Resilience is a key concept within counselling and allied health fields, however its integration into formal training and practice is rarely explored. A new study published in the Counselling Education and Supervision journal by Raissa Miller, Rebecca Dickinson, and Eric T. Beeson investigates how resilience can be effectively taught and applied by counsellors. Using the

Excited to announce the launch of our 1-day Resilience First Aid (RFA) Refresh training, designed for those already certified in RFA to extend their certification for another 3 years. Resilience First Aid is all about prevention – it shows us how we can build skills proactively to prevent mental health challenges, build a supportive environment,

Resilience training impact is of particular interest in the 2024 National Resilience Index report for Australia and the United States. This year’s report explores how both nations have navigated economic instability, global conflicts, and social challenges, with insights and trends into resilience in an increasingly complex world. Understanding Resilience and Its Importance Resilience is more

World Mental Health Day is here. For me it’s another reminder that, if we really invested in prevention, we wouldn’t need days like this to remind us about the importance of mental health. The goal – people living a lifestyle of actively investing in mental and physical health, designing their lives and broader society into

Watch: Podcast about Resilience First Aid and Advancing Despite Adversity Maria Ruberto appeared on The Imperfects Podcast, talking about Resilience First Aid and many important concepts about how we can all advance despite adversity. Watch the podcast below now: Explore CReC Explore RFA

PR6 Resilience Training Works Improvement in resilience is primarily measured by the validated Predictive 6 Factor Resilience Scale (PR6) psychometric tool. This provides a centralised method to measure the six domains of resilience. Overall Resilience Benefits Firstly, we found important benefits in participants moving from low resilience (PR6 = 0-50%) to high resilience (PR6 = 85%+). Reaching

Resilience and Personality – Open access research paper How does resilience and our personality traits interact? When does resilience become protective, and how can it influence personality development over time? We explore these questions in a new original research paper titled “Defining Protective Resilience – The 85% Threshold for Personality Development and Mental Health Risk Reduction”

Practical Problem-Solving for Peer Supporters The Default Mode Network (DMN) stands as interesting group of neural areas that has a unique role in introspection, daydreaming, and problem-solving. Recent studies have shown that the DMN is not just about idle thought but plays a critical role in creative thinking and problem-solving. Understanding the DMN’s function can

Resilience First Aid – Changing the Narrative If you want to do more about suicide prevention, but want to do it in a more uplifting and motivating way, then Resilience First Aid is ideal. Suicide Prevention Day is coming up in September, and the theme has just been announced as “Changing the Narrative”. This year’s

Mental Health Month 2024 – Shift to Primary Prevention Key Points: 🔄 May 2024 – Workplaces are shifting focus to primary prevention in mental health ❗ What are the shortcomings of crisis intervention, and why we need to shift 📈 Primary prevention builds resilience, prevents issues before they occur 🚀 See a practical approach to

Certified Resilient Workplace (CReW) – Best Practice Recognition Key Points: 🌟 Introducing the Certified Resilient Workplace (CReW) Program 🏅 Free recognition for workplaces prioritising mental health prevention 🏢 Flexible application – individual departments or entire workplace 🔬 Grounded in science – Resilience First Aid & PR6 Resilience Model Driven, a leader in resilience training and

Resilience First Aid (RFA) – Open access research paper In this research paper we discuss Resilience First Aid (RFA) and its development as a primary prevention program designed to enhance peer support skills, aiming to mitigate the escalating global suicide rates through a strength-based approach. This approach introduces a proactive method to tackle the dire impacts

High Adversity Resilience Training (HART) – Open access research paper We introduce the High Adversity Resilience Training (HART) Program, tailored for individuals in High Adversity Occupations (HAOs) such as first responders, healthcare workers, and military personnel, and others facing extreme challenges at work.  These individuals face significant risks due to their exposure to potentially traumatic

HART Accredited Certification I’m proud to announce the launch of the newly accredited High Adversity Resilience Training (HART) Certification course! This is an accredited 2-day program to build advanced resilience skills in people exposed to extreme stress. This is valuable preventative training for people in emergency services, defense, healthcare, crisis call centers, as well as educators and other professionals who can

Driven’s new National Resilience Index Report for 2023 is officially released. This year we explore both the US and Australia’s resilience levels in the first 2-nation report. We find a mutual starting point between the two nations, quickly going into opposite directions following global conflicts and cost of living pressures. The theme of this report

