FORT RUCKER, Ala. (April 3, 2015) -- The stresses of work, home or just daily life can wear even the strongest of people down, but Army Community Service offers sessions to help people on Fort Rucker deal with those stressors by looking within.
Army Community Service exists to support the Soldiers, families and community members on the installation, and one way it does this is by offering a better outlook on life through resilience training.
The ACS Family Resilience Training is now being offered as monthly resilience workshops to better serve the community, rather than quarterly two-day sessions, in order to help families be more resilient in tough times, according to Ruth Gonzalez, relocation readiness program manager.
"Resilience training is for anyone who wishes to build and strengthen the skills they need to help them face challenges, whatever they may be -- simple or extreme," said Gonzalez. "We all face challenges throughout our lives, be it of a positive or negative nature."
One way resiliency helps people get through those challenges is by focusing on the positive aspects of daily life, said the program manager.
"One of the skills that we work on is Real-Time Resilience. If you begin doubting yourself and you have that inner voice that says, 'I'm not good enough,' or that 'I'm messed up,' you can fight those thoughts with the Real-Time Resilience skills," she said. "The skills help you look for the reality or the positive side of your thoughts. Resilience training provides the skills to fight those negative thoughts and not go down too deep into them -- you can fight those thoughts of self-doubt, whether professionally or at home."
Lots of times, people tend to focus on the negative aspects of their day, but if that habit can be reversed to focus on the good, then people tend to not notice the bad as much, said Gonzalez.
"We teach skills that are really common sense," she said. "This training is focused on skills that people have used, but forget once they get busy, or when issues and challenges arise. We help them get that focus back."
With this year's mini workshops, Gonzalez said she hopes to help more people and see them more often to help them work on their situations.
During the mini workshops, the attendees will go to a two-hour training session, once a month, which gives them time to work on those skills before they come back to the next session.
One thing that people do from session to session is to "hunt the good stuff," said the program manager. During the time between sessions, people must not only go over the skills that were discussed, but also "hunt the good stuff" throughout their day and keep a journal of at least one or two things that have gone well in their day.
"When they come back (the next month) they have a list of good things, things as simple as their spouse washing the dishes or the kids picking-up after themselves," she said. "Rather than focusing on the negative, they get to see the positive things in their lives."
The next two-day Family Resilience Training will be held April 13 and 14 from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. at The Commons, Bldg. 8950. People must sign up by April 9 to attend.
"Resilience training is about maintaining and strengthening our relationships at work, at home or in the community. We take all types of preventive measures to ensure that our home is livable or that our vehicle is highly functional, but what steps do we take to maintain our relationships?" Gonzalez asked.
"This type of training is necessary because there are just so many different stressors throughout the work day," said Gonzalez. "What can you do to overcome that frustration? That's what resilience training is here to help with."
For more information or to sign up, call 255-3817.
Related Links:
USAACE and Fort Rucker on Twitter
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