Resilience training reflects a strength-based, positive psychology approach to Warrior behavioral health. It is designed for Warriors, Leaders, Spouses, Families and behavioral health providers. Training and information is targeted to all phases of the Warrior deployment cycle, Warrior life cycle and Warrior support system.
Do you believe this training will prepare you to cope with deployment and the effects of deployment, to include post traumatic stress disorder?
For more information on Resilience Training, visit https://www.resilience.army.mil/.
8 Comments on "Resilience training and post traumatic stress disorder"
As stated in many of the comments resiliency training has it’s benefits and can be beneficial to the Army strictly as an awareness tool. I believe the benfits max out as an awareness tool because humans can not be certified in personal resiliency. Soldiers are not automatically resilient because they sit through hours of mandatory training. Resiliency is something that is learned and devoloped thru different experiences. Army resilience training should be used by leaders at all levels to recognize Soldiers that are maintain sufficient and insufficient personal resilience. When that recognition is made leaders should facilitate the growth and developement of those Soldiers by providing oppurtunities to gain experiences. Those experiences can be obtained thru training or personal interactions. These experiences can also be succesful acomplishments or failures with the objective being to learn from and improve from the total experience. Army resilience training is a great tool to build awareness but it will not replace real experiences that build and develope personal resilience.
MAJ Antonio Gomez ILE-CC 12-003
I am currently attending ILE at the Fort Gordon satellite campus and recently had the opportunity to take the Performance and Resilience Enhancement Program (PREP) basic level course. Prior to the course, I admittedly did not know much about Comprehensive Soldier Fitness and my understanding of the program was limited to the online Global Assessment Tool. Having taken the course, I am now a huge proponent of CSF.
The PREP course of instruction was highly effective in explaining the proven links between emotion, thought, and action. Although I intuitively acknowledged the concept of the “mental game” and its effects on performance, receiving a block of instruction that logically and scientifically explained the linkages was eye opening.
Although not an end all be all solution, CSF is a systematic method to enhance resiliency and teach Soldiers effective strategies and coping skills. It is a great tool for Soldiers and leaders to have in their kit bag.
MAJ Michelle Toyofuku, ILE Student, Staff Group 31A
Resiliency training is the tip of iceberg for helping Soldiers suffering from Post Traumatic Stress (PTS). The last ten years of war have taken a toll on the leadership of the Army. The art of leadership knows our Soldiers and everything they are going through in life. By getting to know the troops they will understand the leadership really cares for them and they will learn to trust the leaders. When the trust is built the Soldiers will be willing to come forward and discuss their life. Building leader books, checking on the barracks, and visiting Soldiers and their families at their residence helps the leader build the trust.
Resiliency should not be separate from behavior health. Behavioral health professionals are the only people with the proper training to help Soldiers suffering from PTS. Other avenues Soldiers can use are Army One Source, and the unit’s Chaplains. Soldiers do not have to choose to go directly to Behavioral Health, they can start by going to one of the previously mentioned resources. Another resource is the Patriot Outreach Program. This program with many others is there for Soldier who does not feel comfortable with the Behavioral Health system.
Leaders who have seen Behavioral Health need to continue coming forward and telling their stories to reduce the stigma regarding this form help. They must also promote behavior health as a tool for ARFORGEN. The Army needs to reset the Soldiers as much as they need to reset the equipment.
Of all the initiatives currently being instituted in the Army, battling PTS is the most important.
October 28, 2010 5:32 PM FDW said:
Resiliency is a personal skill and/or trait that really can’t be “taught” in the same sense of teaching someone how to do math or read with a program of instruction; it’s a skill that’s developed through coaching, mentoring, and life experience. For instance, as students in high school we encounter all sorts of setbacks or failures throughout that experience: a bad test grade, a disappointing performance in a sport or major event, a romantic relationship that turned sour, etc. How we coped, learned, and came out of that negative experience a better person (hopefully) came from a variety of factors: individual effort/perseverance, a coach’s guidance, parental support, spiritual faith, and others.
