Cultural Brilliance Radio host Claudette Rowley interviews Dr. Richard Citrin and Dr. Sheila Collins
Claudette: Today I am excited to introduce to guests: Dr. Richard Citrin and Dr. Sheila Collins. Fun fact about these two is that they’re not only life partners but often work partners as well. Both have written incredibly interesting books, and Rich I’d love to first talk about yours, titled The Resilience Advantage.
Richard: Hi Claudette, so great to be here! So, my book is partially about the idea of stress management, and explores the idea of whether or not humans are even able manage stress.
I came to the conclusion that stress like as gravity is a physical imperative. You don’t manage gravity, if you jump up you come back down. I view stress in the same way, you don’t manage stress as much as it’s a biological imperative.
I really built out this resilience model that I call the Resilience Advantage that talks about resilience as being more than just this idea of bouncing back, but it really has to do with how we plan our potentially stressful and challenging events, how we navigate them in real time, what do we do when we’re in the middle of the stressful event, and how we handle that with some measure of grace.
Claudette: What are some of the things that you’re experiencing when you’re working with leaders? Are they embracing how you think about resilience or are you running into some resistance?
Richard: There is certainly a fair amount of resistance, as with any radical new approaches to anything, but some organizations I’m working with now are recognizing these challenges that are building them into their leadership competencies, which is a good start!
Claudette: Amazing stuff, thanks so much for your insights! Shifting gears a bit now to Sheila… Sheila, I’d love to talk about your book Warrior Mother, as I know the title comes from some really difficult challenges you’ve had in your life, and that it also contains lessons on resilience. Care to elaborate?
Sheila: Indeed Claudette, it seemed like everything came tumbling down at once. As Richard and I sold each of our clinics, we had no time to mourn over those since our children were fighting illnesses as well. It was a tragic time for us, and this dark place is where many of my stories are derived from.
Claudette: Powerful stories, thanks so much for sharing! So, when you’re working with folks what are a couple of things that you generally share you when people ask for tips and recommendations?
Sheila: I think in the realm of improvement that Richard and I have delved so deeply into, we look for the good. It’s a practice so you’ve got this thing it’s all complicated there’s a lot of crappy stuff about it and then there’s maybe some good stuff too. If you focus more on good stuff it can feel better in your body and in your mind.
Listen to the full interview with Claudette Rowley, Richard Citrin and Sheila Collins here.
