RESILIENCE IN THE ADF
Fundamental to being employed within the Australian Defence Force (ADF) is the requirement to perform effectively in adverse, potentially dangerous and high risk situations. The Australian Department of Defence (ADF) is currently confronted with members returning from deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan, who have been exposed to situations that may result in the development of mental health problems. In an attempt to mitigate the development of such problems in ADF personnel, a significant amount of research and development is occurring in the field of psychological resilience.
|
Psychological Resilience & Adventure Training – Day or multi-day activities are designed to introduce members to an enjoyable but unfamiliar environment. Placing the team in stressful and adverse like situation while rotating through various positions on board will see them use a range of adaptive coping strategies to deal with ever changing situations and conditions.
|
|
To complement the BattleSMART program we look at the four key response areas (i.e. physical, thoughts, emotions and behaviours) that may indicate and promote poor or optimal performance in a stressful situation. Our program teaches personnel to test whether their initial response to a situation is the optimal response, we assist the individual and team in identifying a series of ways to change or adjust the response if required to build confidence and resilience.
Admin & Safety– To assist a unit planning an activity we have a number of tools to share.
Admin & Safety– To assist a unit planning an activity we have a number of tools to share.
- Exercise Instruction
- Sailing Risk Tolerance Summary
- Offshore Sailing RAS
- ADFSA Sport Safety Management Plan
ADVENTURE TRAINING
Adventure Training (AT) is an approach to training that seeks to prepare the member for battle by developing in them the qualities they will need to survive and succeed on the battlefield. As the name suggests, it uses adventure as the medium for this development.
AT is primarily designed to produce psychological change rather than to impart technical skills, and to this extent the discipline itself is largely irrelevant. Far more important is ensuring that lessons learned during the adventurous experience are transferred to the workplace. Correctly designed, AT fulfils the following two roles:
AT is primarily designed to produce psychological change rather than to impart technical skills, and to this extent the discipline itself is largely irrelevant. Far more important is ensuring that lessons learned during the adventurous experience are transferred to the workplace. Correctly designed, AT fulfils the following two roles:
- an adventurous activity
- a mechanism to transfer the adventurous experience to the workplace or
battlefield context.
|
Risk - AT requires participants to experience and overcome their fear of injury and/or death. Without risk, activities lose their value and interest. The higher the skill level of participants, the greater the need to increase the level of difficulty and therefore (usually) the level of associated real risk. There must never be unjustified risk in any activity. Risk is managed through standard Army processes in the form of military risk management (MRM).
|
|
Stimulating - AT stimulates participants, and the resultant satisfaction of personal growth and experience can increase motivation and retention.