The pro-active approach to “teaching” resiliency training in advance is well-intentioned, but still has a long way to go since it’s a leader, friend, family, and battle-buddy process to develop resilience in someone through coaching, mentoring, or even just listening to someone vent. That takes a lot of time and effort, things that unfortunately few seem willing to commit for one reason or another. It’s also not easy.
I also agree with keeping resiliency training separate from behavior health due to the stigma associated with it, and that the behavior system itself is still a working progress towards effectively meeting the psychological counseling needs of Soldiers.
Do I believe that this training will prepare me to cope with deployment and the effects of deployment, to include post traumatic stress disorder? Not really. PowerPoint slides and videos of catchy slogans and buzzwords in a standard lesson plan aren’t really that effective for developing the personal trait of resiliency.
Will building a relationship of trust with my family and friends and keeping communication open with them along with tough, realistic training on what I can realistically encounter in theater prepare me to cope with deployment and the effects? Yes, but that’s not easy, and takes a lot of time and effort.
October 28, 2010 10:55 PM divener said:
Yes, I believe that resilience training could assist Soldiers with coping from the effects of deployment and PTSD, but it shouldn’t be the only mechanism in which the military approaches this problem. As already stated, there is never one program to prepare you for all the situations you may face, but this is at least a start in the right direction. Resilience training can be a part of something greater to help us, our families, and our communities deal with the effects of deployments and war.
As we, the Army, are a learning organization, we need to work hard at dealing with these pressures of war and the limitless deployment cycles. I don’t believe that the pre-deployment training and post-deployment follow through will guarantee strong resilience from our lengthy tours but it’s the right place to begin and even rehabilitate those in need.
I completely agree with what was said about our societal issues and change in today’s views of self worth vs. reality. And YES, we NEED to get away from the mentality of, “Everyone’s a winner and gets a ribbon or trophy.” It’s ok not to succeed at everything as long as you get back up and learn from it. That’s exactly what we should be doing with resilience training but more often. It needs to be ingrained in our military culture and values.
I don’t think that resilience training should be completely disassociated with behavioral health. It really should be tied in every branch, unit, and facet of military training, whether initial entry or advanced leadership instruction. It also should be provided carefully so not to inflict the stigma of being a mental health issue but a merely an awareness training. If allowed at all levels and introduced frequently, resilience training can have a positive impact on us and help us look after one another.
I honestly feel that this only the tip of the clichéd iceberg and we have a long way to go. With our speaking out to OUR Army about what is needed and making THEM listen, we have a better chance of coping with the effects of deployment and making resilience training one of many useful tools available.
–MAJ Dominick Ivener, Student, Intermediate Level Education, Fort Lee, VA
The view expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Department of Army, Department of Defense, or the US Government.
November 15, 2010 11:09 AM sean.stinchon said:
Today’s Soldiers are the Army’s most important resource and they face challenges unlike we’ve seen in the past. With such a small percentage of the US population serving in the military, and an even smaller percentage of that deploying to combat, developing a process to ensure Soldiers have the mental, physical, and spiritual fitness to continuously endure the stresses on the military is a challenge. Taking care of Soldiers and their families is critical to the future of the military.
I believe with the above comments about how resilience training may not be the ultimate answer, however I am impressed with the way the Army continues to adapt to the needs of the Soldiers. If resiliency training can help a Soldier or his/her family, I will continue to support this process.
MAJ Sean Stinchon, Student, Intermediate Level Education, VA
The view expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Department of Army, Department of Defense, or the US Government.
October 28, 2010 12:49 PM davidforsyth said:
Agree with the above comments but would like to add some….
I agree that adding training for resiliency may be a somewhat fix for some soldiers and that an individual’s resiliency is partly due to societal changes. Many times we react to something that has happened. I am a strong proponent of being proactive and part of being proactive is training the soldiers in your care before they encounter situations where they may have to rely on internal or mental strength to carry them through to resilience ends. In no way am I implying that we don’t do the training.
