One of the things that the mass shooting on Jefferson Avenue has shown us is that the residents of east Buffalo are a resilient group of people.

There are sections of the city of Buffalo that have been continuously ignored, neglected, and taken for granted, yet the people there still continue to survive. Even when the construction of the Kensignton Expressway threatened to destroy the community, the people were able to hold together.

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But having to routinely use your survival skills has a way of wearing down on you, which is why revisiting ways to take care of yourself and build up your resilience is a good thing.

We spoke with Duncan Kirkwood, a global resilience advocate and trainer based in Buffalo, and his wife Carolyn Kirkwood, a Licensed Mental Health Counselor about different types of self-care and a few tips that we all can start to employ to rebuild our resilience in this difficult times in Western New York.

3 Tips To Be More Resilient

  1. One of the first steps to becoming more resilient is recognizing that the things that you are dealing with are real. No matter what it is, it's nothing to be ashamed of, and accepting this will help you truly prepare to move forward.
  2. After you recognize and accept that what you are dealing with is real, the next step is to really try and break out of your existing thought patterns that keep you thinking about the same things over and over again. There are a lot of factors that may have led to how things are today and likely most of those things have nothing to do with what you've done.
  3. Don't overthink the situation you are dealing with. It's completely normal and Ok to not know what to do and to ask for help.

You can check out a few excerpts from the conversation we had below.

What are some tips, ideas, or suggestions that people can use to help deal with the aftermath of a mass shooting?

What is a thinking trap?

What are some things that people can start to do when they start to really feel the grief of the loss to our community?

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