TPC-Journal-V5-Issue2

The Professional Counselor /Volume 5, Issue 2 267 following a distressing event. This increased resilience to a distressing event is an encouraging sign that positive emotions, which can be achieved through emotion regulation, have a beneficial effect during times of distress. Thus, cultivating positive emotions may improve youths’ responses to negative or stressful situations and counteract the effects of chronic worry or fear (Hannesdottir & Ollendick, 2007). The key for counselors is to fill their therapeutic toolboxes with interventions that directly target the spectrum of emotions and affect regulation. It is important to remember that affect regulation requires the ability to distinguish between all emotions. Interventions should include teaching skills for generating positive emotions as a means of building internal and social resources. Fredrickson (2009) proposed a positivity ratio of three positive emotions for every negative emotion to develop resilience. In other words, experiencing a greater quantity of positive emotions over time helps to buffer against, and undo, the negative effects of stress. Resilience and Emotions Burgeoning research points to the importance of understanding the relationship between fear-related disorders and emotions in order to promote resilience in children. Esbjørn et al. (2012) cited evidence of a link between anxiety symptoms (e.g., overwhelming fear, worry, agitation, heart palpitations) and lack of emotion regulation skills. Moreover, fearful children tend to have an even more limited understanding of emotions in general than their normative peers (Hannesdottir & Ollendick, 2007; Suveg et al., 2009). Research findings have suggested that children diagnosed with anxiety disorders also report experiencing higher levels of emotional intensity and somatic symptoms in response to emotions than children without anxiety disorders (Suveg et al., 2009; Suveg & Zeman, 2004). Finally, there is evidence of a relationship between the inability to regulate emotion and heightened levels of negative emotion (Esbjørn et al., 2012; Suveg & Zeman, 2004). Conversely, research indicates that resilient people demonstrate greater positive emotionality (Tugade et al., 2004). These findings all suggest that emotions and emotion regulation play an integral role in the development, course and potential modulation of fear-related disorders as well as the development of resilience. In fact, Gloria and Steinhardt (2014) found, in a sample of 200 postdoctoral fellows, that positive emotions were directly related to greater resilience. Their findings suggested that positive emotions were positively related to adaptive coping and negatively related to maladaptive coping. In addition, resilience moderated the relationship between stress and trait anxiety and depressive symptoms. The authors concluded that positive emotions may have the potential to build resilience in individuals experiencing stressful situations, and resilience may in turn increase positive emotions, thus providing support for Fredrickson’s (1998, 2001) broaden-and-build theory. These results further support the notion of emphasizing the cultivation of positive emotions in helping children to build resilience. Children develop resilience when they successfully manage stressors throughout daily life (Cloitre et al., 2010). Resilience improves youths’ ability to cope with fear and anxiety and mitigates some of the adverse effects of fear-related experiences (Burnham, 2009). As mentioned earlier, resilience is a set of qualities that empowers people to successfully adapt or bounce back when facing some type of adversity (Burnham, 2009; Tugade et al., 2004). Examples of resilient qualities include self-efficacy, internal locus of control, adaptability, flexibility, self-worth, optimism, positivity and social connectedness (Burnham, 2009; Grotberg, 1995; Hutchinson & Pretelt, 2010; Robinson et al., 2004; Tugade et al., 2004). Research indicates that resilient individuals possess a positive attitude toward life and are curious and open to new experiences (Masten, 2001). Although the cultivation of resilience is a natural process in child development, it can be inhibited by traumatic events, temperament, and societal or environmental conditions (Masten, 2001). Improving affect regulation can help build resilience in youth, which may in turn minimize the negative effects of fearful or anxious experiences.