I Was Trying to Build My Son’s Resilience, Not Scar Him for Life

Resilience is a popular term in modern psychology that, put simply, refers to the ability to recover and move on from adverse events, failure or change.

“We don’t call it ‘character’ anymore,” said Jelena Kecmanovic, director of Arlington/DC Behavior Therapy Institute. “We call it the ability to tolerate distress, the ability to tolerate uncertainty.”

Studies suggest that resilience in kids is associated with things like empathycoping skills and problem-solving, though this research is often done on children in extreme circumstances and may not apply to everybody. Still, many experts are starting to see building resilience as an effective way to prevent youth anxiety and depression.

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