Resilience is variously described as the ability or capacity to:

• overcome difficult life experiences;
• thrive in spite of adversity;
• ‘bounce back’ from challenges;
• find meaning and direction in difficult circumstances;
• adapt to changing situations.

The concept of resilience encourages us to learn from those who have come through challenging experiences, and it relates strongly to the development of the recovery approach.

The recovery approach is based primarily on learning directly from people who describe themselves as having recovered from, or who are in recovery from, mental health problems.

The recovery approach asks the question ‘What is it that we can learn from people who do well?’