RISE

Overview

Resilience Improvement through Skill Enhancement (RISE) is an initiative designed to co-develop a universal resilience-building curriculum in collaboration with adolescents, young people, experts, academicians, developmental psychologists/psychiatrists, and other key stakeholders. The intervention is peer-facilitated, contextually informed, culturally sensitive, and adaptable to diverse settings.

In the long term, RISE seeks to bridge gaps in preventive mental health research and care by gathering critical insights on youth-related challenges and collaboratively creating accessible, evidence-based tools that empower adolescents and young adults to cope more effectively and thrive.

Rationale 

In recent decades, mental health research has been shifting from a focus on risk and psychopathology toward promotion and prevention through strength-based approaches. This includes leveraging positive psychological traits and building individual competencies. At the heart of this shift is the concept of resilience — the ability to effectively negotiate, adapt to, or manage significant stress or trauma.

Resilience is nurtured through assets and resources within individuals, their relationships, and their environments, enabling them to adapt and bounce back in the face of adversity. Equipping young people with these skills during adolescence—a critical developmental stage—can foster lasting psychological immunity and lay the foundation for lifelong mental well-being.