RFA Info Session – Webinar Recording Learn about the origin and research behind Resilience First Aid, and why more organisations are adopting it as a best practice mental health prevention program. https://youtu.be/HXThV5A-TEU Getting Started Interested in implementing RFA as an accredited strength-based approach to uplift organisational culture? Contact us at info@hellodriven.com to discuss how RFA

How a Supportive Work Environment Boosts Creativity, Innovation, and Collaboration Whiplash from pandemic-induced work from home, following by organisations trying to bring staff back to the office has left many scrambling to get some sense of normal. A good portion of people not wanting to return to the office have passed on a simple message

Resilience First Aid – Proactively Managing Workplace Psychosocial Risks Psychosocial risks include factors such as job stress, workplace conflict, and lack of support. These have a significant impact on employees’ mental health and wellbeing. To promote mentally healthy workplaces, the New South Wales (NSW) Mentally Healthy Workplaces Strategy emphasises the importance of preventive measures in addressing

Driven’s new National Resilience Index Report for 2022 is officially released. The report tracks Australia’s evolving resilience response through the challenges of the last to years, focusing particularly on recent events with Omicron, Russia & Ukraine, and ongoing floods. Highlights from the report: In Q4 of 2021, Australia saw a new low in resilience, coming

RESILIENCE FIRST AID AS RECOGNISED TRAINING Driven is proud to announce that Resilience First Aid has been awarded full accreditation by QIP and Suicide Prevention Australia, the national peak body for the suicide prevention sector. This accreditation certifies Resilience First Aid as a best practice suicide prevention program, highlighting the years of research and dedication

What does it look like in the brain when you help to calm someone else who is experiencing distress? New research helps show which areas are activated, producing some interesting findings and implications.   Watch the video below to learn more about the research and what it means for us in everyday life. https://youtu.be/o-eMLluAJJY Watch

FirstWatch and Driven Announce CAPCE Accreditation for “Driven Resilience Training”; the smartphone app using AI Technology to support mental health and wellness through resilience training. We are honored to be accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Prehospital Continuing Education (CAPCE). Driven Resilience Training uses virtual coaching powered by artificial intelligence (AI). By investing just

Australia has had some major ups and downs since COVID began, and even before that with the bushfires in 2019. We’ve been monitoring the impact of this on the capacity of people to be resilient through the last two years, and noticed some interesting effects. In June 2021 Australians reached the lowest level of resilience

Achieving your goals rests on the interplay of motivation and systems – how you get motivated is just as important as the way you turn motivation into action.    This article can help you if you…   Feel demotivated Feel like you don’t achieve anything in life Keep postponing your plans Keep quitting your plans

We all owe Adele’s friends a great debt – without them, her newest album 30 might have never graced our 2021. Adele says this album documents “the most turbulent period” of her life.   For many people, the last two years are likely to have been one of their most turbulent periods of life. Our

There comes a point where you realise that you’ve entered a new season of your life, like on a TV show. The characters are different. The locations have changed. What used to make up the texture of each day has been altered in multiple ways – large and small. And how much has changed? In

What is the aim of the World Mental Health Day? World Mental Health Day was established to raise awareness about particular mental health topics each year. More and more, the call for awareness has grown into a call for action.   People are struggling more than ever with mental health. Over the last 15 years,

What is a mental health assessment? A mental health assessment usually comes in the form of a mental health quiz, which tests how you score for different factors, like stress or anxiety. These factors are usually empirically tested and can be discovered through analysing symptoms. For example, a factor in depression is often stress, and

Positive motivation techniques in this article can help if:   You’re feeling unmotivated You’re not clear on your goals You want to get more done Jump to:   What is the definition of positive motivation? Positive vs negative motivation Positive motivation techniques Positive motivation at work Positive motivation in sport Positive motivation music What is

How Maria Ruberto Took Driven’s ideas inTo this Primary School Maria Ruberto, Director of Salutegenics Psychology, partnered with a Melbourne primary school called Diamond Creek East Primary School (DCEPS) when they were interested in developing a wellness program. DCEPS wanted to know: What ideas of mental wellness really work? How will we get the children

What are the key components of resilience? The main components used to measure resilience differ depending on which scale you go by, and which person you ask. Your mom, for example, might say hard work. Social media might say resilience is following your dreams. But what of the scientists and psychologists? Even in scientific circles,

How exactly we collectively decided that pink/purple is the colour for salt and vinegar chips is one of those enduring Australian mysteries. Still, the bright packaging tells of the dangers that lie beneath – flavouring so intense that your lips will still be tender for days if you dare eat the whole pack.

