Kelli Korn, Counseling for Children, Teens, & Families, LLC

Building Resilient Kids Part 1 of 7 "Competence"

How can we build resilience in children and teens during this time of uncertainty and unpredictability? We will be sharing a series on the "7 Cs of Resilience" in the next few posts to give you lots of ideas and tips on how you can purposefully build resiliency in kids, allowing them to make positive choices and develop skills to navigate tricky times.

What are the "7 Cs"? They are competence, confidence, connection, character, contribution, coping, and control. (You can read more in depth in "Building Resilience in Children and Teens" by Kenneth R Ginsberg.)

Let's take a minute to learn more about competence today!

*Competence: the ability to know how to handle situations effectively. Kids needs to develop a set of skills in order to build competence. You can help by:

-Pointing out your child's strengths and help him or her build on them

-Noticing when your child does something well (and make a big deal out of telling them!)

-Helping him to build the educational, social, and stress relief skills need to be competent by reading, sharing ideas, and facilitating opportunities to learn and practice these skills

-Communicating in a way that empowers your child/ teen to make decisions (ask questions to help them learn to think critically on their own)

-Allowing her to make safe mistakes (don't interfere to protect them and prevent mistakes)

-Be aware of what your verbal and nonverbal communication portrays: are you projecting a message of "I don't think you can handle this?"

- Recognize the competencies of each child without comparing them to siblings, cousins, friends

Choose one of these tips to try out over the next few days with your child or teen!