Published: October 2024

Keywords:
Mental Resilience, Emotional Resources, Systemic Appreciative Theory, Psychosocial Interventions, School Community, Educators, Students.

Manto Lioni

Manto Lioni is a Developmental Psychologist (MSc) and a Systemic Psychotherapist. She has worked in various psychosocial support settings, providing services to children, adolescents and adults. Her work in school communities focuses on prevention, crisis intervention, strength-based approaches, strengthening bonds and connecting with the local community. She has specialized in Sexual Education for Children and Adolescents, as well as in Special Education. She views individuals as participants in a network of relationships and interactions, filled with resources and strengths, capable of creating functional and enjoyable relationships in the present. She loves books, animals, hiking, chocolate, and the sea.

Sofia Charisopoulou

Sofia Charisopoulou is a Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychologist (MSc, MEd) and a Systemic Psychotherapist. After completing her postgraduate studies at Utrecht University in the Netherlands and her internship at The International School of The Hague, she returned to Greece, where she worked in structures supporting vulnerable children and adolescents on remote Greek islands, helping them activate their own resources. Her professional path then led her to work with adolescents and adults who use legal and illegal substances, helping them rediscover the brighter paths of life. In recent years, she has been working in primary and secondary education, focusing on the promotion of mental health and psychoeducation in school populations (children, adolescents, their families, and educators), addressing issues relevant to the school community, such as conflict management, functional expression of anger, dealing with dysfunctional stress, and grief.

Abstract

We live in a transitional period, a time of changes and many upheavals on both an individual and relational level. Amidst these upheavals, the word "crisis" echoes loudly. Economic crisis, family crisis, crisis of values, crisis of self-identity. In times of crisis, turning to resources seems more critical than ever. How, then, can this be done? By starting with the cotton gins of society: schools. Schools, amidst this climate of intense change, have a unique ability to cultivate resources so that every member, whether educator or student, can find the strength to continue. A resource can be defined as a quantity of goods set aside for future use—physical or mental strengths that one still possesses to continue a strenuous effort. How full are the containers of mental resources for educators? What actions can contribute to the enhancement of students' resources? Narratives, actions, and dialogues through the eyes of two Psychologists working in Primary and Secondary Education. An invitation to change, an invitation to embrace the strengths of the school community members and to share ideas and actions that can be transmitted and implemented by any professional who needs to seek out their own resources and the resources of their students.