Please note that client confidentiality has been protected via an alias name and that client permission has been granted for this case. “In 2018, Diva attended my clinic for psychological intervention and therapy for her symptoms pertaining to OCD. She was 28 years old, a scientist by trade, and worked full time in a lab.

“Work-life balance” causes a lot of discussion and debate. Working professionals can spend their lives chasing the perfect balance. However, the idea of work-life balance is a myth – research does not support this as a sustainable concept on which to base your life around. Work is a part of life in a deep and

Evidence-based management is rising in popularity. This is mostly due to an increased ability to access and analyse data – it’s ultimately from data that we get our evidence to support key decisions. That said, Human Resources is usually seen as a ‘soft skills’ industry. This means evidence frequently takes a back seat while intuitions

Resilience synonyms each reveal a nuanced angle of resilience, and each synonym for resilience has different implied actions. Etymology is full of deep meaning waiting to be excavated. Check out the synonyms below for resilience to gain a deeper understanding of one the most crucial human skills. 🔍 Resilience is not just set of skills,

“Everyone should do this training” – How Anton Guinea Took Driven to the Coal Industry When he was 21, Anton suffered a near fatal accident at work as an electrician – changing the trajectory of his life. From then on, he was instilled with a passion for workplace safety, and has developed multiple tools, research,

In evolutionary terms, resilience has always been important for the survival of species. However – for humans – resilience is less about physical factors and more about higher cognitive functions, such as working towards a sense of purpose, problem solving, maintaining emotional composure, and more. As the main bipedal species, this means resilience is not

Resilience is made up of six core domains. At the top of the domains is Vision, which is the most important of all the domains. So, what makes it more important for resilience than other domains? What are the consequences if we do not take care of this domain above all others? Vision is about

HART is High Adversity Resilience Training.   This is about advanced resilience skills that prepares emergency responders for the unique challenges they’ll face in their work.   Though it’s not just about the individual – it’s about building resilience at a cultural level. We’ve been collaborating with experts in fire & rescue, emergency medical services,

‘Holistic care’ is increasingly an ideal for various forms of therapy and coaching. However, models developed for this purpose still fell short of living up to the holistic concept. The exposome presents us with a concept that lives up to the ideal of being truly holistic. What is the exposome? While the genome is the

Driven is taking on a long-standing challenge.   Emergency responders and military personnel face challenges beyond those of the general population. Responders deal daily with situations most people hope to never witness once in their entire lives. COVID has highlighted as well how some face harsh working environments every day.   However, simply being in

When we began our study into the science of resilience, our initial search for a resilience measurement system revealed something curious – none of the major resilience measures incorporated physical health. Turns out that for decades now, psychological resilience has mainly been studied as a mental concept – an abstract property living in somewhere in

We are heavily conditioned to favour outcome over process. When we prepare for a race, it’s all about the prize at the end. When we work on a project, it’s all about successful implementation. When we work hard, it’s all about getting that promotion. But here’s the problem – the outcome is just a small

Millions of people have lost their jobs through the COVID crisis. And even millions more young adults are facing the prospect of having to enter the job market in one of the worst recessions of history. If you’ve been affected by this, you know the incredible stress that comes from this – not only financially,

We all have our own unique personalities, further differentiated through our experiences and choices through life. Our personality traits exist across gradients, and we each land somewhere across all these traits.   Since an important part of resilience is exploring your own mind and beliefs, doing a personality test is a great way to enhance

When you need some stress relief, there’s nothing better to read than quotes about stress. It reminds you that everyone in the world deals with stress, and many people have overcome stressful situations. You are not alone.   You may also want to inspire someone going through a high-pressure period with some stress quotes. Encourage

What really helps us find joy in our work? Is it taking 10,000 steps a day? Being able to manage stress well? Quinoa? Or something else? Our peer-reviewed research build out the critical connection between resilience and job satisfaction to help answer these questions. My definition of resilience is to advance despite adversity. A definition

Nearly 800 million people are affected by mental health disorders around the world. Of these, depression and anxiety are the most common, affecting around 300 million each.   Awareness is an important part of finding help, which is where assessment tools are important. Free DASS Test The DASS is a widely-used psychometric test to check

I believe, quite strongly, that you should not get too distracted with neuroscience unless it drives useful decisions and actions. Keeping this focus is a way for us to manage Declarative Knowledge Overload (more about that in a previous article). This is why I want to talk to you today about Neuropeptide Y – it

