As part of our commitment to help children grow and families develop, the YMCA of Greater Toronto participates in a range of research partnerships. Recently, we partnered with Guelph University, George Brown College, and The Child Development Institute in a research project called “Reaching In… Reaching Out”.

This innovative research project is focused on the topic of resiliency, which is the ability to bounce back from stress and adversity to take on new challenges. Leveraging 30 years of past research, we have uncovered several critical findings:

• Our physical and mental health, relationships with others and ability to be successful are significantly impacted by our resiliency
• Critical abilities associated with resilience include emotional regulation, impulse control, causal analysis, empathy, maintaining realistic optimism, self-efficacy, and reaching out
• The way we think about challenges and adversity influences our ability to handle setbacks with resiliency
• People can learn new thinking skills to respond resiliently to daily adversity and stress

As part of this partnership, we have developed a training program and toolkit for Early Childhood Educators. These materials are designed to help educators understand resilience and develop strategies and approaches to help children foster a resilient outlook and approach to life.

For more information contact memberservices@ymcagta.org.