Psychological Resilience and the Benefits of Resilience Counseling

Understanding the meaning of mental resilience, strategies individuals can use to improve psychological resilience, and the role of resilience counseling.

Photo by Milad Fakurian on Unsplash

Given *gestures at everything*, few topics feel quite as relevant as resilience. This spring, I’m building out what I’m internally referring to as the “Reality Studies Resilience Manual,” a series of explainers and analysis that hopefully helps readers understand the basics and why it matters in 2025 and beyond.

The term has different uses depending on the context—and we’ll be digging into these in the days and weeks to come—but one key usage comes from the field of psychology. What follows is a basic description of psychological resilience and the associated field of resilience counseling.

Before getting to that, a quick caveat. According to a 2020 article in the European Journal of Psychotraumatology, “ongoing debate persists regarding definitions of resilience, generalizability of the extant literature, neurobiological correlates, and a consensus research agenda.”

My intention with this post is not to participate in that debate, as I’m not a psychologist. Rather, my hope is to introduce the basic concepts at a high level, from which readers can conduct deeper research and develop their own positions within these debates if desired.

The Meaning of Psychological Resilience

Definition of psychological resilience:

Psychological resilience refers to the mental processes and behaviors that allow individuals to thrive despite adversity.

Psychology Today adds that resilience “is the psychological quality that allows some people to be knocked down by the adversities of life and come back at least as strong as before.”

Degrees of psychological resilience vary from person to person. The American Psychological Association (APA) writes:

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.

But studying psychological resilience is anything but cut-and-dry. Highlighting the complexity of defining and studying resilience in their literature review “Trauma, PTSD, and Resilience,” Christine Agaibi and John Wilson write that there are five distinct ways to define human resilience:

First, what is the lexical definition of resilience? Second, what constitutes resilience as a psychological phenomenon in its purest form devoid of contextual parameters? In terms of basic processes of perception, cognition, affect regulation, and information processing, what characterizes resilience? Third, what defines resilient behavior under adverse environmental conditions? This question spurned the early research on resilient children who grew up in poverty, in malfunctional families, or in conditions of cultural deprivation. The focus on resilient behavior is a way of evaluating resilience by outcome: How is good performance maintained in the face of adversity, overwhelming disadvantage, or impediments to highly effective adaptation and performance as defined by a range of dependent variables (e.g., mental health, school performance, absence of illness or psychopathology, etc.)? Fourth, the question of psychological trauma and resilience is a variation on conceptualizations of effective coping and adaptation under adverse environmental circumstances. Trauma, however, is generally defined by stress events that present extraordinary challenges to coping and adaptation. Indeed, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV-TR; American Psychiatric Association, 2000) definition of traumatic stressors includes “experiencing, witnessing, or confronting events that involve actual or threatened death orserious injury, or a threat to the physical integrity of self or others” (p. 467). Thus, the issue of resilience to traumatic situations raises questions as to the nature of peritraumatic (during) and posttraumatic forms of resilient behavior. Stated differently, what set of psychological factors are associated with resilient coping in the “face” and “wake” of trauma? Fifth, the issue of PTSD and resilience similarly raises questions regarding the dimensions of effective coping. For example, what factors are protective against the onset or later development of PTSD? What factors (e.g., personal, social, support resources, etc.) are associated with resilient recovery from PTSD versus chronic forms of the disorder? Resilient posttraumatic coping behavior poses the question as to continuities and discontinuities in resiliency across the life span. Is posttraumatic resiliency a characteristic of the person or highly influenced by normative life crises of aging and unique situational contexts that challenge coping repertoires?

For our purposes here, we are going to assume that psychological resilience does exist and can be strengthened—but it’s critical to understand that this is a complex topic, and should be treated as such.

Why Resilience Matters

Resilience is critical in 2025 (if you feel like I do about current events, you probably don’t need me telling you this, but still deserves to be said!). Across the board—from geopolitical instability to extreme climate events to economic uncertainty—volatility is increasing. This, in turn, can lead to feelings of overwhelm, anxiety, and hopelessness.

Resilience is not just about “bouncing back” from setbacks; it’s about building a mindset capable of adapting to rapid change, social pressures, and global uncertainties, such that future “shocks” don’t hit you the same way they do now. In practical terms, resilience is likely to make you better at your job and/or a more appealing candidate on the job market.

Psychologically resilient individuals can create a cascade effect; the more people who are able to “show up” in their communities—remaining present and focused on what matters even within crisis—the more collective resilience they help foster. I’m going to be releasing later pieces on collective resilience and climate resilience, which will focus on this aspect.

How to Develop Psychological Resilience

Importantly, psychological resilience is a trait that can be developed. The APA identifies four components individuals can focus on to strengthen resilience:

• Connection (relationships with friends, family, and broader social groups)

• Wellness (maintaining physical and mental health)

• Healthy thinking (learning from the past, accepting change, and maintaining a hopeful outlook even under hardship)

• Meaning (finding purpose in life and helping others)

Some people will be able to improve personal resilience by developing and implementing strategies on their own, while others might benefit from resilience counseling.

What is Resilience Counseling?

Resilience counseling uses therapeutic techniques to help clients develop coping strategies, foster positive self-beliefs, and build a supportive network. This form of counseling emphasizes that while challenges are inevitable, the ability to bounce back can be learned and enhanced over time.

Resilience counseling will be different for every individual, but some techniques may include:

• Cognitive-behavioral therapy, which helps individuals recognize, challenge, and change unhelpful negative thoughts. By shifting mindsets from “I’m a failure” to “I can learn from this setback,” we build a more adaptive outlook that supports recovery and growth.

• Exposure and desensitization techniques, such as Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) or controlled exposure therapy, methods that can help individuals gradually confront and process traumatic memories. These techniques can help clients reduce avoidance behaviors and build confidence in managing distressing thoughts, which feeds into resilience.

• Narrative therapy, a method for helping clients articulate and reframe trauma narratives to help them generate a healthier, more coherent self-story. This method fosters a sense of agency and meaning, which is critical for adapting to future challenges.

• Mindfulness practices, including meditation, body scans, and deep-breathing exercises increase awareness of the present moment—reducing rumination, improving emotional regulation, and fostering acceptance of stressful experiences without judgment.

• Stress management strategies, such as self-compassion practices, journaling and reflection, physical self-care, relaxation techniques, setting realistic goals to prevent from feeling overwhelmed, and breaking down stressors into smaller, actionable steps helps restore a sense of control.

Research in resilience psychology shows that individuals who engage in resilience counseling often experience improved mental health, reduced anxiety, and a greater sense of empowerment. They learn to reframe negative experiences, recognize their strengths, and see challenges as opportunities for growth.

For those interested in pursuing resilience counseling, the APA offers a a psychologist locator here.

The Reality Studies Resilience Manual is rolling out a bunch of new pieces in the coming days and weeks—some of which are only available to free or paid subscribers. Subscribe now so they come straight to your inbox!

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