Dr. Michael Ungar

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Michael Ungar, Ph.D.

World-renowned Resilience Expert

Books & Resources

Michael Ungar, Ph.D.

World-renowned Resilience Expert

Books & Resources

Michael Ungar, Ph.D. is the founder and Director of the Resilience Research Centre at Dalhousie University where he holds the Canada Research Chair in Child, Family and Community Resilience. In 2022, Dr. Ungar was ranked the number one Social Work scholar in the world in recognition of his ground-breaking work as a family therapist and resilience researcher. That work has influenced the way human development and organizational processes are understood and studied globally, with much of Dr. Ungar’s clinical work and scholarship focused on the resilience of marginalized children and families, and adult populations experiencing mental health challenges at home and in the workplace. In addition to providing consultation to international NGOs like the Red Cross and Save the Children, government agencies in more than a dozen low, middle, and high income countries, and educational institutions at all levels of study, Dr. Ungar’s research has also influenced the HR and corporate social responsibility initiatives of Fortune 500 companies like Unilever, DHL and Cigna. Dr. Ungar’s work emphasizes how to use the theory of resilience to increase both individual and institutional agility during crises, with numerous organizations having adopted his concept of resilience as a negotiated process that enhances wellbeing and social responsibility. He is the author of over 250 peer reviewed articles and book chapters and 17 books. His blog, Nurturing Resilience, can be read on Psychology Today’s website.

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Michael Ungar, Ph.D. is the founder and Director of the Resilience Research Centre at Dalhousie University where he holds the Canada Research Chair in Child, Family and Community Resilience. In 2022, Dr. Ungar was ranked the number one Social Work scholar in the world in recognition of his ground-breaking work as a family therapist and resilience researcher. That work has influenced the way human development and organizational processes are understood and studied globally, with much of Dr. Ungar’s clinical work and scholarship focused on the resilience of marginalized children and families, and adult populations experiencing mental health challenges at home and in the workplace. In addition to providing consultation to international NGOs like the Red Cross and Save the Children, government agencies in more than a dozen low, middle, and high income countries, and educational institutions at all levels of study, Dr. Ungar’s research has also influenced the HR and corporate social responsibility initiatives of Fortune 500 companies like Unilever, DHL and Cigna.

Dr. Ungar’s work emphasizes how to use the theory of resilience to increase both individual and institutional agility during crises, with numerous organizations having adopted his concept of resilience as a negotiated process that enhances wellbeing and social responsibility. He is the author of over 250 peer reviewed articles and book chapters and 17 books. His blog, Nurturing Resilience, can be read on Psychology Today’s website.

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Affiliations

New OPEN ACCESS Book

Multisystemic Resilience

Edited by Michael Ungar

Multisystemic Resilience brings together for the first time in one volume a wide range of resilience scholars who have been wrestling with how to explain processes of recovery, adaptation, and transformation in contexts of change and adversity. With contributions from psychologists, epigeneticists, ecologists, architects, disaster specialists, engineers, sociologists, social workers, and public health researchers among others, this innovative volume creates a platform for an interdisciplinary conversation about how to effectively research resilience across systems. Even more, it explores how to identify possible solutions to problems that threaten the physical and mental health of individuals, the wellbeing of our communities, and the sustainability of our planet.

Multisystemic Resilience is now available as an open access resource. To learn more and to get your free electronic copy, click the link below.

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Recent Updates

Dalhousie social work scholar, Dr. Michael Ungar ranks top in the world

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Looking Beyond Self-Help to Understand Resilience: An Interview with Michael Ungar

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Michael Ungar on why post-pandemic resilience “takes a village” - OECD TopClass Podcast

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How Kids Find Strength in Stressed Environments - Dr. Michael Ungar

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Presentations

“Your talks really brought resilient theory in practice to life and the feedback I received from those who I did speak to afterwards echoed this. Attendees felt you provided inspiration, clarity and a lot of food for thought.”
– Sarah Brennan, Chief Executive of Young Minds UK
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Books & Resources

NEW – Resilience, Adaptive Peacebuilding and Transitional Justice

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Multisystemic Resilience by Michael Ungar

Multisystemic Resilience

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Working with Children and Youth with Complex Needs, 2nd Edition

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Change Your World

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Resilience, Adaptive Peacebuilding and Transitional Justice (2021)

Processes of post-war reconstruction, peacebuilding and reconciliation are partly about fostering stability and adaptive capacity across different social systems. Nevertheless, these processes have seldom been expressly discussed within a resilience framework. Similarly, although the goals of transitional justice – among them (re)establishing the rule of law, delivering justice and aiding reconciliation – implicitly encompass a resilience element, transitional justice has not been explicitly theorised as a process for building resilience in communities and societies that have suffered large-scale violence and human rights violations. The chapters in this unique volume theoretically and empirically explore the concept of resilience in diverse societies that have experienced mass violence and human rights abuses. They analyse the extent to which transitional justice processes have – and can – contribute to resilience and how, in so doing, they can foster adaptive peacebuilding. This book is available as Open Access.

