Package Description

In these tumultuous times, lives have been disrupted and many families struggle to move forward from painful losses, multi-stress hardships, and future uncertainties. Family resilience—relational processes in overcoming adversity—has valuable application in community-based practice with couples and families facing serious life challenges. As research attests, human resilience is relationally based, nourished in our vital connections. 

In this workshop, Froma Walsh, the leading expert on family resilience, presents her research-informed practice framework to build resilience in distressed couples and families, helping all members from youths to elders. From extensive experience, she applies this approach in a wide range of adverse situations: complicated loss; disruptive life transitions (e.g. separation/divorce; and persistent multi-stress conditions, (e.g. illness/disability; job loss/financial strains). The workshop provides intervention principles, guidelines, and case illustrations to mobilize key relational processes for coping and positive adaptation, attuned to cultural and family diversity. Facilitating empowering beliefs and practices, and tapping systemic, cultural, and spiritual resources, promotes meaning-making, hope, and resourcefulness in facing challenges. Beyond problem solving, this approach can yield profound transformation and positive growth—deepening bonds and inspiring new life possibilities to thrive. We’ll also discuss ways to nurture resilience in our multi-stress professional and personal lives.

Learning Objectives:

1. Participants will learn core principles and guidelines in a Family Resilience Practice Framework, based on the latest theory and research and attuned to cultural and family diversity.
2. Participants will gain useful practice knowledge and skills to identify and build key relational/systemic processes: Family beliefs and practices, and tap community/systemic/cultural/spiritual resources to rebound from crisis, trauma, and loss, and surmount multi-stress challenges. 
3. Participants will learn ways to support a positive outlook, realistic hope, and active agency to focus on possibilities and counter overwhelm, helplessness, and despair. 
4. Participants will learn how to apply and adapt this approach in brief counseling, more intensive therapy, and multi-family group formats in a variety of clinical and community-based settings. 
5. Participants will gain tools and strategies for resilience in their professional and personal lives.