Why do some people bounce back from trauma and other people crumble at the thought of it? This question always intrigued me (Heidi), and I wrote my doctoral thesis about it – Building resilience as a preventative and curative tool for trauma.  

Resilience is the ability to bounce back from difficult situations and to adapt well in the face of adversity, trauma tragedy, and change. Being resilient does not make someone immune to difficulty or distress, it simply means that you will rebound more quickly and robustly. It isn’t a quality that someone either has or not, it can be cultivated, built, and developed.   

There are a few key factors or resources involved with the creation of resilience that can be built or enhanced with NLP. Namely, self-trust, a positive outcome, a positive outlook, and a connection with others.  

In fact, when you learn NLP you will have a toolbox of skills to help yourself and others become more resilient. You’ll be able to clear any beliefs or unresourceful patterns that may hold people back from self-trust or a positive outlook, you can create anchors to help people connect easier with others, you can access states of self-esteem to promote trust and self-reliance, the NLP well-formed outcome process helps to create a positive and clear outlook for the future and you can also help someone build more desire to be with others and foster a connective relationship.  

Being able to be resilient can assist in so many situations – from workplace and relationship changes to health issues and illness, the loss of loved ones and even being able to accept criticism and feedback. It’s also wonderful to know that resilience is a trait and a resource that can be developed through your NLP skills. The next step from here is post-traumatic growth – becoming even stronger, more robust, and not just the ability to bounce back, but bounce forward.