With his new book Change Your World: The Science of Resilience and the True Path to Success, Michael Ungar is challenging misconceptions around the worlds of self-help and resilience.
Dr. Ungar, professor in the School of Social Work and a Canada Research Chair, is the director of the at Dalhousie, which studies resilience around the world.
鈥淭he idea of the book was to take what we鈥檙e studying on a global scale and adapt it for a more popular audience to really challenge this mythic notion of the self-help industry,鈥� says Dr. Ungar (pictured).
鈥淲hen you say resilience, you're looking at how you can explain why people are doing better than expected when they are experiencing adversity or stress that is not typical in our lives. You try and understand the protective aspects of people鈥檚 lives. You鈥檙e asking, 鈥榃hat are the mechanisms, the processes that make it more likely that they鈥檙e going to do well under a lot of stress and adversity?鈥欌��
The book challenges what Dr. Ungar considers a 鈥渕ythical idea鈥�: the rugged individual that overcomes adversity through their own innate qualities.
鈥淭he science really doesn鈥檛 say that. It鈥檚 a popular idea because people like to believe that their lives are under their own control, even though that鈥檚 not entirely true.鈥�
Dr. Ungar is hosting a book launch and lecture at the Halifax Central Library this Thursday evening (June 13) at 6:30 p.m.
The limits to 鈥渟elf-help鈥�
According to Dr. Ungar, people often try to 鈥渢ough it out鈥� through bad situations instead of making things easier by changing their environment.
鈥淚f you are emphasizing self-help, then the implicit notion is that if you don鈥檛 do well, it鈥檚 just because you weren鈥檛 motivated,鈥� he says. 鈥溾�橸ou didn鈥檛 put enough energy into your meditation practice,鈥� or, 鈥榶ou just didn鈥檛 take enough steps.鈥�
鈥淭he science of resilience is beginning to understand that what makes us resilient isn鈥檛 just what鈥檚 inside of us, and that self-help Is a dead-end street in that regard. It鈥檚 really more about creating environments around us that will bring out our best.鈥�
With Change Your World, Dr. Ungar hopes to help those in crisis realize that their situations are not entirely their fault.
鈥淚t鈥檚 safe to say that people who would probably pick up the book are those who are frustrated with their perceived inability of not being able to succeed using the self-help methods that are promoted and are looking for a different conversation.鈥�
Moving the focus to the environments
He recalls an experience speaking at a nurses鈥� conference a few years ago, after which one of the attendees found him after his talk. 鈥淪he said, 鈥楳y bosses send us to these things and we鈥檙e told to meditate. I don鈥檛 want to meditate! I鈥檝e got a stressful job, and frankly I鈥檇 rather if they鈥檇 just put more nurses on duty and change our schedules and change a few other things.鈥欌��
Stories like this aren鈥檛 unique, according to Dr. Ungar. 鈥淲hat鈥檚 been interesting about watching the comments online where the book鈥檚 been appearing and people affirming that they knew the self-help stuff wasn鈥檛 working. They knew it, but nobody was voicing it. They didn鈥檛 have the language to express 鈥榮omething鈥檚 not right, maybe it鈥檚 just me.鈥�
鈥淕uess what? There鈥檚 plenty of research to say why it鈥檚 not you. It鈥檚 actually that you are not the problem 鈥� the environment around you is conspiring to make this not work very well for you.鈥�
Making the right changes
He says that no matter how difficult it can seem to change our environment, there are always small practices you can institute to improve your resilience.
鈥淚鈥檒l often say an example that I love: the birthday person,鈥� Ungar explains. 鈥淎 lot of work teams have the birthday person, one person on the team that remembers everybody else鈥檚 birthday. And they have that job to bring in the cake or donuts. They make sure that someone is keeping track of everyone else鈥檚 well-being.
鈥淭hese small efforts that somebody does are often what convey to us that we matter, that we鈥檙e embedded, that we have a culture, we have a space to be, that we鈥檙e treated fairly and socially justly. All these small incremental things are cumulative and they add up to making us do well.鈥�
Change Your World: The Science of Resilience and the True Path to Success is out now from Sutherland House Press. Dr. Ungar鈥檚 book launch and lecture takes place at the Halifax Central Library Thursday evening (June 13) at 6:30 p.m. in the Lindsay Children鈥檚 Room.