Flow Theory as a Model for Enhancing Student Resilience.

Abstract

Survivors of hardships, unusual stress, trauma, or deprivation draw upon their inner resources to cope and even thrive under conditions that their less robust counterparts find debilitating. Who are these examples of resilience? What are the common characteristics of resilience? What models explain how resilience occurs? And, finally, how can we utilize what is known about resilience in school counseling? These questions are addressed in this article. THE CHARACTERISTICS OF RESILIENCE Interest in the resilience of children and adolescents (Anthony & Cohler, 1987; Beardslee & Poderefsky, 1988; Dugan & Coles.1989; Garmezy,v,1993; Lewis & Looney,1983; Osborn,1990; Rak & Patterson,1996;Werner, & Smith,1992; Wolin & Wolin. 1993) has flourished in recent years. This interest in resilience has filtered into the public's eye as well. For example, the nationally distributed magazine of a Sunday newspaper recently featured an article about Tom Harken (Ryan, 1996), a millionaire owner of a chain of restaurants and Horatio Alger Award winner, who overcame childhood tuberculosis, polio, and who was illiterate throughout childhood and most of his adulthood. Most of the focus in the literature on resilience is on at-risk children. However, Daniel Goleman's (1995) book, Emotional Intelligence, which highlights many socio-emotional characteristics of successful individuals, has also captured the attention of both professional and lay readers because those characteristics bear a striking similarity to traits of resilient survivors. Wolin and Wolin (1993) cite seven qualities associated with resiliency--insight, independence, relationships, initiative, creativity, humor, and morality Warschaw and Barlow (1995) identify the following: unambivalent commitment to life, self-confidence, adaptability, resourcefulness, willingness to risk, acceptance of personal responsibility, perspective, openness to new ideas, willingness to be proactive, and attentiveness.The Basic Behavioral Science Task Force of the National Advisory Mental Health Council (1996) focuses on personality traits, self-concept, and self-esteem as critical components of resilience.This report cites research suggesting that early-attachment experiences, genetics, and other environmental factors such as school and family dynamically interact to account for the development of resilience. Longitudinal studies (Garmezy, Masten, & Tellegen, 1984; Rutter, 1979,1983,1985,1986;Werner,1984;Werner & Smith,1982) have traced developmental factors that are related to resilience: proactivity, active problem solving, an optimistic view of life, novelty seeking, a propensity to have a positive vision of life, independence, and an ability to benefit from positive attention. Goleman (1995), stressing the importance of harmonizing emotion and thought, posits that characteristics that are unmeasured by traditional intelligence tests best explain who can withstand adversity and who can reach their potential. These characteristics include the ability to be self-motivating, persistence in the face of frustration, impulse control, the ability to delay gratification, the ability to regulate one's moods and negative feelings, the ability to empathize with others, and a hopeful outlook about life. Identifying many of the same dimensions of resilience, McCann and Pearlman (1990) discuss the abilities that helpers must activate to help survivors of traumatic experiences.These include (1) self capacities such as the ability to tolerate strong affect, to be alone without being lonely, to calm oneself, to regulate self-loathing; and (2) ego resources such as intelligence, willpower, a capacity for introspection, initiative, a desire for personal growth, awareness of one's psychological needs, the ability to foresee consequences, the ability to establish mature relationships with others, the ability to establish boundaries, and the ability to make self-protective judgments. …