Resilience Workbook for Teens

I was excited to get to review this book when Netgalley offered it because I have a similar Resilience workbook from about six years ago. Overall, I was pleased with the content. It offered exercises in increasing difficulty and gave the reader/user a lot to think about.

Bradshaw states fairly early that she is using a particular scale for checking resilience, and basing resiliency on the level of 10 correlated and predictive items: self-efficacy, sense of humor, secure attachment to others, the ability to adapt to change, commitment, control, thinking of change as a challenge, patience, ability to tolerate stress and pain, and optimism and faith. Teen or not, these are good items to do a mental checklist of how well you handle them.

Sometimes in a workbook, the reading feels relaxed. However, as a scientist and educator, I greatly appreciated the use of citations throughout the workbook.

Unfortunately, while this workbook is an excellent resource, I found a few things not quite cogent. First, the "house of cards" analogy doesn't really work. I don't know any person under the age of 40 who has built a literal house of cards without some sort of group or institutional setting. In fact, a widely viewed Netflix series called "House of Cards" is more likely to be thought of than the literal building of a house with cards. Second, while Bradshaw encourages drawing at the beginning of the workbook, and has one or two exercises that require drawing, drawing as a way to process instead of using words is not reinforced, somewhat contrary to the early suggestion of drawing if one wants. She could use reminders every other exercise or so that drawing could also be effective.

Third, throughout the workbook, Bradshaw gives reasons and examples of why a teen might be feeling the way they do. These likely come from her familiarity with teens from her teaching and counseling. The problem is that it leaves no room for bad brain chemistry nor do people - teens and adults - always realize they feel bad about themselves because someone is abusing them emotionally. Leaving room for feeling bad because you just do and learning how to cope is especially necessary in these situations. Someone in that position may feel like this workbook isn't meant for them because they don't have the reasons or examples given to do so.

Fourth, some exercises, e.g. the ice cube test, are ableist. As someone with arthritis for my entire life, asking me to plunge my hands into ice when they constantly ache regardless of anything, and I have only so many spoons for using my hands, is unkind and unhelpful. The triggered response in my brain is not the same as the triggered response in someone who lives without constant pain. Because of the way the book is set up, the reader should do all the exercises. Skipping one, even justified, feels shitty to someone trying to get better. Sadly, the workbook is now causing a problem rather than solving it. I understand the author is trying to equate emotional and physical pain, but it's a dire correlation to those constant physical pain trying to at least help their own emotional pain.

Finally, my last concern is I am not sure our brains really work the way the author sometimes suggests. I'm not a biologist but it seems incorrectly described. However, in this book for teens, it probably doesn't matter. The simplifications make it easier to understand, and will hopefully be helpful.

Despite these five specific concerns, I believe the workbook will help many teens. Other than a few examples that relate to teens, anybody could go through most of these exercises to help grow their resiliency.