Looking for large group activities about Resilience

I highly recommend Benard's book - Resiliency: What We Have Learned

Thanks Matt!

What ages/demographics are you working with? What is the context? Classroom? Support group?

Who is your audience?  Can you put them into small groups for discussion?  You might consider the following 90-minute plan. 

We showed "Resilience" to the staff of an elementary school this way. The participants understood that this was just the first of many trainings and discussions to be held at the school. The feedback from the staff was very positive.

"RESILIENCE: THE BIOLOGY OF STRESS AND THE SCIENCE OF HOPE"
KPJR Films (2017)

PART I
"Resilience" (Show first 20 minutes.)
Individual Reflection: "What are your thoughts about the film so far?" Participants reflect silently and write notes. (10 minutes)

PART II
"Resilience"  (Show middle 20 minutes.)
Small Group Discussion (3-4 people): "What is new and/or significant for you in the film so far?" (10 minutes)

PART III
"Resilience"  (Show last 20 minutes.)
Large Group Discussion: "How can we apply this information at our school?" (10 minutes)

It's wonderful that you have three hours.  That gives you time to start with an ice-breaker and to allow more time for time for reflection & discussion. You can also allow time for a  a brain break, a body break, and a bathroom break.   

I hope this helps!

Debbie
Deborah Bock
Anchorage, Alaska

In our work we have frequently had the participants calculate their ACE scores, anonymously. When able, we take anonymous ACE scores and present the combined ACE scores of the group (either by having people put anonymous ACE score sheet in a box or doing it online-app was surveymonkey but not sure?! Ellen

REGARDING ASKING PARTICIPANTS TO CALCULATE AND SHARE THEIR ACE SCORE

In my experience, it works well to have people report out their ACE scores in a large group of people who do not work together, such as a conference.  

However, when you have a group of people who work together, it gets a lot more complicated.  Consider this example --

Twenty staff members of a social service agency provide the following results:

1 ACE = 2 people
2 ACEs = 10 people
3 ACEs = 7 people
10 ACEs = 1 person

In this situation, it is only natural for 19 people to wonder and to guess (perhaps accurately) who is the person who reported 10 ACEs. That undermines the intended anonymity of the process.  

It is important to bear in mind that --

If I report 3 ACEs, no one knows which ACEs I have.  But if I report 10 ACEs, everyone know that I have experienced all of the ACEs on the list.  

Especially for someone who is learning about ACEs for the first time, this may put them in the position of either lying, or exposing themselves to their co-workers to a degree that they do not find comfortable.

When I give presentations, I frequently tell participants that if they want to calculate their personal ACE score they can go to ACEs Too High (acestoohigh.com) and click on the tab that reads, "Got Your ACE Score?"

Then I tell them that their ACE score is not that important; the more basic question is, "Was you childhood low stress, medium stress, or high stress?"  Using this approach I have found that people often choose to share significant childhood stressors, which may not even be on the list, for example, their father was away fighting in Vietnam for several years during their childhood, or they were in foster care as a child. The conversation is enhanced, not limited by this approach. 

Debbie
Deborah Bock
Anchorage, Alaska

Hi, Wendy:
Although your presentation and Resilience screening was on 12/22, please know another valuable tool for consideration with an anonymous platform for both the ACE quiz and Resilience Questionnaire would be utilizing Polleverywhere.

The interactive, real time participation of the audience as they enter their responses via cell phones, is a powerful exercise which creates inclusivity as all the responses (anonymously) are on the screen. A powerpoint can be generated following. 

You customize the questions in your poll and thus, can consider the original ACE quiz, expanded ACE surveys, resilience questionnaire, etc. for your audience.

Strengthening Families curriculum has some great tools for presenting on resilience. 

I agree with Dana about the live Ace/Resilience Survey. It's powerful for groups to see in real time.

Let us know how the presentation goes!