{"id":1005,"date":"2019-04-30T16:29:49","date_gmt":"2019-04-30T20:29:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/daniellerousseau\/?p=1005"},"modified":"2019-04-30T16:29:49","modified_gmt":"2019-04-30T20:29:49","slug":"self-care-through-resilience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/daniellerousseau\/2019\/04\/30\/self-care-through-resilience\/","title":{"rendered":"Self-Care through Resilience"},"content":{"rendered":"

Self-care is critical for all individuals in some form, but it is especially important for those in the criminal justice field.\u00a0 <\/span>Self-care strategies are those things an individual does to reduce stress and ultimately rejuvenate ones self.\u00a0 <\/span>This could be done through a combination of physical, mental, or even spiritual activities.\u00a0<\/span>Self-care could be as simple as drinking coffee while watching the sun rise; soaking in the quiet peace of the morning.\u00a0 <\/span>It can also be as vigorous as playing recreational sports every week, or even a more spiritual approach of reflecting on the weeks sermon in church.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

Self-care can be conducted in different ways but also includes making sure ones basic needs are met, such as maintaining a nutritional diet and ensuring one receives ample rest. \u00a0<\/span>These are all factors that can be done prior to the induction of stress to better prepare the body, physically, for the challenges to come.\u00a0 <\/span>An individual can also prepare the mind for mentally challenging situations.\u00a0 <\/span>Just as one exercises to build their physical stamina, one can also prepare the mind as a form of self-care.\u00a0 <\/span>Building ones resilience is an effective approach to pre-conditioning the mind for difficult or stressful situations, which in the criminal justice field, is highly likely.<\/p>\n

Resilience is the ability of an individual to bounce back in the face of adversity.\u00a0 <\/span>Resilience skills and personal exposure and experiences all add to the response one might experience when faced with a stressful or traumatic event and can contribute to the level or existence of PTSD as a result of the event.\u00a0 <\/span>Not every one experiences trauma the same way and not every event triggers a traumatic response from every individual.\u00a0 <\/span>What we do know is that trauma can prompt a neurological effect in an individual, causing one\u2019s emotional mind to react and essentially blocking the cognitive mind (Van Der Kolk, 2014).\u00a0 <\/span>Yet, learning effective skills can boost an individual\u2019s ability to cope with overwhelming amounts stress or lessen the physiological impacts.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

In 2009, the Army took this concept and teamed up with the Positive Psychology Center at the University of Pennsylvania to develop a program specifically designed to teach resilience skills to Soldiers.\u00a0 <\/span>The thought was that if Soldier\u2019s learned specific skills designed to increase their resilience, they could better cope with the challenges of combat.\u00a0 <\/span>These skills include methods that focus on the elimination of irrational thinking (i.e. giving in to the worst case scenario in a life threatening situation) to allow an individual to more clearly assess a situation (i.e. strategizing an escape or counter attack).\u00a0 <\/span>Resilience skills can also improve personal connections, as connections are linked to an individual\u2019s ability to overcome an event. \u00a0<\/span>This could also include skills designed to bring the body to the most optimal state for performance \u2013 mental, social, physical, and emotional skills.\u00a0 <\/span>The idea is that a resilient individual is better equipped to cope with difficult situations and can further use these abilities for post-traumatic growth.\u00a0<\/span>Post-traumatic growth is the ability of an individual to experience positive change as a result of a difficult event.\u00a0 <\/span>\u201cResilient people tend to take responsibility for their emotional well- being and use the traumatic experience as a basis for personal growth (Southwick & Charney, 2012, p. 13).<\/p>\n

Although the concept of resilience and trauma is a fairly new area of study, research has already suggested that resilience does have neurological affects (Friedberg, 2018).\u00a0<\/span>Therefore, developing resilience-based skills can contribute to an individual\u2019s wellbeing, their ability to overcome stress and trauma, and their ability to regain control of their mental state.\u00a0 <\/span>Because these skills focus on improving an individual\u2019s ability to coop with stress, mastering these skills can serve as a form of preventative self-care.\u00a0 <\/span>In the moment, exercising these abilities can help an individual return to a more positive and constructive mental state, ultimately rejuvenating ones self when it is needed the most.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

References:\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

Friedberg, Ahron & Malefakis, D. \u00a0<\/span>(2018).\u00a0<\/span>Resilience, Trauma, and Coping.\u00a0 <\/span>Psychodynamic Psychiatry: Vol.\u00a0<\/span>46, No.\u00a0<\/span>1, pp. 81-113.<\/p>\n

Positive Psychology Center.\u00a0<\/span>(2019).\u00a0 <\/span>The University of Pennsylvania School of Arts & Sciences.\u00a0<\/span>Accessed online 22 March 2019.\u00a0 <\/span>https:\/\/ppc.sas.upenn.edu\/resilience-programs\/resilience-research<\/p>\n

Southwick, S. M., & Charney, D. S. (2012). Resilience: The science of mastering life\u2019s greatest challenges<\/em>. New York: Cambridge University Press. Accessed online 29 April 2019.\u00a0 <\/span>https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1017\/CBO9781139013857<\/p>\n

Van der Kolk, Bessel A. (2014).\u00a0 <\/span>The Body Keeps the Score. New York, NY.\u00a0 <\/span>Penguin Books.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Self-care is critical for all individuals in some form, but it is especially important for those in the criminal justice field.\u00a0 Self-care strategies are those things an individual does to reduce stress and ultimately rejuvenate ones self.\u00a0 This could be done through a combination of physical, mental, or even spiritual activities.\u00a0Self-care could be as simple […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13502,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/daniellerousseau\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1005"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/daniellerousseau\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/daniellerousseau\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/daniellerousseau\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13502"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/daniellerousseau\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1005"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/daniellerousseau\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1005\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1008,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/daniellerousseau\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1005\/revisions\/1008"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/daniellerousseau\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1005"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/daniellerousseau\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1005"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/daniellerousseau\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1005"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}