What is Resilience Coaching?

Have you ever considered becoming a Resilience Coach? Now, more than ever, the world needs your help.

As some of you may know, we run a Certified Resilience Coach Program (CRCP). Before a new offering, I often take calls with people interested in learning about the program. The other day, I was speaking to a program candidate who asked me “what is resilience coaching?”  I was struck by the simplicity of the question and the fact that we had never addressed something so obvious publicly. Please pardon our delay in doing so.

To unpack resilience coaching we must first start with the definition of resilience.  If you haven’t read it already, here is a recent blog on what is resilience and how to cultivate it. Essentially, we teach that resilience is not just about being able to “bounce back” after adversity. It is a personal strength that allows you to handle life: the good, the bad and the ugly with more ease and grace.  We like to use the analogy of shock absorbers in a car. When someone is resilient the unforeseeable bumps in the road are simply not as bumpy. We also use the metaphor of a battery: being resilient is like having a fully charged battery. When something unexpected and perhaps difficult occurs, you have the energy and mental, physical, emotional reserve to handle it. It is not about force, it is not about grit, it is a kind of personal strength that is intentionally cultivated. Just like one goes to a gym to develop physical strength, resilient individuals build their mental/emotional/spiritual strength, i.e., charge their batteries through certain habits, behaviours or, as we like to say, “practices”.

Resilience coaching: helping clients recharge their batteries

Resilience coaching, not surprisingly, therefore focuses on supporting our clients, who may be overwhelmed, stressed, or simply not showing up as their best selves to become stronger, healthier, and happier.

Here is the definition of resilience coaching we share with our program participants.

“Resilience coaching: Partnering with clients to optimize their well-being through developing and sustaining positive habits and mindsets.  It focuses on building a foundation of physical, mental and emotional health that enhance a client’s ability to navigate change, setbacks and thrive despite the external circumstances.” 

(Source: Leadership Wellness Group – that’s us)

Notice resilience coaching is about helping clients develop positive well-being habits that make them physically, mentally, and emotionally healthy so that they can navigate setbacks and, not just survive but thrive despite the external circumstances.

In resilience coaching we therefore do not focus on the problems per se. We focus on making the individual stronger.

I recently had a client, let’s call her Anne, who was scared to go back to work in the office “post” Covid. She was worried about her health, and that of her family. With her permission, we parked that conversation and instead completed an assessment of her resilience-enhancing habits. It turned out Anne had the news on all day long, was quite sedentary, did not sleep well or experience much, if any joy.

We took changing some of those ingrained habits on as challenges. While Anne was not ready to entirely shut off the news, we made a deal that she would check it once daily around 1 pm.  She would take a mindful breath before doing so and several breaths after her news time was up noticing how she felt. In the evening instead of watching the news she agreed to listen to something that would make her laugh. We also got her walking every evening after dinner and got her off all screens after 8:30 pm.  We did this in tiny increments one habit at a time. 

We had a few check-ins, but it was when I got on my next zoom call with Anne, I really noticed the difference. In fact, I could barely recognize her. She was smiling and excited. She shared that she stopped watching the news entirely as she realized after taking her breaths that it caused her massive anxiety. She started walking with her daughter and re-discovered her love of reading in the evenings. She then went on to tell me she had RSVP’d to a wedding. She had not attended a large gathering since March of 2020 when Covid broke out but felt she wanted to go. We were now ready to discuss her work life with a fresh perspective.

In resilience coaching we support the client to become stronger so that their problems become more manageable. We do this one breath, one moment and one habit at a time.

Become a Resilience Coach – the world needs you now!

To learn more about the practices that contribute to our resilience and how to cultivate them in ourselves, our coaching clients and staff please consider joining our upcoming Certified Resilience Coach Program. 

Please share this with a colleague who might enjoy taking the program together with you.

For more information on the program click here.  Or schedule a call with me here to learn more about the program benefits and outcomes.

In good health,

Monica