Course description

A job you wanted goes to someone else. A parent becomes ill. Your team is reorganised and the work you knew changes overnight. This course helps you get back on your feet after knocks like these, and find steadier ground when life changes around you.

It's written for adults in the UK going through change, pressure or setbacks at work or at home, and for anyone who wants to be better prepared for the next one. You learn practical skills one at a time: noticing your warning signs, catching thinking traps, solving problems step by step, sorting what you can control, coping with change and strong feelings, looking after the basics, asking for support and setting boundaries. You finish by writing your own personal resilience plan.

There are 10 sections and 50 written lessons, each with a worked example, common slips, questions people often ask and a short exercise to try, and each section ends with a short quiz. You follow a few made-up people in Stafford, mainly Rannva, a customer service team leader juggling a team merger, a job knock-back and her mum's fall, and, in the final section, Bergthora, a teaching assistant facing three changes at once. Every section has a practice pack with a worksheet, example answers, a cheat sheet and worked examples, plus extras such as a help routes card, a noticing log, a thought record, a problem-solving worksheet, a circle of control sheet, a weekly wellbeing planner, a support map, a manager conversation planner and a resilience plan template with a worked example.

What you'll learn

• What resilience really is: resilience as a set of skills you can learn, what it isn't, how setbacks show up in your body, thoughts and behaviour, when to get help, and your starting point.
• Noticing your own patterns: early warning signs, triggers and pressure points, how you cope now, your strengths, and a two-week noticing log.
• Thinking traps and balanced thinking: how thoughts, feelings and actions link, the four NHS thinking traps, catch it, check it, change it, thought records and worry time.
• Problem solving and what you can control: solvable problems and what-if worries, problem-solving steps, the circle of control, acceptance, and turning plans into action.
• Coping with change and uncertainty: why change is hard, living with not knowing, keeping your anchors, a ladder of small steps, and looking back on change.
• Understanding and handling emotions: naming feelings, riding out strong ones, the NHS breathing exercise, healthy outlets, and when feelings stay heavy.
• Looking after the basics: sleep, movement, food, alcohol and quick fixes, using NHS guidance, and a weekly wellbeing planner.
• Connection, support and boundaries: why connection matters, asking for support, mapping the people around you, setting boundaries and saying no without guilt.
• Resilience at work: workload and pressure, feedback and setbacks, change at work, talking to your manager, and where to go when something at work isn't OK.
• Growing from setbacks and your resilience plan: values and small goals, learning from setbacks kindly, supporting someone else, a full worked plan and your own ten-part plan.

Who it's for

Adults who've had a setback or are facing a big change, at work or at home, and want practical ways to cope and recover. You don't need to know anything about resilience to start, and you don't need to be in crisis. A notebook is all you need.

What this course is, and isn't

This course teaches self-help skills. It isn't therapy or treatment, it can't diagnose anything and it doesn't replace care from a GP or a mental health professional. Health facts come from NHS pages, and work facts from GOV.UK and the HSE. Resilience never means putting up with abuse, bullying, discrimination, unsafe work or unfair treatment, and the course shows you where to get help with those. If you need urgent help, call 999 or go to A&E if a life is at risk; for urgent mental health help, call NHS 111 in England or Wales, NHS 24 on 111 in Scotland, or Lifeline on 0808 808 8000 in Northern Ireland. Samaritans are free to call on 116 123. Rannva, Bergthora and every other person in the course are fictional, and so is Wheldale Freight.

What will I learn?

• Explain what resilience is and isn't, and how setbacks can affect your body, your thoughts and your behaviour
• Know when and where to get help, including your GP, NHS talking therapies and urgent help in each UK nation
• Notice your own early warning signs, triggers and ways of coping, using a two-week noticing log
• Spot the four thinking traps the NHS describes and find more balanced thoughts with a thought record
• Solve problems step by step and sort what you can control, what you can influence and what you can't
• Cope with change and uncertainty by keeping your anchors and taking small steps into the new
• Name strong feelings, ride them out and calm your body with the NHS breathing exercise
• Look after sleep, movement, food and alcohol, and plan a balanced week with a weekly wellbeing planner
• Ask for support, map the people around you, set boundaries and handle pressure, feedback and change at work
• Write and review your own ten-part personal resilience plan

Frequently asked questions