Nurturing Emotional Resilience in Vulnerable Children and Young People: A Practical Guide

Nurturing Emotional Resilience in Vulnerable Children and Young People is a guidebook that provides a framework and practical strategies to support children’s emotional resilience at a whole-school and more targeted level. Underpinned by research into the concept of resilience, the book centres around the ‘Resiliency Rainbow Toolkit’; a ready-to-use theoretical model that draws upon a range of ideas and approaches that act as a resiliency building programme.

This practical and interactive programme can be used by educators and counsellors alike and offers creative and engaging ideas for building emotional resilience in children. Each section of the toolkit provides learning objectives, facilitator notes, discussion questions and student activities and is designed to:

• support students in identifying their own resiliency levels and support network
• enable students to recognise and increase their existing strengths and values
• encourage students to examine their talents, interests, dreams and aspirations
• introduce strategies for boosting less strong areas such as supportive friendships
• teach students ways to cope with stress and difficult situations.

This guidebook can be used alongside seven fully illustrated storybooks that each focus on a different aspect of emotional resilience. It outlines ways to use these beautifully told and visually appealing stories to nurture emotional resilience with children, and discusses some of the key metaphors in the main story How Monsters Wish to Feel. The guidebook and storybooks will be invaluable tools for anyone working to build emotional resilience with children and young people.

Storybooks that accompany this guide are:

• How Monsters Wish to Feel: A Story about Emotional Resilience
• The Boat Star: A Story about Loss
• The Boy Who Longed to Look at the Sun: A Story about Self-Care
• The Day the Sky Fell In: A Story about Finding your Element
• The Girl who Collected Her Own Echo: A Story about Friendship
• The Hot and Bothered Air Balloon: A Story about Feeling Stressed
• The Tale of Two Fishes: A Story about Resilient Thinking

The guidebook can be purchased in a set alongside the seven storybooks . The seven storybooks can also be purchased as a set.

Table of Contents

Part One

1. Emotional Well-Being and Resilience- Definitions
2. Resilience Research
3. Creating a Resilient School

Part Two

4. Using Stories to Nurture Emotional Resilience
5. The Resiliency Rainbow Toolkit

Appendices: Assessment, Consultation and Planning for Resilience