APIN CONFERENCE

In this fast-paced, story-filled presentation, Dr. Ungar will show that our children’s resilience is much more than their individual ability to overcome adversity. It is just as much the result of how well their parents, caregivers, extended families, schools and communities work together to help children navigate their way to the resources they need for wellbeing, and whether those resources are made available to children in ways children experience as meaningful. In addition to exploring what resilience means to children from many different backgrounds, Dr. Ungar will also provide nine practical strategies parents, caregivers and service providers can use to help children thrive, no matter a child’s emotional, psychological or behavioral problems.

Specific learning objectives for this presentation are:

1. To understand how children 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 the many ways services can be structured for children and their caregivers that make resilience more likely to occur.

Michael Ungar, Ph.D., 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. His research on resilience around the world and across cultures has made him the number one ranked Social Work scholar in the world, with numerous educational institutions, government agencies, not-for-profits and businesses relying on his research and clinical work to guide their approaches to nurturing child, family, organizational and community wellbeing under stress. He the author of 18 books for mental health professionals, educators, caregivers and employers, including his most recent works The Limits of Resilience: When to Persevere, When to Change, and When to Quit, a book for individuals and organizations under stress, and Working with Children and Youth with Complex Needs: 20 Skills to Build Resilience, a book for mental health professionals. As well as having received numerous awards for his work, including the Canadian Association of Social Workers National Distinguished Service Award and being named a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, Dr. Ungar also maintains a blog, Nurturing Resilience, which can be read on Psychology Today’s website.

To view a sample of Dr. Ungar's work, please go to his website www.michaelungar.com.