define resilience as the ability to maintain or recover mental health despite experiencing trauma, tragedy, threats, or significant sources of stress; or as positive adaptation. (Wald, Taylor, & Asmundson, 2006.) It involves not only recovery from difficult experiences, but can also lead to personal growth. “More than fifty years of research has conclusively shown that resilience is the key to job success and life satisfaction” (Reivich, Schate; 2002).
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania, USA, give us the following definition of resilience: ‘Resilience is the ability to overcome difficult moments. But resilience is also our ability to grow because of the challenges we face”.
What distinguishes resilient people from everyone else is that they perceive difficulties not as threats, but rather as challenges. They have a growth mind-set and believe they can learn and grow from anything. These people embrace challenges and overcome them rather than shying away from them. Developing resilience is prevention of stress and mental and physical health related problems.
Therefore, amidst the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, COPE project partners (Happiness Academy, Bulgaria, Einurd, Iceland, Consultoría de Innovación Social, Spain) have joined together to contribute to building resilience and coping skills among adult people.
Follow our Blog to learn more about resilience and how to acquire coping skills.
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