Department of Resiliency in the Helping Professions

Overview 

A minimum of six courses (18 credits) make up the certificate program that focuses on resiliency cultivation strategies for helping professionals and their clients, students, patients and consumers. Students study how to build emotional regulation, realistic optimism, self-compassion, mindfulness, empathy and self-efficacy, all key facets of resiliency. Since many effective helping professionals advance to leadership and supervisory roles, special emphasis is given to strengthening emotionally intelligent leadership skills.

In addition, the Resiliency curriculum will assist helping professionals to teach these valuable strategies to their clients, patients, students and/or consumers. The Resiliency in the Helping Professions C.G.S. and C.A.G.S. has broad professional applicability and is targeted to increase professional effectiveness for professionals who are School Counselors, Rehabilitation Counselors, Social Workers, Educators, Mental Health Counselors, and Patient Advocates. The Resiliency in the Helping Professions C.G.S. and C.A.G.S. programs are grounded in evidence-based approaches that are effective for burnout recovery and prevention. A C.A.G.S. is awarded to program completers holding a master’s degree, while a C.G.S. is earned by those whose highest degree is a bachelor’s degree.

Learning Goals

  • Identify the factors of resilience and supporting research from advances in positive psychology.
  • Understand the neuroscience of traumatic experience, recovery and resilience.
  • Implement skill building practices that support resilience through social emotional learning interventions.
  • Promote post traumatic growth.
  • Practice resonant leadership to foster resilience capacity across systems.
  • Implement skill building practices to support personal resilience against empathetic distress and burnout.

Faculty 

Lea Christo, MSW, LICSW, BCPA
Resilience Program Coordinator
Associate Professor of Practice, School of Graduate Studies

Lecturers

Karen Bluth, Ph.D.
Keith Lahikainen, Psy.D.
Mary Ann Reilly Mariani, Ph.D.

Programs of Study

Courses

RES 800: The Theoretical Foundations of Resiliency Building Interventions

Credits 3
Resiliency is an individual’s positive adaptation to adversity, trauma and tragedy. Resilience is not a trait but a set of skills, behaviors, thoughts, and actions that can be learned and developed. Resiliency can be learned through cognitive behavioral therapy strategies and a strengths-based framework to develop a “resilient mindset”. Resiliency training is used as a preventive intervention and as an intervention to treat the increased rates of depression and anxiety in individuals at all stages of the developmental lifespan. Resiliency building is appropriate and effective in a variety of educational, vocational, rehabilitative, health, and human service settings. This course introduces the resiliency factors (emotional regulation, impulse control, causal analysis, self-efficacy, realistic optimism, empathy, and reaching out) that serve as a foundation for implementing intervention strategies. Intervention strategies can be used effectively for developing the helper’s own resiliency and as well as clients’.

RES 810: Mindfulness-Based Interventions

Credits 3
This course introduces helping professionals to empirically based mindfulness interventions that bring about positive outcomes for practitioners and their clients. These positive outcomes are demonstrated in behavioral, cognitive and relational domains. The course focuses on mindful orientation, its history and place in helping and counseling models. A variety of formal and informal practices developed through neuroscience research is covered. A major focus of this course is to enhance and increase the skill base of helping professionals working with clients challenged by relationship struggles, trauma, substance use disorders, depression, alienation, anxiety, chronic illness, and other life challenges. Additionally, the acquisition of mindfulness-based intervention strategies increases emotional regulation, impulse control, empathy and social supports for helping professionals advancing prevention and wellness initiatives.

RES 820: The Practice of Self Compassion in Resiliency

Credits 3
This course covers the psychoeducational self-compassion program that originated from the longstanding traditions of mindfulness and compassion. The three core components of mindfulness-based self-compassion (self-kindness, common humanity and mindfulness) are covered and practiced. The course will cover the research conducted in self-compassion and the empirical evidence supporting the efficacy of self-compassion in the prevention of depression and anxiety symptoms. Developing skills in the practice of self-compassion can assist clients and the helping professional in dealing with stress and promoting wellness. This course is designed for counselors, educators and professionals in health and human services. Prior meditation practice is not required.

RES 830: Positive Psychology: A Strengths-Based Approach to Resiliency

Credits 3
This course covers the origin and tenets of the science of positive psychology. Strategies consistent with Positive Psychology are learned in relation to identifying, assessing, and building human strengths. This strengths-based focus is compared to and contrasted with traditional deficit-based, problem-focused models. Theoretical constructs of positive psychology and their effective application in schools, counseling, and healthcare settings are explored in depth. Other topics covered include life satisfaction, optimism, self-efficacy, character, flow, gratitude, and creativity. Research findings and empirical studies of interventions and techniques are presented. The course provides a framework for identifying strengths and developing positive psychological strategies for clients and helping professionals.

RES 840: Building Resilience After Traumatic Experiences

Credits 3
This course covers new developments in the field of traumatology that have prompted a critical and substantial paradigm shift for understanding trauma, mitigating its effects, and developing prevention strategies. Research related to resilience and post traumatic growth along with evidence-based treatment models are studied. This course focuses on interventions for working with children and families from a strengths-based and culturally sensitive perspective grounded in the current research on trauma and resilience. This course provides helping professionals across disciplines and service settings with critical skills to understand adverse experiences and how to respond effectively to address and prevent them.

RES 850: Resonant Leadership and Supervision

Credits 3
This course focuses on the development of emotionally intelligent, effective leadership skills for professionals in the helping fields. The course highlights the theoretical underpinnings of emotional intelligence and integrates these principles into the leadership role. The course will cover the practical application of self-awareness assessments and exercises to enhance leadership capacities and to foster the development of leadership ability. Skilled helping professionals often find themselves in leadership and supervisory roles with limited experience and training. This course will build upon the professionals' core set of helping skills with strategies that produce a self-aware, composed, focused, energized, empathic, motivated and collaborative leadership style.

RES 860: Teaching Adolescent Students Mindful Self-Compassion

Credits 3
This ‘train-the- trainer’ course prepares school personnel to bring an evidence based mindful self-compassion skills training program to students in the middle and secondary school setting. The featured curriculum, SC 4 Teens (self-compassion for teens) promotes wellbeing, decreases anxiety and depression, and supports stress management in teens and young adults. Further, this curriculum supports building the core social emotional learning competencies of self-awareness, self-management, relationship skills, social awareness, and responsible decision making. A broad review of the research literature on self-compassion, will be reviewed. Additionally, strategies for mitigating risk and reinforcing protective factors will be discussed along with adaptations for specific populations and settings.