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Resilience, Adaptive Peacebuilding and Transitional Justice (2021)

Processes of post-war reconstruction, peacebuilding and reconciliation are partly about fostering stability and adaptive capacity across different social systems. Nevertheless, these processes have seldom been expressly discussed within a resilience framework. Similarly, although the goals of transitional justice – among them (re)establishing the rule of law, delivering justice and aiding reconciliation – implicitly encompass a resilience element, transitional justice has not been explicitly theorised as a process for building resilience in communities and societies that have suffered large-scale violence and human rights violations. The chapters in this unique volume theoretically and empirically explore the concept of resilience in diverse societies that have experienced mass violence and human rights abuses. They analyse the extent to which transitional justice processes have – and can – contribute to resilience and how, in so doing, they can foster adaptive peacebuilding. This book is available as Open Access.

Learn More

Multisystemic Resilience (2021)

Multisystemic Resilience brings together for the first time in one volume a wide range of resilience scholars who have been wrestling with how to explain processes of recovery, adaptation, and transformation in contexts of change and adversity. With contributions from psychologists, epigeneticists, ecologists, architects, disaster specialists, engineers, sociologists, social workers, and public health researchers among others, this innovative volume creates a platform for an interdisciplinary conversation about how to effectively research resilience across systems. Even more, it explores how to identify possible solutions to problems that threaten the physical and mental health of individuals, the wellbeing of our communities, and the sustainability of our planet. Every chapter provides a detailed review of systemic resilience from one disciplinary perspective, drawing from cutting edge research and case studies. Together these chapters show that considering the resilience of multiple systems at once is instrumental to understanding the processes of change and sustainability.

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Multisystemic Resilience by Michael Ungar
Multisystemic Resilience by Michael Ungar

Multisystemic Resilience (2021)

Multisystemic Resilience brings together for the first time in one volume a wide range of resilience scholars who have been wrestling with how to explain processes of recovery, adaptation and transformation in contexts of change and adversity. By placing side-by-side the writing of psychologists, epigeneticists, ecologists, architects, disaster specialists, engineers, sociologists and public health researchers (to name just a few of the professions represented in this innovative volume), this volume provides answers to questions like: How can we better understand and develop models that explain the dynamic interplay of resilience processes across systems (and at different scales within systems)? How can we study the resilience of multiple systems at one time across scales and over time? And how does the concept of multisystemic resilience help us generate scalable solutions to problems that threaten the physical and mental health of individuals, the wellbeing of their communities and the sustainability of our planet? Every chapter provides a detailed review of resilience from one disciplinary perspective, then uses examples drawn from research and detailed case studies to show that thinking about the resilience of multiple systems is a better way to understand the promotive and protective factors and processes that help systems withstand stress and be sustainable over time. Learn more

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Working with Children and Youth with Complex Needs, 2nd Edition (2020)

This new edition of Working with Children and Youth with Complex Needs provides detailed descriptions of techniques, ample case studies, fascinating and easy to understand explanations of research, and rich stories of how social workers, psychologists, counselors, child and youth care workers, and other mental health professionals can help young people become more resilient.

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Working with Children and Youth with Complex Needs, 2nd Edition (2020)

This new edition of Working with Children and Youth with Complex Needs provides detailed descriptions of techniques, ample case studies, fascinating and easy to understand explanations of research, and rich stories of how social workers, psychologists, counselors, child and youth care workers, and other mental health professionals can help young people become more resilient.

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Change Your World (2019)

Dr. Ungar explores reals lives, across age and culture, and discovers that the answers lie in the people and the support systems around us. Supportive spouses, caring families, nurturing employers, and effective governments are very often the difference between individual success and failure. The good news is that it is easier to change your environment than it is to change yourself. Indeed, Dr. Ungar has solid evidence that we can influence the world around us in ways that will make us more resilient both at home and on the job.

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Change Your World (2019)

Dr. Ungar explores reals lives, across age and culture, and discovers that the answers lie in the people and the support systems around us. Supportive spouses, caring families, nurturing employers, and effective governments are very often the difference between individual success and failure. The good news is that it is easier to change your environment than it is to change yourself. Indeed, Dr. Ungar has solid evidence that we can influence the world around us in ways that will make us more resilient both at home and on the job.

