Building Children’s Resilience: Early intervention and strengths practice.
Traumatic experiences such as domestic violence, grief and loss or parental mental illness can negatively impact on children’s cognitive, physical, social, emotional and academic functioning (Paolucci, Genuis, & Violato, 2001). Research recommends that professionals build resiliency skills in children to help them develop protective thinking and behaviours to manage stress and trauma (Berson & Baggerley 2009). This paper overviews best practice in helping children living in adverse circumstances and presents examples of two strengths based interventions that foster resiliency in young children, engaged in a regional early intervention program. Experiences in this practice setting indicate that the interplay of children’s strengths and resilience enhancing intervention strategies can empower young children experiencing stress.
