Communication—sharing stories of resilience matters

Cynthia A. Lietz and Breanna M. Carpenter Lietz

Chapter 7 in How to Build Resilience in College Students, 2026, pp 75-84 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: As we continue to describe the 10 most important protective factors needed to activate or cultivate resilience in college students, communication will be highlighted in this chapter. For the purpose of this guide, communication is defined as the ways people express loss, trauma, and other difficulties to process or work through the difficulties they face. Communication can be verbal in that telling one's story, whether to another person or to a large audience, can be a way of moving hurt and pain outside of the body. For some students, the best way for them to work through emotions associated with trauma or loss may be talking with friends, family, or professionals. For others, expressing grief or processing difficult emotions can come in nonverbal forms such as through journaling or the personal reflection that comes from writing an article or book. For others, engaging in activities such as art, poetry, dance, music, or even exercise can be used to express emotions without stating those feelings out loud. In this chapter, we define communication as a protective factor, discuss how communication can be used for both coping and adaptation, and we will close with an example of one student's use of communication in their story of resilience.

Keywords: Resilience; College students; Protective factors; Communication (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
ISBN: 9781035365081
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