Question

Resilience

How have you bounced back from major challenges you have faced? What personal qualities or social supports helped you to grow and cope? How might your personal experiences impact your approach to counseling clients?

Answer 1

Resilience refers to the ability to bounce back from traumatic experiences in life. When individuals face traumatic experiences like death of a loved one, job crisis or even serious health problem, resilience refers to the capability to adapt and move forward in life.

I lost my grandmother a couple of years ago. I was the closest to her in the family. It was the hardest time of my life. However, I was lucky to have a loving family as my support system. My closest friends were also available for me to be able to overcome this great loss. A personal quality that helped me overcome her death was accepting. I accepted the reality of life, soon after. Though I missed her presence, I accepted the reality quite sooner than normally people do.

As a counselor, I am always empathetic. However, personal experiences make you relate to the client to another level. Different strategies work out for different people. However, I would perhaps layout my personal approaches to the client to see if it works for her. Family and friends are the most important supports that are needed to be able to overcome traumatic experiences.