Resilience is the capacity to respond to stress in a healthy way so that goals are achieved at minimal psychological and physical cost.
– Karen Reivich

Contributed by Rachel Robertson, Chief Academic Officer, Bright Horizons.

We talk a lot about resilience in our field, recognizing its importance, but not always clear on what we can do to foster it and, conversely, what we can accidentally do to weaken it. Ann Masten, one of the first to study resilience, described it as ordinary magic: something we all have or have the capacity for that makes an extraordinary difference in how we respond to stress and how challenges shape our lives.

The Out of the Box Training, “Making Happy Happen,” includes my article of the same name in which I offer guidance, such as offering support for problem-solving rather than always giving advice or solutions, role-playing common social dilemmas at group time, or purposefully teaching social strategies and perspective-taking.