Resilience for Social Workers: How To Increase Flexibility, Energy, and Engagement in the Face of Challenge

by Elizabeth Whitney, MSW, LICSW

   I arrive at the conference center tired and distracted, aware of the gnawing anxiety that has been with me since starting my new job months earlier. “Who am I—feeling this way—to be teaching about resilience?” I wonder. As I scan the presentation space, taking deep breaths to calm my nerves, I also remember, “Who else?”

    Resilience is not about eliminating anxiety, fear, or uncertainty. Cultivating resilience allows us to face these and other stressful experiences with greater confidence, so we have the resources to bounce back. This article provides an introduction to tools and resources for building resilience and working with, rather than avoiding or distancing from, the realities that confront us.

    Social work, practiced conscientiously, is a practice of the head and the heart. Effective social work demands deep engagement at all levels of intervention. To do this work requires presence, self-knowledge, acceptance, and flexibility. One has to be willing to “not know,” even when having practiced for a long time. To do this work demands tenacity in the face of imperfect systems and inadequate funding. Grounded in a commitment to serve often-marginalized individuals, families, and communities, a career as a social worker may also bring a host of challenges, including the increasingly trying conditions within which we work.

    To address these realities, workshops and articles on stress reduction, avoidance of compassion fatigue, and burnout prevention have proliferated with the promise of teaching social workers how to cut down, manage, or create space from situations that overwhelm us. Within these approaches, however, is a deep and troubling contradiction.

    Burnout is synonymous with breakdown; compassion fatigue with depletion. Inherent in both is a presumption of finite capacity within each person that, unless carefully guarded, can be used up. The best that can be achieved is to stave off or protect against becoming drained of a precious ability to care, or when nearing a depleted state, to take time away to refill ourselves with purpose and energy. Furthermore, the source of this damage and brokenness, against which social workers are counseled to buttress themselves, is often posited as being the very people we seek to help. Nowhere within this worldview do we find ideas about abilities, or promises of the capacity for growth.

Resilience—A Strengths-Based Approach

    Resilience, on the other hand, draws from and reinforces a strengths perspective. The concept of resilience springs from a belief that, fundamentally, we have personal wisdom and capacity to persevere and grow from experience. Adopting a resilience mindset helps us to tap into these capacities and to flourish, even in the face of challenge. Rather than seeing our work as ultimately draining, we incorporate the challenges we face into meaning-making. Difficulties are expected as part of the whole of what we do. When resilient, we seek to understand adversities that arise, to continually cultivate attitudes of curiosity, and to formulate actions for solutions and justice.

    The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines resilience as “an ability to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change.” Karen Reivich and Andrew Shatte, in their practical book The Resilience Factor (2003), discuss resilience as having to do with the ability to regulate emotions, attention, and behavior. Furthermore, recent research shows that how you interpret and how you respond to stress is related to how much stress you will feel. Early research by Suzanne Kobasa (1979) identified three critical factors for resilience: control, commitment, and challenge. Resilient people believe that they can influence events and situations, are engaged and find work as a source of meaning, and see change and uncertainty as opportunities for growth more than as stressors.

    Resilient social workers rely on habits of mind and actions to foster attitudes of open curiosity and awareness of judgment that sustain them through the vicissitudes of their often difficult work. A focus on resilience allows us to move from the deficit perspective posited by avoidance of burnout to a sustainable framework based on day-to-day positive practices. With resilience, we are more able to keep our minds free from limiting thoughts, to access courage and creativity, to connect with others rather than withdraw, and ultimately, to find new possibilities for ourselves and the people we serve. Buoyed by resilience, we are more able to confront and work with problems without losing connection to ourselves or engagement with those we serve. At its simplest, working on resilience is about being proactive rather than reactive.

