In times of distress, dysregulation, and disaster, resilience becomes an essential skill. Resilience is our ability to navigate difficulty and adversity, allowing us to “bounce back” effectively. Psychological research shows that humans possess an inherent capacity for resilience, and by increasing our awareness of these skills, we can take empowered action to move forward.

Once a cornerstone of disaster mental health interventions, the concept of psychological resilience is now widely recognized as crucial in many aspects of life. The field of psychology is shifting away from a pathology-based approach and embracing positive psychology, broadening the application of resilience strategies to everyday challenges.

Adversity and distress take many forms throughout our lifetimes, and no one is untouched. Some situations can overwhelm our capacity to cope, and it is during those times that we often must dig deeper into our inner reserves of resilience. We can’t protect ourselves from experiencing hardship, but we can prepare and respond.

Resilience is believed to be a complex combination of heredity, early life experiences, personality, and various other factors. The good news is that it can be broadened and improved, which can help maximize our functioning. Like a muscle, resiliency can be strengthened.

There are many actionable strategies to bolster resilience that we can glean from the psychological science of crisis intervention and trauma treatment, but four foundational domains, in........

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