Translating resilience research into meaningful knowledge & skills
Janis L. Henderson, Ph.D.
By Janis L. Henderson, Ph.D.
Educator/Consultant, J. Henderson Education Services (Hello, My Name is Resilient)
My work as an educator and consultant focuses on making research-based knowledge about resilience meaningful in everyday life, and on how we can use our challenges to map out new pathways to strength and recovery.
Many individuals and families understand resilience conceptually, but they don’t how to move from surface-level knowledge to applying related skills. For example, telling someone to stay positive doesn’t always translate to the person taking action to stay positive; it can be more helpful for them to learn how to identify things that give them a sense of positivity when they’re struggling.
Family Science and developmental science are the foundation of this work, which is also important because the impact can extend beyond an individual client.
If I work with a young parent on learning to manage their emotional responses, they could then teach or model their new understanding and skills to others. I worked individually with a sibling pair, one of whom observed a change in their parent’s emotional responses resulting from the sibling’s own changed response approach. It is exciting to see how change in one can impact change in many.
Family Science and developmental science also inform the work I do with organizations around creating socially just workplace environments.
Much of what we know about interpersonal interactions within families translates to our friend-families, friendships, and professional relationships. In my work at the organizational level, it has been encouraging to see and be part of the changing norms and expectations of our social institutions.