Mental resilience – unpacking the psychology behind the YES 2023 Theme

This year the YES is all about building resilient minds, but what is this resilience and how can we build it?

We had the honour to interview YES Counsellor and YFU volunteer Zeynep from Turkey about the topic. She is a psychologist and educator – an expert on the topic of mental resilience. As a Counsellor at the YES, she ensures that students and volunteers have someone to talk to if they experience strong emotions and need help processing them. 

“The YES is a big event, it’s a chaotic place – in a good way – and we as Counsellors are there to ease it for those who might have very high and low moments, or if anyone wants to reflect on the past or the upcoming year; the fear or change, the itchy feeling of uncertainty… It’s sometimes difficult to deal with those emotions alone” – Zeynep describing the role of a Counsellor. 

Let’s dig into resilience for a bit. What does it mean to have a resilient mind, and how can we improve this resilience?

According to Zeynep, resilience is like a muscle that one can train. It is not given to us at birth, but rather something we can develop over time. “This muscle of resilience grows once we start to discover and reflect on ourselves. Something to focus on when building resilience is self awareness. It builds up through self-reflection and exploration,” she explains. Self-awareness is connected to our accountability to self; taking responsibility of our own choices and being honest to our emotions. “The emotions we feel are signals that we should pay attention to,” Zeynep points. Indeed, without self-awareness and knowing ourselves it’s difficult to embrace change – a key element of resilience.

“We need to be brave to embrace change; without a resilient mind it’s impossible to do this,” Zeynep summarizes. 

Adjusting to change… does this sound familiar? An exchange year is nothing less than adjusting to constant change and embracing new and different adventures. “A plus one to all of us who have gone on exchange,” Zeynep laughs. Making decisions like going on exchange, and dealing with the - sometimes surprising - consequences of that, are a good workout for our muscle of resiliency. 

For YFU volunteers resilience is an important element as well. In big gatherings like the YES, we get to share and reflect together. We can find validation and support for our ideas and thoughts, we get to socialise and connect with others. Zeynep states this is also important when it comes to resilience. 

Above all, resilience can be thought of as the opposite of helplessness. It’s about knowing oneself, being honest to ourselves and our emotions, and being able to adjust to change and bounce back when things don’t go as planned. “While resilience is about strength, it’s not about being unbreakable,” Zeynep reminds us,

We look forward to putting our resilience muscles to work at the YES. Until then, remember to reflect and explore!

To find out more about mental resilience and to hear Zeynep’s full interview, head over to the newest episode of our podcast!