Moving Beyond Resilience: How to Transform Through Adversity

In times of adversity, many of us hope to be resilient and “bounce back” to normal. However, what if you could use these challenging life experiences to grow and emerge even better than you were before the adversity began? And to do so not in spite of the adversity, but because of it? This is the premise and hopeful message of this self-paced course, based on the book “Night Bloomers: 12 Principles for Thriving in Adversity.”

Just as some flowers require the dark to bloom, there are some people who do their best growing and becoming during dark and challenging times. Dr. Michelle Pearce, clinical psychologist and university professor, calls these individuals “Night Bloomers.” In her latest book, Dr. Pearce takes the concept of resilience one step further, suggesting people don’t need to just bounce back or adapt well to adversity. Rather, by employing certain empirically based principles and tools, people can become “more” and propel their lives forward in ways not possible had the darkness never occurred.

Based on the psychological concept of post-traumatic growth, Dr. Pearce explains what it means to “bloom in the dark” and provides practical tools and wisdom for transforming and thriving in adversity and loss. Each of the 12 empirically based blooming principles is followed by tailored writing prompts, designed to help learners experience each blooming principle themselves. Journaling has 30 plus years of research supporting its effectiveness for mental and physical health, including building resilience and adapting to loss. Participants will have a chance to reflect on the difficult events in their lives and to use their reflective journaling to make meaning, find benefits, and learn lessons from challenges they have experienced.

More than ever, we need an adaptive framework for suffering and adversity, as well as empirically based tools to help us move through the dark times in life. Night Bloomers, reviewed by the The Washington Post, will help mental health providers to bloom in their own dark times and will equip them to help their clients do the same.

Format

This course is based on a book and a post-test. The book is purchased separately here or at your favorite online bookstore: Night Bloomers: 12 Principles for Thriving in Adversity . To participate in this self-guided course, purchase the book and course now, using the course link below. Then, when you have read the book, log onto your account, click on the course link, and take the post-test. You will then receive your CE certificate.