The Psychological Resilience Treatment Manual

An Evidence-based Intervention Approach

Saralla Chettiar, Ian de Terte

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2022
• ISBN:
  9781000584660
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Psicologia
• Subtopic: Consulenza psicoterapeutica

The Psychological Resilience Treatment Manual (PRTM) provides mental health professionals with an evidence-based guide to psychological resilience treatment designed to equip clients with a toolbox of adaptive coping strategies.

This intervention treatment manual is for practitioners working with clients to develop resilience and the skills they need to cope with daily challenges, reduce stress levels, and increase general well-being without necessarily diagnosing a specific disorder, such as anxiety or depression. The manual is structured around four guided intervention modules: Passive Coping, Self-Care Behaviour, Social Support, and Active Coping. Each module encompasses four one-hour sessions and includes a contents framework, overview, and target objectives for each session. The manual includes 16 client worksheets that correspond to each session, and relapse prevention therapy is incorporated at the end of each module. Flexible in nature, the manual can be used by practitioners in its entirety or modules can be selected as appropriate, depending on a client's needs.

The Psychological Resilience Treatment Manual is an essential resource for qualified and registered psychologists, qualified cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) practitioners, psychiatrists, and postgraduate counselling psychology students.

MODULE 1 PASSIVE COPING

DOI: 10.4324/9781003256779-2

Overview

The purpose of this four-session module is to identify passive coping strategies. The identification of passive coping strategies will reduce stress, achieve effective coping, and increase psychological resilience (Deasy et al., 2014; Mayordomo et al., 2016).

Goals

The goal is to help client’s explore current passive coping strategies used to mitigate stress. This module explores strategies and advantages to increase general well-being and reduce stress. Supplementary exercises such as metacognitive activities, which contribute to a decrease in stress, are also included. Clients will work towards developing a personalised plan to reduce stress.

Materials needed

• Module 1: Passive coping
• Client worksheets: Passive coping

Module overview

The passive coping module introduces clients to sets of cognitive and behavioural strategies that will help them regulate stress responses, cope effectively, reduce stress levels, and increase general well-being.

Session 1: The psychology of coping and venting

• -Sustaining and strengthening therapeutic relationship with client
• -Fundamentals of coping
  • Modified operational model of stress and coping
• -Passive coping—exploring venting behaviour
  • Role-play technique

In the first session, the therapist explores the client’s ability to cope with challenges during stressful situations. Clients are encouraged to consider the benefits and disadvantages of using a passive coping strategy (i.e., venting) both in a short or extended period. Clients are then challenged to apply both cognitive and behavioural strategies to make venting an adaptive coping process.

Session 2: Reviewing behaviour disengagement and self-distraction activities

• -Passive coping—discussing behaviour disengagement and self-distraction as coping strategies

In the second session, the therapist discusses two other types of passive coping: behaviour disengagement and self-distraction activities. Behaviour disengagement tendencies and self-distraction activities are reviewed with clients on their effectiveness in increasing adaptive coping efforts and retaining clients’ goals. Cognitive appraisal and behavioural strategies such as planning are then applied to increase adaptive coping to reduce stress and increase well-being.

Session 3: Addressing self-blame and denial tendencies

• -Passive coping—self-blame and denial tendencies
  • Role-play technique

In the third session, the therapist explores self-blame and denial tendencies. Benefits and disadvantages of both self-blame and denial tendencies are discussed. Clients are then taught cognitive and behavioural techniques, with a focus on compassion techniques to reduce self-blame. This is followed by a role-playing exercise that will help clients observe self-blame statements and understand the benefits of applying compassion-focused cognitive and behavioural strategies in increasing adaptive coping. Denial as a coping strategy is also discussed. Both the importance and drawbacks of using this coping technique are explored. Contributing factors such as attention, thoughts, avoidant behaviour, and language are reviewed with the client to increase adaptive coping behaviour. The concept of acceptance and relevant exercises are then introduced to reduce denial tendencies.

Session 4: Metacognition and relapse prevention exercises

• Inquiring how they have been using coping strategies in past weeks
• Metacognitive activities

In the final session, clients are taught supplementary exercises, such as metacognitive exercises, to increase adaptive decision making. In addition, relapse prevention exercises are incorporated in this session to increase client adherence to learning.

Appendix A

Client worksheets for passive coping module

Session 1: Introduction

Therapist to client:

• Welcomes and thanks client for attending the session
• Reassures client that their issues matter
• Reassures and normalise that emotional distress is not a sign of weakness
• It is unique to everyone

• T:In this module, ways of how one can cope best with daily challenges and during ...