Resilience: The Science
and Art of Bouncing Back
BY DR. NURIT ISRAELI
“The human capacity for burden
is like bamboo – far more
flexible than you’d ever believe
at first glance.” ~ Jodi Picoult
During my years working as a
psychologist, I have often marveled
at what Jodi Picoult describes as
the human capacity for burden:
the capacity of individuals to cope
adaptively with life’s rough blows.
Time and again I have wondered:
why do some people manage to
bounce back while others break?
How do some people emerge from
crises stronger while others crumble?
2019
July Is resilience a trait one is born
¢with? Is it genetically predetermined?
COURIER Can it be developed? Can
it be enhanced? In recent years, the
field of resilience psychology has
provided some answers.
spiritual belief in the intrinsic
TOWERS The word resilience is derived
meaning and value of life. One
from the Latin for “springing back.”
of the books that I have read and
In the psychological literature,
reread is Viktor Frankl’s Man’s
resilience is defined as the ability
Search For Meaning. Viktor
SHORE to withstand, adapt to, and recover
Frankl, who lost all of his family
from adversity. Like trees that bend
during the Holocaust and who
in the wind, but when the storm
spent time in four concentration
NORTH passes return to their original shape
camps, believed that if you have a
or even grow around the injuries,
purpose in life, you are less likely
resilient individuals adapt. Note
to give up when faced with even
20 that resilience in no way precludes
catastrophic circumstances. The grief, setbacks, or even despair!
Resilience is not the absence of
emotional pain but rather the ability
to face it, process it, find effective
ways to deal with it, and return to
a previous or even higher level of
functioning.
Look back on your own life: What
has helped you ride life’s rapids?
Rise out of ashes? Bounce back?
Different people have different
answers. There is no single infallible
way of navigating life’s crises,
and resilience is not an either-or
trait. Resilience can be manifested
in different degrees and different
forms. Whether people succumb
or surmount depends partially on
the severity of the trauma. Still,
the basic capacity for resilience is
innate in the human brain. A colleague
from Columbia University,
Dr. George Bonnano, who has dedicated
years of rigorous research to
exploring resilience, found out that
people are generally more resilient
than what was previously believed,
even when facing extreme stressors.
Resilience is common rather than
extraordinary. We have an innate
potential for weathering stressful
events.
Recent research focuses on
the neurobiological underpinnings
of resilience. According to
Richard Davidson in his book,
The Emotional Life of the Brain,
resilience is marked by greater activation
in the left prefrontal cortex
of the brain. Neuroplasticity is the
brain’s ability to grow and change
in response to experience. Life
experiences shape the innate neural
circuitry of the brain, which in turn
influences future responses.
The good news: We can rewire
our brain for better resilience! Once
we accept that crises are a part of
life, we can develop “shock absorbers”
to soften the impact of the
blows. The American Psychological
Association compares resilience to
the set of skills necessary for taking
a raft trip down a river: We should
expect to encounter turns, rapids,
shallows and slow water along the
way, and we need to tap into skills
that help navigate rough waters.
Rick Hanson, an expert on resilience,
compares it to the keel of a
sailboat: As the winds of life blow,
resilience helps us stay balanced
and move onward, and when the
big squalls come, resilience lets us
right our “boat” as soon as possible.
Which skills enhance our ability
to bounce back? Linda Graham,
in her book, Bouncing Back,
and numerous other researchers
describe the common traits of
emotionally resilient people: They
cultivate self- awareness. They practice
acceptance. They put things in
perspective (reframing them in the
least negative ways). They develop
problem-solving skills – a capacity
to rationally (and if possible,
calmly) look for solutions. They are
flexible – they adapt more quickly
to new circumstances. They value
social connectivity, develop a support
system, and are able to ask
for (as well as provide) help. They
maintain an optimistic outlook.
Beyond these: tenacity, perseverance,
equanimity, creativity, and
spirituality are important assets.
Relaxation training and mindfulness
have been demonstrated to
increase neuroplasticity and help us
access our calm center. Role models
can be important too – ones we can
emulate…or ones we wish to be the
opposite of...
I have seen resilience in action
while working with victims of
wars, relationship traumas, major
illnesses, etc. I have also seen it
personally, while observing my
parents and their contemporaries
who lost their families during the
Holocaust. Like my father who, as
a young adult, lost his parents as
well as his three siblings and their
families. The youngest in his family,
he had to start life all alone in a new
country, having also lost his home
and all family assets. How did he
find the strength to begin again?
To be such a lover of life? Such an
optimist? To repeatedly convey to
me, his only offspring, that we can
overcome?
Above all else, I believe that
the major motivational force fostering
resilience is a deep-seeded
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