We as a military have gotten away from our core training which has always included certain aspects of what resiliency training is all about. Wether it be family values, financial counseling, physical training, etc. the military has traditionally included this type of training. I believe the optempo regulates military training focus and the focus may just not be there right now.
I think that resiliency should not be tied to behavioral health in any way. That in itself is a stigma which may need some attention. As was mentioned above the strength based, positive psychology approach is nonsense. Resiliency is an outcome which may be internalized. Only the person who knows where they came from and if they have recovered will know if they are resilient or not. Behavioral Health is treatment so I am not sure that tying them together may portray the objectives trying to be met.
Some soldiers have a family background that have taught them to be resilient quicker and while that is to the country’s benefit we also have to adjust to those who need help wether it be behavioral health, rehabilitation, or physical therapy. The quickest way to address a shortfall is training. Maybe we need to look at the core issues of why resiliency takes longer for some. Please respond if you have additional thoughts.
October 21, 2010 9:10 PM Brian Chesser said:
Resiliency training can give soldiers the tools to help deal with certain issues they may face in combat, however no training or program can prepare you for all situations you may face. When you compare resiliency training to suicide awareness training, no matter how many times soldiers participate in suicide training suicides still occur in units. Although the training does deter some soldiers from committing suicide there will always be some that are going to do it anyway regardless of the training. The same applies to resiliency training.
October 21, 2010 11:38 AM Thomas Hobbes said:
A “strength-based, positive psychology approach” sounds like a bunch of hand waving nonsense to me. Is that a new way of saying the placebo effect?
I agree with david.p.owen, fully agree.
Also: It would help if we stopped the charade of using that overly dramatic and anachronistic name “warrior.” Our soldiers are not warriors, and we should be glad they are not. It’s a self-deceiving and transparent pretense to romanticize the profession, and it’s not helpful. Building up a young person’s self-exhaltation by allusions to medieval knights and associated Hollywood imagery cannot be psychologically constructive. Marines are marines. Sailors are sailors. U.S. Soldiers are “soldiers,” with all the best meanings the term carries, which is much more relevant and accurate and honorable. “Soldier” doesn’t create the false psychology “warrior” does, one fraught with false implicit expectations and self-deception. Go back to the old creed. Stop using this hackneyed anachronism that screams CHEERLEADERSHIP. Look at the Ranger Creed–no mention of “warrior” there. They are too professional for that kind of feel-good game.
October 19, 2010 1:09 PM david.p.owen said:
Though I recognize that the Army has a great need for some type of resiliency training, I’m not sure that the Army is approaching this issue in the right way. Personally, I believe that the issue is broader than a training or awareness program.
This issue is partly due to societal changes – as a society we are much more likely to indulge and overly shelter our youth – the theory that everyone is a winner, and that there are no losers. Everyone gets a participation ribbon, and no one ever has to fail. I believe that when children are praised no matter what, this degrades not only their resiliency, but also their sense of self worth. If your sense of self worth is built upon unearned praise, that self worth will be easily shattered when confronted by reality.
Resiliency is built by coming back from failure, from knowing, in your heart, that you can overcome any situation – even after you fail again. By removing the potential for failure from our youth, our society has degraded their sense of resiliency. By the time children start to have a true need for resiliency, they are already starting a step behind. This may be one of the many reasons why suicide is the fourth leading cause of death for children between 10-14 years old in the United States (www.teensuicidestatistics.com).
Obviously, the Army can’t directly address the broader societal issues. However, the Army can make a concerted effort to develop resiliency as early as possible in our Soldiers’ careers. Though I am by no means an expert in the structure of our basic training and AIT courses, based on feedback from several individuals this can be significantly improved from a resiliency standpoint. In addition to other skills, our Soldiers need to learn, as early as possible, how to bounce back from failure. They may not learn these lessons anywhere else, and our Soldiers will face extreme adversity, and have a need for great resiliency, throughout their careers.