DKO. The knockout punch that cognitively floors us every day. Declarative Knowledge Overload is the natural result of the increasing availability and ease of access to information: quite simply, we are no longer living in the age of information – we are now living in the age of information overload. And with this overload comes

Financial Issues & Stress Issues with money is cited to be the top reason for relationship breakdown. Add to that being a major contributor to many other issues such as difficulty sleeping, mood swings, depression, and anxiety, it’s important for us to look after our finances, and importantly, our mindset toward money. Just check out

Introducing Driven Teams An easy way to build resilience with groups If there was ever a time when we all needed resilience, this is it. In short, resilience gives us the ability to live meaningful and fulfilling lives despite all the challenges along the way. This has many benefits, including: Giving people a sense of

  Driven is the most comprehensive research-backed resilience coaching program available.   Now is the time for resilience coaching. I’ve created a comprehensive program to help coaches build resilience in the people they support.   I’ll be hosting a webinar to show you all the tools and resources we have available to help with resilience coaching.

Stress Management & Fostering Resilience Stress can be both a powerful motivator as well as a damaging hindrance. It all depends on how you use it! When experiencing some sort of pressure in life, we call this stress. Stress is usually the result of some sort of demand in our life, and we experience stress

By now you might have heard how exercise can increase important neurochemicals such as BDNF which is important for neuroplasticity. Exercise has been shown to have a lot of benefits for your brain, such as keeping you mental sharp, improving memory, and even preventing neurodegenerative diseases. This is interesting because it means that exercise is

  Stress, worry, information overload… If there was ever a time when we need resilience, it is now. Driven specializes in helping people assess and build personal resilience. Simply, the more resilient you are, the better you can handle a situation like the coronavirus pandemic and support those around you. Personally, I want to help

What is CBT? What is Cognitive Behaviour Therapy? Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (or CBT) is a form of treatment that focuses on practical strategies to change unhelpful thought patterns or behaviours. It’s a type of psychotherapy – an approach which looks primarily at your psychological makeup, exploring how your thoughts and emotions impact your life and

Our next session on Resilience During a Pandemic – How does dopamine actually work to motivate you? How can you control this to maintain persistence and tenacity during the pandemic? Let’s explore! Stress, worry, information overload… If there was ever a time when we need resilience, it is now. Driven specializes in helping people assess

  Our next session on Resilience During a Pandemic – Staying healthy is not just about looking after your body, but your brain as well. Let’s explore!   Stress, worry, information overload… If there was ever a time when we need resilience, it is now. Driven specializes in helping people assess and build personal resilience.

Inspirational quotes become quotes by distilling an important truth about human experience. These truths are often hard won and stand the test of time – they are relevant regardless of the challenge or the life you’re given. Let yourself be inspired by the best of inspirational quotes, or share with a friend who could use

Our next session on Resilience During a Pandemic – Once you’re calm, what comes next? How do you get ahead of the curve and be more prepared for the future? Stress, worry, information overload… If there was ever a time when we need resilience, it is now. Driven specializes in helping people assess and build

Our next session on Resilience During a Pandemic – Meaning and purpose is the most important part of resilience. But how do we find this during a pandemic? Stress, worry, information overload… If there was ever a time when we need resilience, it is now. Driven specializes in helping people assess and build personal resilience.

Our next session on Resilience During a Pandemic – Our social connections are being disrupted. What does this mean, and how do we navigate this new challenge? Stress, worry, information overload… If there was ever a time when we need resilience, it is now. Driven specializes in helping people assess and build personal resilience. Simply,

Our next session on Resilience During a Pandemic – This time we are turning our attention to the domain of Composure. This is about how we manage our emotional state to stay calm and in control. Stress, worry, information overload… If there was ever a time when we need resilience, it is now. Driven specializes

Over the years we’ve seen how ‘resilience champions’ make a real impact in the wellness of those around them, and how they support wellness initiatives in organisations. In this webinar included: Sharing our insights on how we’ve seen champions make an impact Explore training that we’ve done around establishing people as resilience champions Chat about

What is the aim of the World Mental Health Day? The World Health Organisation started World Mental Health Day in 1992 as a way to raise awareness of mental health issues. Countries around the world celebrate World Mental Health day by discussing a particular theme released by the WHO for that year. The World Mental

Serotonin was long thought to be an exciting chemical involved in the pathways of reward processing, happiness and mood regulation[1]. Though, recent studies bring to light the complexities of this stimulant, and how little we really know of how it works. Certainly it is an important neurochemical and it can help us to understand resilience

