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Resilience

Definition:  
  • the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness (from Google)
  • an ability to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change (from Merriam-Webster Dictionary)
  • that ineffable quality that allows some people to be knocked down by life and come back stronger than ever. (from Psychology Today)
  • coping skills so that you can better handle life's hardships (from the Mayo Clinic)
No matter whose definition we use, it's clear that we all want more of this for our children and ourselves. 

We know that the FS lifestyle will cause some unavoidable upheavals in the our lives and that of our children.  We want to know that our choices, as well as events beyond our control, are not going to emotionally scar our children.  Teaching and modeling resilience is the key.

Additional Resources on Resilience

Seminars

Encouraging Resilience in Your Foreign Affairs Child (MQ500) 

Email the Foreign Service Institute’s Transition Center for more information


This evening seminar is a valued added resource for all parents in the foreign affairs community. Participants will hear from both parents of children who were raised overseas and the Third Culture Kids themselves. Discussions will address the characteristics of an internationally mobile childhood; influences on cultural identity; characteristics of families living overseas; and strategies for raising resilient children.


Building Your Resilience in the Foreign Service (MQ502)


Email the Foreign Service Institute’s Transition Center for more information

This foundational course is designed to proactively meet the needs of foreign affairs community members, including employees, family members, and members of household, for foreign affairs community resilience training. This one-day workshop takes a practical approach and explores the need for resiliency, the meanings and definitions of the term, develops strategies to increase resilience to thrive in an internationally mobile lifestyle.


Articles


Bouncing Back: Transition and Re-Entry Planning for the Parents of Foreign Service Youth.
Washington, DC. Family Liaison Office

Raising Resilient Children in the Foreign Service
Washington, DC. FSI Transition Center Staff. From FSYF’s Parent e-newsletter, ‘Around the World’

Promoting Your Child’s Emotional Health
Rebecca Grappo, M.Ed. Foreign Service Journal. June 2011

The Road to Resilience: 10 Ways to Build Resilience
American Psychological Association
State Department publication

Promoting Resilience
Ray Leki, Director, Transition Center, Foreign Service Institute, State Magazine May 2013.

Books

Getting Up When Life Knocks You Down: Five Steps to Overcoming a Life Crisis

Jerry White. 2009. St. Martin's Griffin; First Edition (May 12, 2009)

Emotional Resilience and the Expat Child by Julia Simens

The only thing you can be sure you can move around the world is your child's ability to increase his or her interpersonal skills.  Emotional Resilience for the Expat Child provides a step-by-step guide that is designed to increase a child's emotional vocabulary and emotional intelligence.

Videos


How We Bounce Back: The New Science of Human Resilience
World Science Festival. Recorded June 2012

Portraits of Resilience: Surviving a Minefield
Jerry White

Overseas Crisis Readiness: A Web Resource
This is an extraordinarily helpful resource that covers preparing to move overseas as well as providing guidance in crisis situations. There is a chapter on Resilience.


Robin Pascoe

Websites





Additional Information

Check out the Additional Resources at the bottom of the page for more information on developing resilience in your children and yourselves.











Foreign Service Youth Foundation

P.O. Box 50663

Arlington, VA  22205

703.731.2960


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