People enter therapy not just because they are stuck and struggling, but also because they are ready for change and have some hope of experiencing it. That readiness is a manifestation of each person's innate resilience, their capacity to work on their own behalf to heal.
Many of the common modes of clinical work focus on pathology, the effects of habits or conditions that can be healed through clinical work. Eileen Russell, without discounting the importance of pathology, offers us the idea that the best way to help with what's going wrong in people's lives is to build from the foundation of what's going right. In this book, therapists will learn how to identify the potential for resilience in clients and help them cultivate and deepen it for lasting change.
Drawing on interpersonal neurobiology and affect regulation research, as well as a number of theoretical orientations including Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy, Focusing, attachment theory, and EMDR, Russell provides the essential tools and background for any therapist interested in engaging in resilience-oriented therapy. She includes a wealth of thoughtfully annotated examples from her own clinical work, shares inspiring, illuminating stories of patients who have become more resilient through therapy, and offers many practical tips for clinicians along the way.
Industry Reviews
"Restoring Resilience provides an innovative and convincing roadmap to optimize clients' resilience through the clinical interaction. Embedded in Russell's model is an understanding that resilience is a core component of the healthy individual that, as a construct, mirrors the physiological construct of homeostasis. Similar to homeostasis, the self has a natural range around a set point that optimizes reactions to challenges. The expanded range around a set point is Russell's definition of resilience and the goal of psychotherapy. Russell's intellectual agility shines through as she deconstructs clinical vignettes from emotional, historical, interpersonal, and neuroscience perspectives." -- Stephen Porges, PhD, Professor, Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; author of The Polyvagal Theory "In this wonderfully rich synthesis of theory, science, and clinical application, Eileen Russell takes us on an insightful and inspiring exploration of how the process of therapy can be deepened and enhanced when resilience, rather than psychopathology, becomes our focus. It is a must read for any clinician interested in more readily and reliably recognizing and making optimal use of our clients' innate capacity for healing and transformation. I highly recommend it." -- Ronald J. Frederick, PhD, psychologist; author of Living Like You Mean It "As someone who has researched the positive effects of learning AEDP on the person of the therapist, I welcome Russell's book. Through ample case examples, annotated transcripts, and eloquent disquisition, Russell enables the reader to understand and experience how resilience-oriented work enlivens stuck clients and stuck therapists. Whether AEDP is your home theory or not, you will find clinical wisdom and, I dare say, inspiration within its pages." -- Hanna Levenson, PhD, Professor, Wright Institute; author of Brief Dynamic Therapy: An Attachment-based, Experiential Approach
