How can people boost resilience? Karen Reivich shares some key insights

Whether at home, at work, or in the world, many people may be experiencing emotional overload, making resilience more essential than ever. It’s a crucial skill set to build as individuals navigate interpersonal and professional life both at Penn and beyond. This spring, Penn Human Resources will offer a four-part series of 90-minute emotional resilience programs—led by Karen Reivich, director of Resilience and Positive Psychology Training Programs at Penn’s Positive Psychology Center. Staff, faculty, and postdocs are invited to develop and refine essential resilience skills for coping and thriving at home, on campus, and in the world. Participants may attend any of the four sessions they choose or join in for the full series at no cost.

Since 2017, Reivich—an internationally recognized expert in the fields of resilience and positive psychology—has led these interactive workshops, coaching participants from virtually every department across the University. “What people have found really valuable about these workshops in the past are the actionable takeaway strategies,” she says.

“Human Resources has partnered with the Penn Positive Psychology Center to make these research-based, practical resilience workshops available to all University employees,” says Felicia Washington, vice president of human resources.

Spanning four sessions, the resilience series is purposefully structured to engage participants in resilience-building from the ground up. Topics include building optimism, avoiding thinking traps, embracing positive emotions, and strengthening relationships through authentic, meaningful communication.

Ahead of the start of the series on March 26, Reivich shares four key resilience insights that everyone can integrate into their daily lives.

Opportunities for optimism

One core building block of resilience is optimism, Reivich says, noting how it’s “a mindset that enables you to approach—not avoid—challenges, and to have the energy to continue to persist in finding solutions to problems.”

Participants in the first workshop will develop a foundation of optimism, learning six evidence-based strategies for navigating tough times at work, at home, and in life. One such strategy, Reivich says, will be cultivating an “opportunity mindset,” which entails focusing on the ways one can grow from the challenges they face. Reivich emphasizes that the goal is not to romanticize hardship, but to notice how we often develop new skills, recommit to our values, and strengthen our relationships when working through difficulties.

Avoiding thinking traps

The second session will focus on addressing the negative thought loops that play on our “internal radio stations,” Reivich says, helping attendees to identify the unhelpful patterns that undermine resilience.

Participants will learn about common thinking traps such as mind-reading (assuming other people’s negative thoughts and feelings) and catastrophizing (dwelling on the worst possible outcomes). Then, Reivich will share research-backed tools for breaking out of these habits, following the “notice, label, shift” approach.

“We’ll talk about strategies that help us to shift out of that unhelpful story,” says Reivich, who will also coach participants to move from “think mode” to “action mode.”

Empowering positive emotions

Equipped with tips for building optimism and managing internal dialogues, participants in the third workshop will examine the impact of positive emotions—such as joy, awe, humor, curiosity, and gratitude—on navigating stress and enhancing well-being. Reivich will discuss ways to break through common barriers to access positive emotions, as well as help attendees embrace these emotions as vital to daily life.

“Positive emotions not only feel good, but they also help sustain us through stressful times,” Reivich explains. “They deepen our emotional resources and help us gain the energy to deal with the challenges we confront.”

Workshop participants will identify the positive emotions they find most personally meaningful. Then, they will develop a habit they can adopt to help them access a “daily dose” of that emotion.

The ripple effect of joy

The series will culminate with a session focused on a communication style that builds trust, belonging, and connection when someone comes to us to share a positive experience. Reivich notes that when people assess how strong their relationships are, they often ask themselves, “Am I there for that person when things go wrong?”

This workshop, however, will flip that question on its head. “One of the most important questions we can ask ourselves to evaluate and ultimately strengthen our relationships is not, ‘Am I there for you when things go wrong?’ but, ‘Am I there for you when things go right?’” Reivich says.

Participants will explore four common ways that people tend to communicate when another person shares a positive experience or good news with them. Three of these communication styles erode trust and connection, Reivich says, and one style—being a “joy multiplier”—helps to strengthen relationships.

Improving resilience and well-being is essential for those working in university environments, Reivich says, noting that higher education roles often involve pouring time and care into others.

“The more we’re making sure that we are pouring into ourselves,” says Reivich, “the more we can be there for the people that we love and lead.”