    The year that I came to my apprenticeship with the study of resilience was a difficult year. I experienced conflicts that threatened my confidence and left me feeling betrayed. I faced a health scare about which I was secretly worried. I found myself feeling unwell, tired, and anxious. The year was also an incredible year. I learned that I have extraordinary support in my life and a deep core belief in myself. I learned that I can be worried and pragmatic and that both experiences are true. I learned about and actively incorporated approaches—habits of mind and actions—that fostered my resilience.

    We cannot teach what we don’t know. My personal resilience relies on regular exercise and yoga, reflection through writing, gratitude practice, savoring, and asking for help. I work on shifting my mind to commit to “a staunch acceptance of reality” (Coutu, 2002). I use cognitive exercises for recognizing, exploring, and ultimately putting my fears in perspective. When stymied by big challenges, I find my way out by actively engaging in a process of finding lessons in the situation, even if I can’t change it.  

    People differ in their natural levels of resilience based, in part, on mindset. Martin Seligman equates these differences with what he calls “attributional” style, explained by factors that generally lead to a pessimistic or an optimistic outlook. The good news is that everyone can build greater resilience. I have come to think of resilience as being composed of interconnected threads—a foundation based on self-concordant goals, a reserve of resilience sustained by physical and emotional practices, and skills for in-the-moment resilience when challenges threaten to overwhelm us.

Self-Concordant Goals

    Self-concordant goals are goals that express our most strongly held values and from which we derive a sense of meaning. Tal Ben Shahar, in his book Happier (2007), describes a process for exploring goals that fall in the intersection of meaning, pleasure, and skill. Even when we are unable to maximize time actively pursuing these intrinsic goals, which would be optimal, their clarification helps us identify and pursue at least some activities that promote their expression. When faced with stressful circumstances, self-concordant goals provide a bridge between current challenges and an imagined best future. Diane Coutu (2002) discusses how meaning-making and orienting toward our values offer ways to interpret and shape events and can be “used as scaffolding in times of trouble.”

    A reserve of resilience is fed by physical well-being practices and strategies that boost positive emotions. Much like a fit marathon runner who prepares year-round in different conditions and on varied terrain, social workers who attend to themselves consistently, often in small but meaningful ways, are more able to remain flexible, energetic, and motivated. Resilience creates a positive feedback loop and leads to a growth mindset. In contrast to a paradigm of fighting depletion with bouts of self-care, resilient social work practice creates conditions for continual growth and renewal. Kathryn Britton (2008) writes “…resilience research reminds us not to let our minds be totally filled with thoughts of ameliorating the adversity. We also have ordinary competencies, resources, and protective processes that we can draw on.”

Physical Well-Being

    Physical well-being practices include the following:

• Exercise—In addition to a myriad of physical benefits, exercise has important psychological benefits. Regular exercise enhances self-esteem; can reduce anxiety, stress, and depression; helps the brain to generate new neurons; and improves focus, memory, and creativity. Tips for building a habit of exercise include starting with small steps; gathering social support with exercise partners; making it fun; and including movement as part of regular routines, such as taking the stairs, walking rather than driving, or parking farther from your destination than usual.
• Nutrition—Among other benefits of good nutrition, attention to diet and eating patterns affects mood, energy, and regulation of stress hormones, all of which have long-term consequences.
• Sleep/recovery time—Recovery time between bouts of sustained effort increases attention, energy, and stamina, among other benefits. Strategies to create recovery moments include setting reminders for 5-minute breaks at regular intervals; changing environments for different tasks; spacing out one demanding task from another; and getting adequate, good quality sleep. Even brief naps have been shown to have good benefit.

