Resilience -attitudes and skills.- PROMOTING OPTIMISM IMPROVES MENTAL HEALTH AND BEHAVIOUR

Emotional Resilience

Resilience: Underlying Attitudes and Skills

Harry Mills, Ph.D. & Mark Dombeck, Ph.D. Updated: Jun 25th 2005

Early on in this document we said that the foundation of emotional resilience (and thus emotional intelligence) is largely a matter of attitude and belief. How people think about themselves and their relationships with others and the world forms the base on which emotion management skills sit. Negative, defeatist attitudes towards self and others make it more difficult for you to successfully manage your emotions. Positive, empowering attitudes, on the other hand, make emotional resilience seem like second nature.




Emotionally resilient people tend to display the following positive characteristics:


    Happiness
    Control
    Optimism
    Mindfulness and Flow
    Hardiness
    Communication
    Relationships
    Compassion and Empathy


In the next major section of this document, we'll explore each of these characteristics attributes (beliefs, attitudes) in greater detail. It is worth your while to learn about and practice these attitudes, for doing so will make it easier for you to become more resilient and self-aware and to be able to consciously manage your emotions as necessary to benefit your life. 

TEACHING OPTIMISTIC THINKING AND POSTIVE THINKING SKILLS CAN IMPROVE RESILIENCE AND GENERAL MENTAL HEALTH.