How Can We Help Our Children Develop More Resilience?

Raising children is never easy because you always want to do what is right for them. Your greatest challenge and desire is to raise children that grow into well-adjusted, thriving adults. One of the ways in which we can do this is to help them build resilience.

What Is Resilience & Why Is It Important?

The American Psychological Association states that resilience is the ability to recover well from difficulties, adversity, threats, stress, trauma, and tragedy. A resilient person has the capacity to bounce back from their struggles or stress and is able to adapt to challenges.

Being resilient means that you are able to face life’s challenges with ease, as you have the mental strength to deal with such issues. It is vital for being a healthy, functioning adult, as it will help people deal with a range of situations or obstacles in their lives. With resilience, you can process adversity in order to overcome hardship.

Without resilience, people may become overwhelmed by certain situations, or develop unhealthy and dangerous coping mechanisms or habits. Thus, it is essential that children develop resilience early on in life, to carry those skills into their future. Children may encounter a range of issues in their lives early on. From illness to moving homes, coping with bullies, dealing with divorced parents, or losing loved ones

Children who are able to work through a range of tough or stressful situations are strong and capable enough to navigate life well long-term.

Tips For Building Resilience In Children

To help raise strong, confident, and resilient children, consider the following tips:

Teach Problem Solving Skills

As a parent, it’s easy to want to rescue your child and fix things for them. Do guide and advise them. However, give them time to deal with discomfort, think, and work things through. This can help them become self-reliant, independent, and more confident in themselves. 

Embrace Mistakes

Mistakes are a way to learn new things and to recover from them. Be willing to let your child make them and learn how to handle them. Teach your children to embrace their mistakes, rather than avoid them or get stuck in shame. Help them reflect on the experience, as it gives your child the opportunity to educate themselves, process disappointment, and plan differently for future success. 

Encourage Healthy Coping Mechanisms

Show your children how to cope positively with difficult situations. Be a model of emotional management. Share your tough moments and how you dealt with them.

Your modeling, and a sense of humor, can help your child learn to manage his or her emotions with more acceptance, calm, and effectiveness. Whether they need to take a break, journal, or practice deep breathing exercises, give them ideas for self-soothing. Discuss the importance of self-control when angry or overwhelmed. 

Connecting With Others 

It’s important to show your children how to connect with other people and ask for help. If they can build healthy relationships, they can more capably find their own support systems. Modeling bonds with peers and loved ones can show them the benefits of managing life’s ups and downs without isolating them.

Acceptance

A very important lesson to teach your children is to accept things, whether it’s changes in life or things that are out of our control. Show children that changes are a part of life and that they will come across many different changes as they grow older. Praise their ability to regroup and move on.

Encourage Self Care

Self-care is so important, show them how you take care of your physical health or mental health. Your children need to know how important self-care is too for supporting good decisions and staying prepared. Encourage them to eat properly, exercise daily, get a good night’s sleep, and engage in activities that make them feel happy, strong, and satisfied. 

Finally…

Resilience is a key skill that all children need in order to cope with all of life’s stresses. To help your child build resilience, help them learn how to move towards their goals, accept failures and learn from their mistakes. Please consider family therapy as a way to help you support your children. Together, you’ll become a stronger, more well-rounded family. Contact us soon for a consultation.