Emotional Well-Being

    Practices for emotional well-being and positive emotions include:

• Mindfulness—Mindfulness practices develop qualities of attention, physiological regulation, and non-reactivity that are healing, in general, and that are critical for awareness and emotional regulation required for effective in-the-moment resilience. Methods include meditation, yoga, and other breath and movement related practices. Even the simple practice of stopping for three deep breaths, often paired with phrases that help to calm and focus, can create greater mindfulness.
• Social connection and support—Personal resilience flourishes through connection with others. Having caring others in our corner helps us with perspective taking, reminding us of our strengths and who we are as our best self. Research also shows that spending time with friends boosts oxytocin, the “feel good” hormone.
• Positivity boosters—Optimism and its close relation, positivity, are the lifeblood of resilience. Fortunately, it is possible to increase positivity, even for those not naturally endowed with this quality. A sense of gratitude can be boosted through brief daily journaling of three things in one’s life about which you are grateful. Sonja Lyubormirsky (2008) writes about the positive benefits of “savoring,” which draws and holds our attention to something that evokes a sense of pleasure. Writing or journaling helps create a sense of coherence to the events of our lives, enhancing meaning and self-agency. Writing about positive experiences (Burton & King, 2004) strengthens neural pathways. Priming your environment—through images, written inspirations and reminders, and physical set-up and organization—also provides visual cues for positive emotion.

Resilience and Adversity

    Creating the conditions for a foundation of resilience does not prevent stress when adversity strikes. I practice yoga and I feel worried. I focus on gratitude and I fall into episodes of negative thinking. In-the-moment resilience skills allow us to draw on strengths and personal power and to side-step destructive thinking traps.

    Cognitive strategies can increase flexible thinking in the face of adversity. This involves learning to identify automatic thoughts that arise and to monitor the emotional and behavioral consequences that follow. Challenging the validity of our first habitual thoughts and describing alternative explanations for what is happening allows us to broaden our perspective and invite more positive emotions and thoughtful actions.

    Body/mind practices, brought to popular attention by Amy Cuddy in her book Presence (2015), draw on research that demonstrates that how we hold our bodies can also have an impact on mood and thinking. Employing physical postures that are expansive rather than constrictive can boost personal power and confidence, with an associated decrease in stress hormones and increase in assertiveness, optimism, and problem solving.

    Identification and nurturance of signature strengths (http://www.viacharacter.org) provides grounding for drawing on our best selves and strongest qualities, especially important when challenges threaten to distract or engulf us.

Practicing Resilience

    So few of us read an article and decide to change our ways. “Interesting,” we think. “I might try those ideas. I’ll start tomorrow.” Or “I already do some of these things and I still feel exhausted and worn out,” the more skeptical of us opine. Adopting resilience practices requires a change of attitude and habit. The promise is that by doing so, we may experience the power of simple approaches that, when practiced mindfully and full of intention, are self-renewing.

    Approaching our work with eyes open to reality, with acceptance and hope for our own well-being is the promise we should make to the people and communities we serve as social workers. We cannot practice what we don’t know.

    All of us have the capacity to practice with open hearts and minds. Why not start now?

References

Ben-Shahar, T. (2007). Happier: Learn the secrets to daily joy and lasting fulfillment. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

Britton, K. (2008). Resilience in the face of adversity. Positive Psychology News. Retrieved from http://positivepsychologynews.com/news/kathryn-britton/200812071283

Burton, C. M., & King, L. A. (2004, April). The health benefits of writing about intensely positive experiences. Journal of Research in Personality, 38 (2), 150-163.  

Coutu, D. (2002, May). How resilience works. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2002/05/how-resilience-works

Cuddy, A. (2015). Presence: Bringing your boldest self to your biggest challenges. Boston, MA: Little, Brown and Company.

Kobasa, S. C. (1979). Personality and resistance to illness. American Journal of Community Psychology, 7, 413–423. doi:10.1007/BF00894383

Lyubormirsky, S. (2008). The how of happiness: A new approach to getting the life you want. New York, NY: Penguin.

Reivich, K., & Shatte, A. (2003). The resilience factor: 7 keys to finding your inner strength and overcoming life’s hurdles. New York, NY: Three Rivers Press.

Elizabeth Whitney, MSW, LICSW, is an Associate Professor of Practice at Simmons College School of Social Work. She is the Assistant Director of Field Education for Curriculum Development and Training for the online graduate program at Simmons. In 2015, Elizabeth completed a certificate program in positive psychology, which she tries to weave into as many aspects of her life as she can.