Building Wellbeing and Resilience: How to Help

A complete, straightforward guide to the issues and challenges commonly faced by children and young people as they develop personal wellbeing and resilience – and the practical ways in which parents, carers, teachers and schools can help.

Part of the How to Help series of books exploring issues commonly faced by children and young people at home and at school, Building Wellbeing and Resilience offers a complete introduction to these critical yet frequently misunderstood topics.

Often confused with mental health or physical wellness, wellbeing fuses aspects of both and wider elements into a general sense of ‘how we are’. Resilience, meanwhile, is the ability to deal with adversity and move forward. High wellbeing fosters resilience and, in a virtuous circle, resilience is linked to high levels of wellbeing. Exploring these topics along with related issues such as measuring wellbeing, using positive psychology approaches to boost strengths and the impact of neurodiversity, Rob Long considers the importance and impact of wellbeing and resilience at home and in the classroom – and how parents, carers, teachers and schools can help.

Table of Contents

Series Preface

About the Author

Author's Preface

How to Use This Book

Part 1: Introduction

1. What are wellbeing and resilience?
2. Wellbeing in context
3. Wellbeing and development
4. Issues, evidence and definitions

Part 2: The science of wellbeing

5. Evidence-based practice

6. Measuring wellbeing;

7. Wellbeing and positive psychology

8. How can positive psychology improve wellbeing?

9. Signature strengths

Part 3: Wellbeing and development

10. Child and adolescent development

11. Wellbeing and physical development

12. Wellbeing and emotional development

13. Wellbeing and cognitive development

14. Adolescence and social development

Part 4: Wellbeing at home and in school

15. Wellbeing and the family

16. Wellbeing in school

17. Wellbeing in the classroom

18. Behaviour and school policies

19. School transitions and wellbeing

Part 5: Resilience and mental health

20. Wellbeing for troubled children

21. Understanding resilience

22. What can be done to increase resilience?

23. Building the skills for school success

Part 6: Complex difficulties and disadvantage

24. Children with complex difficulties

25. The disability paradox

26. Abilities and capabilities

27. Poverty

Part 7: Conclusion and resources

29. Summary

30. Advice for parents and carers

31. Advice for teachers

Appendices