An extraordinary experiment in Iowa
If you’re interested in helping people thrive, even amidst challenging circumstances, this program run by Iowa State University (ISU) Extension and Outreach might interest you.
It’s designed for small, confidential groups of everyday citizens of Iowa to develop resilience skills, together.
The program
The program is based on Resilience, a WOL social learning method that enables people to experiment with techniques from applied positive psychology proven to improve overall wellness.
The research on these techniques is clear. (For an overview see, for example, Flourish by Martin Seligman or The How of Happiness by Sonya Lyubomirsky.) What’s challenging is putting these ideas into practice and developing habits that make the practices sustainable.
In the Resilience method, participants are formed into small groups of four to five people who meet for one hour a week for eight weeks. In Week One, each person is guided to choose an individual goal that relates to their own well-being needs. Then, as a group, they follow a structured set of exercises and discussions that help each of them make progress towards their goal.
By the end of eight weeks together, participants have cultivated new skills and habits as well as strong feelings of trust between group members. They often report a greater sense of autonomy, competence, and relatedness, the three basic human needs described in Self-Determination Theory.
Why Iowa?
I first started to collaborate with the Cooperative Extension System in 2016. (The Cooperative Extension System is operated by the US Land Grant University institutions which “provides research-based programs and resources for residents in their state.”) Several schools were forming WOL Circles, and I spoke at their national conference that year.
That’s where I met people from Iowa, including Barb Dunn-Swanson. She went on to organize more WOL Circles and, thanks to Deb Sellers, form the first Resilience Circles for staff at the university. In 2022, I made my first trip to Iowa and met a remarkable team there including Lyndi Buckingham-Schutt, Jody Gatewood, and Cathy Hockaday. I’ve come to experience first-hand what “Iowa nice” means, and I’ve been inspired by how passionate they all are about their mission.
"ISU Extension and Outreach builds a strong Iowa by engaging all Iowans in research, education, and extension experiences to address current and emerging real-life challenges. That's our mission.”
Part of what they do is offer a range of training to Iowans (e.g., nutrition and cooking for low-income families). When they had the idea to offer Resilience as well, I immediately said yes.
The experiment and what’s next
So far, Resilience programs have mainly been offered to employees in companies, guided by Sophia Rödiger in Berlin. It’s usually offered as part of a broader corporate wellness program. The participants in Iowa, however, face challenges most employees will never face. As a result, there are many open questions and uncertainty about the outcome.
As a group, though, we are committed to this experiment and using what we learn to improve the method and how we introduce it. More than ever, people need new skills and new sources of support and connection in order to thrive. And we think we can help.
Last week, ISU conducted training for Resilience facilitators, and the first Resilience Circles will form in a few months. We’ll be sure to share what we learn—and keep going.
