Pathways to Resilience III: Beyond Nature vs. Nurture

Researching Resilience in Youth: Practical Strategies and Aboriginal Perspectives
Speaker: Christine Wekerle
Presented alongside Sherry Stewart, Marlyn Bennett, and Diane Obed. For Aboriginal youth, there are various contexts of adversity and many more contexts of resilience. Globally, this is the decade for youth, and Aboriginal youth populations are growing, creating a unique opportunity for youth engagement and prevention. Key prevention issues are suicidality, substance abuse, mental health. The practical strategies providing support to a building resilience mindset, recognition of cultural, community, and signature strengths and, importantly, a coherent vocal and imaginative personal narrative are among the emergent evidence-based interventions for Aboriginal youth and as cross-over applications to non-Aboriginal youth. This plenary panel will discuss the evidence and highlight some future opportunities, especially in the support of male mental health and the recognition of and resilience from sexual exploitation.