Emotional Resilience
The Emotional Resilience series offers practical tools, strategies and insights to help participants and support partners develop problem solving and resiliency skills. Included in this series are five webinars with accompanying toolkits. The toolkits include Conversation Starters, Tips for Proactive Problem Solving, and Helpful Resources.
Fostering Resilience Through Wellness Practices
Resilience can be defined as the ability to rebound from adversity. Though there are individual factors that can influence a person’s ability to be resilient, it is possible to learn skills to enhance our ability to adapt to changes. Individuals living with MS and their support partners can benefit from learning how to enhance resilience.
Maintaining Balance and Intimacy in an Evolving Relationship
The session will focus on strategies to balance individual and shared goals in a respectful way, communication strategies that take into account life challenges and MS symptoms, and the importance of shared-decision making with the healthcare team and with each other.
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Managing Changes in Symptoms, Abilities, and Key Roles
This session will focus on strategies that help individuals and families deal with changes that result from MS progression, including reduced ability to work full time, shifting roles and abilities in important relationships, and increasing need for help in managing daily routines. Medical and rehabilitation interventions play a critical role in helping people manage difficult transitions. Because emotional and cognitive issues can interfere with developing and implementing a meaningful care plan with one’s providers, working with a mental health professional can help the individual and family deal with their individual and shared feelings about the changes and engage effectively with those other providers.
Effective Conversations with Healthcare Professionals and Loved Ones
This session will focus on how to communicate effectively with loved ones and with the healthcare team, including ways to address complex or sensitive topics, tips for listening and talking, and strategies for making the most out of one’s time with healthcare providers.
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Strengthening Your Social Relationships and Supports
Research suggests that strong social relationships increase longevity and quality of life and improve overall health. This is even more pertinent for persons living with a chronic medical condition like multiple sclerosis (MS), and their support partners. MS can, at times, bring added complication and distress to the individual with the diagnosis, as well as individuals in their social network. This module will present background information on the case for strengthening social relationships for persons with MS, highlight the most common barriers that impede or disrupt relationships, and present tools and strategies for helping others understand MS symptoms, communicating when and how assistance may be needed, and maintaining a healthy and balanced give-and take with others.
