Building Resilience in Children and Teens

Building Resilience in Children and Teens offers strategies to help young people from 18 months to 18 years build seven crucial “Cs” — competence, confidence, connection, character, contribution, coping, and control — so they can bounce back from challenges and thrive throughout life.

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The book describes how to raise authentically successful children who will be happy, hardworking, compassionate, creative, and innovative. Dr. Ginsburg reminds parents that our goal is to think in the present and prepare for the future, to remember that our real goal is to raise children to be successful 35-year-olds. It’s about more than immediate smiles or even good grades; it’s about raising kids to be emotionally and socially intelligent, to be able to recover from disappointment and forge ahead throughout their lives. The stable connection between caring adults and children is the key to the security that allows kids to creatively master challenges and reach their highest potential. This book offers concrete strategies to solidify those vital family connections.

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Resilience is also about confronting the overwhelming stress that kids face today. This invaluable guide offers coping strategies for facing the stresses of academic performance, high achievement standards, media messages, peer pressure, and family tension. Young people too commonly survive stress by indulging in unhealthy behaviors or by giving up completely. The strategies offered here are aimed at building a repertoire of positive coping skills.

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Young people who have these healthy strategies in place may be less likely to turn to those quick, easy, but dangerous fixes that adults fear. The book includes detailed strategies to guide children and teens to create their own customized positive coping strategies.

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The fourth edition of this already acclaimed book is updated throughout and offers deeper dives into building grit in our children, offering meaningful protection against the effects of childhood trauma, and preparing our families for lifelong interdependence. It also guides parents on how to turn for professional help when needed, reconnect with children who have pulled away from them, and help young people return to their best selves after they have engaged in worrisome behaviors. It also offers strategies for parents to recharge and rebound when their own resilience reaches its limits.

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