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Nurturing Hidden Resilience in Troubled Youth (2004)

This is the first text in it’s field to examine resilience as a social construct; it offers a comprehensive theory of resilience and a model for the application of this theory to direct practice with high-risk youth in clinical, residential, and community settings.

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Nurturing Hidden Resilience in Troubled Youth (2004)

This is the first text in it’s field to examine resilience as a social construct; it offers a comprehensive theory of resilience and a model for the application of this theory to direct practice with high-risk youth in clinical, residential, and community settings.

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Handbook for Working with Children and Youth (2005)

This text examines lives lived well despite adversity. Calling upon some of the most progressive thinkers in the field, it presents a ground breaking collection of original writing on the theories, methods of study, and interventions that promote resilience.

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Handbook for Working with Children and Youth (2005)

This text examines lives lived well despite adversity. Calling upon some of the most progressive thinkers in the field, it presents a ground breaking collection of original writing on the theories, methods of study, and interventions that promote resilience.

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Strengths-Based Counseling with at Risk Youth (2006)

Author and social worker Michael Ungar takes a fresh, hopeful approach to challenging youth by looking beyond the surface of “bad” behaviours to understand them as a way at-risk youth cope with life’s adversities.

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Strengths-Based Counseling with at Risk Youth (2006)

Author and social worker Michael Ungar takes a fresh, hopeful approach to challenging youth by looking beyond the surface of “bad” behaviours to understand them as a way at-risk youth cope with life’s adversities.

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Playing at Being Bad (2007)

Our most troubled youth are far more resilient and healthy than we care to admit. If we take the time to listen to our children, we hear an entirely different story about their lives than the one we adults tell. Unlike many other books about difficult kids that reflect the wisdom of adults, this one explores the truth of adolescence.

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Playing at Being Bad (2007)

Our most troubled youth are far more resilient and healthy than we care to admit. If we take the time to listen to our children, we hear an entirely different story about their lives than the one we adults tell. Unlike many other books about difficult kids that reflect the wisdom of adults, this one explores the truth of adolescence.

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Too Safe for Their Own Good (2007)

If we think back to when we were young, didn’t risks and responsibilities help prepare us for the challenges we would face later in life? In this book, Dr. Ungar shares what he has learned from families who have found ways to provide their children with the right amount of risk and responsibility.

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Too Safe for Their Own Good (2007)

If we think back to when we were young, didn’t risks and responsibilities help prepare us for the challenges we would face later in life? In this book, Dr. Ungar shares what he has learned from families who have found ways to provide their children with the right amount of risk and responsibility.

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Resilience In Action (2008)

Mental health specialists and researchers contend that the development of resilience in youth is facilitated at several different levels; relational, cultural, individual and governmental. This book looks at youth interventions with a view to fostering resilience in those living in adverse situations and conditions.

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Resilience In Action (2008)

Mental health specialists and researchers contend that the development of resilience in youth is facilitated at several different levels; relational, cultural, individual and governmental. This book looks at youth interventions with a view to fostering resilience in those living in adverse situations and conditions.

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We Generation (2009)

Through inspiring stories taken from Dr. Ungar’s clinical work with children, youth, and families, and research gathered from around the world he shows how the close connections kids crave and the support that adults provide can help kids realize their full potential.

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We Generation (2009)

Through inspiring stories taken from Dr. Ungar’s clinical work with children, youth, and families, and research gathered from around the world he shows how the close connections kids crave and the support that adults provide can help kids realize their full potential.

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Researching Resilience (2009)

While categorization has always been prevalent in the social sciences, recent trends have tended to label various behaviours as disorders. Researching Resilience challenges this tendency to pathologize, and marks a profound shift in research methods from the study of disorder to the study of well-being.

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Researching Resilience (2009)

While categorization has always been prevalent in the social sciences, recent trends have tended to label various behaviours as disorders. Researching Resilience challenges this tendency to pathologize, and marks a profound shift in research methods from the study of disorder to the study of well-being.

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Counseling in Challenging Contexts (2011)

In this text, Michael Ungar introduces a new social ecological model designed to integrate the best of what we know about individual and family counseling and case management with practical applications of strengths-based interventions in clinical, community and institutional settings.

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Counseling in Challenging Contexts (2011)

In this text, Michael Ungar introduces a new social ecological model designed to integrate the best of what we know about individual and family counseling and case management with practical applications of strengths-based interventions in clinical, community and institutional settings.

