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Resilience

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Resilience is the process and outcome of successfully adapting to difficult or challenging life experiences, especially through mental, emotional, and behavioral flexibility and adjustment to external and internal demands.

A number of factors contribute to how well people adapt to adversities, including the ways in which individuals view and engage with the world, the availability and quality of social resources, and specific coping strategies.

Psychological research demonstrates that the resources and skills associated with resilience can be cultivated and practiced.

Adapted from the APA Dictionary of Psychology

Resources from APA

The Road to Resilience

Building your resilience

We all face trauma, adversity, and other stresses. Here’s a roadmap for adapting to life-changing situations, and emerging even stronger than before.

Resilience for teens

Resilience for teens: 10 tips to build skills on bouncing back from rough times

The ability to adapt well in the face of hard times is a valuable skill for young adults. Here are ten tips to begin your journey to resilience.

Resilience Guide

Resilience guide for parents and teachers

Children’s problems include adapting to a new classroom, bullying by classmates, or abuse at home, but resilience is the ability to thrive despite these challenges.

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APA books

Nature Meets Nurture

Nature Meets Nurture

Motivation Myth Busters

Motivation Myth Busters

Cover of The Pain Survival Guide, Revised Edition (medium)

The Pain Survival Guide, Rev. Ed.

Cover of Building Psychological Resilience in Military Personnel (medium)

Building Psychological Resilience in Military Personnel

Magination Press children’s books

Cover of Baxter and Danny Stand Up to Bullying (medium)

Baxter and Danny Stand Up to Bullying

Cover of Doug’s Dung (medium)

Doug’s Dung

Cover of The Hugging Tree (medium)

The Hugging Tree

Cover of Abracadabra! The Magic of Trying (medium)

Abracadabra!

Cover of New Kid, New Scene (medium)

New Kid, New Scene

Journal special issues

Generic journal special issue image

Trauma, Aging, and Well-Being

Cover of Psychological Perspectives on Culture Change (special issue of American Psychologist, September 2021)

Psychological Perspectives on Culture Change

Resilience and Perseverance for Human Flourishing

Resilience and Perseverance for Human Flourishing

Cover of COVID-19: Insights on the Pandemic’s Traumatic Effects and Global Implications (special issue of Psychological Trauma, August 2020)

COVID-19

Cover of Psychiatric Rehabilitation for Veterans (special issue of Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal, September 2019)

Psychiatric Rehabilitation for Veterans