Resilience Builder Program for Children and Adolescents: Enhancing Social Competence and Self-Regulation

This cognitive-behavioral group approach is designed to help students bounce back from and deal with the hardships, difficulties, and challenges in their lives. Participants learn to focus on what they do well and develop protective factors that promote resilience. Fun-to-do group sessions address the social/interpersonal aspects of growing up. The sessions are designed to increase confidence, self-esteem, self-control, and the use of coping strategies to deal with issues such as fitting-in and finding academic and social success. Specific resilience, leadership, and social competence skills are emphasized each week, using discussion, role-plays, or other age-appropriate techniques. Topics covered include being proactive, personal space awareness, problem solving, anger/anxiety management, self-regulation, friendship skills, starting and maintaining conversations, and understanding the impact of one's behavior on others. Relaxation and self-regulation techniques help group members increase awareness of thoughts, body, and emotions through calm breathing, visualization, progressive muscle relaxation, or yoga. Homework assignments and community field trips are utilized to reinforce the positive gains seen in the group setting and expand them for use in the world outside of group. Through the included parent letters, parents are given information about the specific skill being addressed; ideas to encourage and foster development; and recommendations for additional readings.