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The Social Worker (2011)

Joey is not your typical social worker. He burns down houses to solve bureaucratic deadlocks, steals to get his clients bigger welfare cheques, and lies if it stops intrusion in young client’s lives. Joey’s plan for revenge against the system that failed him may have worked, except buried in old agency files are untold family secrets. Joey remembers all too well what it felt like to be a client. In and out of foster homes, his father dead, his mother an abusive emotional wreck, Joey put his talents as a juvenile delinquent to good use in secure custody.

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The Social Worker (2011)

Joey is not your typical social worker. He burns down houses to solve bureaucratic deadlocks, steals to get his clients bigger welfare cheques, and lies if it stops intrusion in young client’s lives. Joey’s plan for revenge against the system that failed him may have worked, except buried in old agency files are untold family secrets. Joey remembers all too well what it felt like to be a client. In and out of foster homes, his father dead, his mother an abusive emotional wreck, Joey put his talents as a juvenile delinquent to good use in secure custody.

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The Social Ecology of Resilience (2012)

This book provides evidence for the ecological understanding of resilience across cultures and contexts by showing an ecological interpretation that acknowledges the importance of people’s interactions with their environments and how these environments make resilience more likely to occur.

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The Social Ecology of Resilience (2012)

This book provides evidence for the ecological understanding of resilience across cultures and contexts by showing an ecological interpretation that acknowledges the importance of people’s interactions with their environments and how these environments make resilience more likely to occur.

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Youth Resilience and Culture (2015)

Until researchers and theorists account for the complex relationship between resilience and culture, explanations of why some individuals prevail in the face of adversity will remain incomplete. This edited volume addresses this crucial issue by bringing together emerging discussions of the ways in which culture shapes resilience, the theory that informs these various studies, and important considerations for researchers as they continue to investigate resilience.

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Youth Resilience and Culture (2015)

Until researchers and theorists account for the complex relationship between resilience and culture, explanations of why some individuals prevail in the face of adversity will remain incomplete. This edited volume addresses this crucial issue by bringing together emerging discussions of the ways in which culture shapes resilience, the theory that informs these various studies, and important considerations for researchers as they continue to investigate resilience.

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Working with Children and Youth with Complex Needs (2015)

Working with Children and Youth with Complex Needs provides a detailed description of techniques and rich stories of how social workers, psychologists, counselors, and child and youth care workers can help young people become more resilient. Building on lessons learned from working in clinical, community and residential settings, Dr. Ungar discusses 20 skills that can enhance the effectiveness of frontline mental health services.

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Working with Children and Youth with Complex Needs (2015)

Working with Children and Youth with Complex Needs provides a detailed description of techniques and rich stories of how social workers, psychologists, counselors, and child and youth care workers can help young people become more resilient. Building on lessons learned from working in clinical, community and residential settings, Dr. Ungar discusses 20 skills that can enhance the effectiveness of frontline mental health services.

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I Still Love You (2015)

This book for parents of children with serious emotional, psychological and behavioural challenges offers nine practical and effective strategies that parents can use to make children change troubling behaviours and become more resilient. Told as the story of three families that meet together weekly with Dr. Ungar at his office, each family’s struggles and successes are proof that with a little guidance and the power of unconditional love, any child can be helped to heal and reconnect.

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I Still Love You (2015)

This book for parents of children with serious emotional, psychological and behavioural challenges offers nine practical and effective strategies that parents can use to make children change troubling behaviours and become more resilient. Told as the story of three families that meet together weekly with Dr. Ungar at his office, each family’s struggles and successes are proof that with a little guidance and the power of unconditional love, any child can be helped to heal and reconnect.

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What Works Manual (2018)

What Works is an easy-to-use guide that is ideal for anyone working with children and families in social service or humanitarian settings, as well as community facilitators, counselors, and policy makers. It includes plenty of case examples of programs in both low-and-middle-income countries (where financial and human resources are scarce) and high-income countries (where resources are easier to find but problems can still be very complex).

While the manual is about programs designed for young people and their families, its 7-step model of program design will be just as useful in any setting where improving resilience is the goal.

Free Copy Here
What Works Manual by Michael Ungar
What Works Manual by Michael Ungar

What Works Manual (2018)

What Works is an easy-to-use guide that is ideal for anyone working with children and families in social service or humanitarian settings, as well as community facilitators, counselors, and policy makers. It includes plenty of case examples of programs in both low-and-middle-income countries (where financial and human resources are scarce) and high-income countries (where resources are easier to find but problems can still be very complex).

While the manual is about programs designed for young people and their families, its 7-step model of program design will be just as useful in any setting where improving resilience is the goal.

Free Copy Here