One commonly-used definition of “resilience” is the ability to “bounce back” after disrupting events. However, doesn’t “bouncing forward” have a more dynamic energy? It implies that something has been learned during the disruption that carries you beyond where you were before. In all our projects we focus on bouncing forward…harnessing existing strengths and building on them in a way that amplifies generative change. This is true whether it is an individual, an organization, or a community.
This has been a hectic time at TGW. A good kind of hectic. My book is coming out in 2023.TGW’s international work begins again October first after 2 ½ years of postponements due to COVID. And our Train the Trainer Programs will again be face-to-face. While virtual SRM training has gone smoothly and we trained over 150 SRM Trainers during COVID, in-person learning is so satisfying. We’ve also decided to incorporate the name “Brain Gain Program (BGP)” as another way of referring to our practical neuroscience-based concepts and skills. At a glance BGP reflects what happens when the concepts and skills are used…a gain to your brain.We’ll use both names since “SRM” has a long history.
Our work in marginalized and war-torn communities has highlighted the importance of working with a framework that I call the “ecology of resilience.” As an example, it is gratifying to see administrators attending our trainings. They gain a deeper understanding of how to build SRM’s core concepts into state and local policies. And, at the agency-level we not only are providing staff training, but we are advising organizations on how to create resilience-informed intake forms, processes, and self-care practices for staff at all levels.
Another way we incorporate the ecology of resilience at TGW is in supporting intervention in the many ways that poverty and discrimination impact brain development, health, and well-being. Food scarcity and toxic environmental exposures are just two examples.
The photo at the right highlights one of the many generative, community-based organizations in NYC that create positive linkages, in this case, between faith-based organizations, the police, and the communities they serve. Truly an ecology of resilience.