Family members in the Tri-Border community went to the Snow World Ropes Course in Landgraaf, The Netherlands, where they learned two resiliency skills: energy management and real-time resilience in the face of adversity. The excursion was a part of Child and Youth Services' resiliency training. (Courtesy photo)

Benelux CYS employees implement master resilience training in communities

SCHINNEN, The Netherlands -- To enhance quality-of-life and mission readiness, Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation’s Child and Youth Services employees are teaching resiliency skills in unique ways.

Master resilience training, or MRT, is a joint effort between the Positive Psychology Center at the University of Pennsylvania and the U.S. Army designed to teach Army officers about the concept of resilience and to train those officers to teach other Soldiers about resilience in return.

Recently, however, Department of the Army civilians had an opportunity to attend the 10-day program of study.

In 2018, four USAG Benelux CYS employees attended the MRT program in San Antonio, Texas.

The participants acquired a wealth of training ideas and workshop themes for future programming in addition to becoming master resilience trainers.

Two participants Yvonne Herrejon, a SHAPE Child Development Center supervisory program specialist, and Courtney Westhof, a Middle School and Teen assistant director in Schinnen, received $10,000 grants to implement resiliency activities within their respective communities.

“I have always tried to practice and teach resilience to my own children. This has carried over to my work with youth. When given the opportunity to become an MRT with CYS, I was excited about the prospect of learning more and teaching others,” said Herrejon.

When asked about her plans for the grant, she stated that it will be used in R2 trainings and experiential learning activities.

"[The grant will be used for] activities that highlight resilience in a fun interactive way, such as ropes courses, escape rooms and a SHAPE-wide scavenger hunt," she added.

Westhof already implemented the grant funds.

On June 1, she took 24 family members to the Snow World Ropes Course in Landgraaf, The Netherlands, where she taught two resiliency skills: energy management and real-time resilience in the face of adversity.

Developing family, workforce and personal resilience is a life-long process. There is no "end state" for a person's resilience. One can always improve. With master trainers in the Benelux community, people are encouraged to utilize available resources to improve their resiliency.

For more information about Benelux Family and MWR and CYS, click HERE.

Story by USAG Benelux Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation