Continuing Education for Psychologists

RESTORING RESILIENCE
Discovering Your Client's Capacity for Healing

Cultivating what is right, rather than focusing on what is wrong, for therapy that works.

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.

Eileen Russell, Ph.D, is a clinical psychologist in private practice in New York City and Montclair, NJ. She is a senior faculty and founding member of the AEDP Institute and has taught and supervised people in AEDP nationally and internationally for many years. She is also an adjunct clinical instructor at NYU/Bellevue Hospital Center where she was formerly a Senior Psychologist working with dually diagnosed individuals.

"This book is a refreshing piece in the literature on counseling for clinicians and should be included in education of mental health professionals. It reminds us about the importance of healing and overcoming adversities over pathologizing them. . . . [A]n important read for all mental health professionals since resilience is a compulsory element of therapy, and one that must receive more attention."
-- Somatic Psychotherapy Today

"[R]eading Eileen Russell's new book, Restoring Resilience, is as transformative as it is informative. Russell elevates the concept of resilience to an innate process that drives and orients us toward growth, expands into interpersonal connections, and is based in the affective experience. . . . While the concepts Russell presents are at times dense and complex, she cleverly parses them with several vignettes, diagrams, and examples - many of which can be used in the moment with the client. Russell encourages us to deepen our understanding of resilience, as well as our own capacity for experiencing it alongside our clients."
-- PsychCentral

"Dr. Russell's approach and methods are clear and concise, and would benefit anyone who needs to discover the capacity for rekindling their inner light. . . . [M]ainly directed to mental health providers, [this book] could also be extremely useful to: educators of individuals with special needs; those working in the prison system; human resource departments; members of the clergy; counselors in drug and alcohol recovery programs; counselors in homeless shelters."
-- Psychology Today, Dr. Diane Brain Health

"Highly recommended for the modern therapist."
-- Metapsychology Online Reviews

"[A] beautiful book. . . . Each chapter of this book explores a different aspect of resilience . . . . I highly recommend it."
-- The Milton H. Erickson Foundation Newsletter

"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