Everyone has some level of resilience. What’s really exciting about this is that your level isn’t static, but dynamic: you have the ability to learn and become much more resilient. In this article we’ll show you many of the strategies, skills and resilience activities which are proven to work. With the Driven app you can

“Whosoever reads this article, should they read it in full, shall know the resilience of Thor.” !!MAJOR ENDGAME SPOILERS ALERT!! I’m a fan of the Marvel universe and have diligently watched the 20+ movies leading up to Endgame. At the same time, I have a big interest in understanding and building resilience in people –

Neuroscientist, Richard Davidson, describes resilient people as people who not only withstand certain kinds of stressful events, but benefit from them, and turn adversity into advantage. Other concepts that he links with resilience are recovery period, higher developed left-brain capacity and increased hippocampal functioning [1]. To be able to effectively enhance resilience, we need to

SCIENTIFIC WELLNESS MEASUREMENT THROUGH RESILIENCE Wellness measurement is critical to gain insightful knowledge to successfully help staff to thrive within organisations. It clarifies the starting point, identifies priorities and informs goals for action. Ongoing evaluation is what tracks progress and creates a data set for benefits tracking. All critical factors for the success of a wellness

We’ve been working with many businesses and organisations to build the resilience of people. What have we seen so far? Great results! Learn everything about resilience in the workplace. The infographic below sets out clearly how resilience brings benefits both at a financial and human level. After all, it’s not just about bottom line savings,

The best resilience quotes resonate with something deep inside the human spirit. They endure because they touch the parts of us that are hurting, that are trying, the parts that say “Maybe I’m not enough for this.” The parts of us that hope our future is not determined by the stars, but by our own

Running a workplace resilience training program is high on the agenda for many top organisations. More and more we hear from businesses who recognise the benefit of building a resilient workforce. After all, here are some of the quantifiable benefits of resilient people we have seen through our research: $6,152 annual per employee saving through

Dental health and dementia are not commonly thought of together. What does dental health have to do with mental health, anyway? Surprisingly, there seems to be a strong link between these two. In fact, if your gums bleed easily, then you might have a gingivitis infection. New research has showed that gingivitis bacteria make it

Life is complicated. It’s tough to keep track of everything going on, especially given that there is so much that we experience and are exposed to over time. This increasingly takes a toll on our mental health. Consider our current predicament: 300 million people have depressive disorders Over 260 million suffer from anxiety disorders By

Oxytocin is often thought of as the chemical of looove. However, it has many other roles (empathy, stress, optimism) that are worth exploring. I don’t often see oxytocin discussed in the context of resilience, so I decided to dig into the extensive (and sometimes hilarious) research done on oxytocin. Today we’ll be looking beyond its

Your heart jumps and you suddenly become excruciatingly aware of a little too much perspiration. Words struggle to form in your mouth as you attempt to answer an unexpectedly tough question in the monthly project meeting you’re hosting. Well hey there, norepinephrine! How nice to see you again… What you’re feeling is the very noticeable

Executive Resilience: Neuroscience For The Business of Disruption Happy to announce Executive Resilience – my new book! This book explores the impact of automation and artificial intelligence on the global consciousness, resulting in increased uncertainty that wears down wellness. The cover art illustrates how anyone (including myself) may suddenly find an automated worker take their

Neuroplasticity: Why You Should Care About Your BDNF Brain-derived neurotrophic factor, or BDNF for short, is a protein in the brain that is crucial for learning and adaptability. What’s curious about BDNF is how much direct control we have over its abundance. There are lifestyle factors that directly affect the amount of BDNF in your

Neuroplasticity is one of those terms frequently bandied about, but what is the meaning of neuroplasticity? How does neuroplasticity work? Also, what lessons are there in the mechanics of neuroplasticity? In this article I’ll get a bit technical, though I’m sure you’ll find that a little bit of brain knowledge may just make a whole

Last time we developed a more modern definition of resilience as “advancing despite adversity”, but what does this mean on a more detailed level? What groups of behaviours, skills and beliefs contribute to resilience? What can we actually measure resilience against? To answer these questions, we investigated many existing models of resilience and combined them

Traditionally, personal resilience has often been defined as how we bounce back from difficult situations. However, this definition doesn’t encompass the true breadth of resilience skills and their many benefits. To ensure the definition of resilience includes all aspects, let’s modernise the definition to this: Resilience is about advancing despite adversity. What is resilience? Let’s