Topic(s): 
Child Welfare
Professional Practice
Webinar event date: 
Sep 17, 2019 1:00 pm EDT
Webinar link

Webinar link is for members only. Please log in.

Webinar Presenters: 

Michael Ungar, Ph.D.
Presenter
 

Dr. Ungar is a Family Therapist and Professor of Social Work at Dalhousie University where he holds the Canada Research Chair in Child, Family and Community Resilience. Since 2002, Dr. Ungar has directed the Resilience Research Centre, designing multisite longitudinal research and evaluation projects in collaboration with organizations such as The World Bank, The Red Cross, and national public health agencies. With over $10M in funded research, Dr. Ungar’s clinical work and research spans more than a dozen low, middle, and high-income countries, with much of that work focused on the resilience of marginalized children and families, and adult populations experiencing mental health challenges. Dr. Ungar has published over 180 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters on the subject of resilience and is the author of 15 books for mental health professionals, researchers and parents. These include Change Your World: The Science of Resilience and the True Path to Success, a book for adults experiencing stress at work and at home, Working with Children and Youth With Complex Needs, a book for professionals, and I Still Love You: Nine Things Troubled Kids Need From Their Parents, an inspiring story of family resilience written for caregivers and educators. His blog, Nurturing Resilience, can be read on Psychology Today’s website.

 

Description

Resilience is much more than an individual child’s capacity to overcome adversity. It is also the result of how well children, their families and communities work together to help vulnerable young people navigate their way to the resources they need for wellbeing, and whether those resources are made available in ways young people experience as culturally and contextually meaningful. In this presentation, Dr. Michael Ungar will use examples from his clinical practice and research collaborations on six continents to explore the nature of children’s resilience. His work challenges us to think about resilience as something nurtured rather than something innate. In this story-filled presentation, Dr. Ungar will provide nine practical strategies parents, caregivers and educators need to help children heal, no matter a child’s emotional, psychological or behavioral problems. Based on material from his two most recent books, Change Your World: The Science of Resilience and the True Path to Success, and I Still Love You: Nine Things Troubled Kids Need From Their Parents, as well as case examples from his clinical practice and his research, Dr. Ungar will share what caregivers and educators have taught him about why a supportive environment is essential to improving young people’s resilience. 

Specific learning objectives for this presentation are:
1.    To understand how individuals and families with complex needs use “problem” behaviours to enhance their resilience and wellbeing when more socially acceptable solutions are not available;
2.    To become familiar with how to assess resilience;
3.    To learn about nine resilience-promoting resources necessary for positive child development;
4.    To develop strategies for working without resistance with hard-to-reach, culturally diverse children, adolescents, and their families;
5.    To discuss ways services can be structured for children, youth and families that make resilience more likely to occur.