Building resilience takes effort. For kids who’ve been through hard times, resilience grows through the support and encouragement of those around them.
What is Resilience?
Resilience is often seen as the ability to bounce back after facing difficulties or to keep going despite challenges. For children, resilience means persevering even when they’ve faced tough, risky, or harmful situations.
Can someone help others even if they were neglected as a child? Absolutely! This is possible when parents, caregivers, friends, and mentors pour out encouragement and instill hope into children who have experienced trauma. So, how can we practically support this resilience in our own kids?
Six Protective Factors to Build Resilience
There are six key protective factors that help increase resilience and may reduce the impact of emotional or behavioral issues in children facing difficult situations:
- Open Conversations: Have age-appropriate talks that free your child from feeling blamed or responsible for traumatic events.
- Supportive Relationships: Encourage healthy relationships with adults and peers that build your child’s confidence.
- Stability and Routine: Provide a predictable home environment and daily routine.
- Nurturing Caregivers: Use loving words and actions to connect with your child.
- Coping Skills: Help your child develop coping skills through therapy and support.
- Engaging Activities: Encourage hobbies and activities your child enjoys, including positive faith experiences and supportive church involvement. HopeConnect™ Everyday Moments™ Activities offer a variety of options to support you in this area.
Starting the Conversation
To help build resilience, try discussing these prompts over a meal:
- Describe one thing you are good at, have knowledge about, or enjoy doing.
- Share a time you overcame a challenge or solved a problem.
- Talk about something you are proud of.
- Tell me about the activities, hobbies, sports, or community groups you enjoy.
Focus on Strengths
At HopeConnect™, we know that creating positive relational experiences helps children overcome negative ones. As parents and caregivers, it’s crucial to focus on your child’s strengths and what they excel at, rather than dwelling on what they do wrong. This is especially important for children who have faced abuse, abandonment, neglect, and other traumatic experiences.
By encouraging them to talk about their proud moments and the things they love about themselves, we help them believe in their ability to make good choices and give them hope that they can overcome current or future challenges. Remind them that they are capable, even when things are tough or don’t go as planned the first time. Teach them to celebrate small victories or steps toward improvement.
Key Takeaway
As children of the Lord, we may face hardships, but we are never destroyed.
“We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed.”
~2 Corinthians 4:8-9 (NLT)
Application
Want a fun-filled activity that helps you bring out the strengths in your child?
Our “One, Two, See” Everyday Moments™ activity does just that – plus, it gets you and your child a little closer to Jesus.
Start “One, Two, See” on HopeConnect™ now!
