Stress, Coping, and Resilience | Harvard University

Everyone experiences stress, but stress does not affect everyone the same way. This course explores how stress affects individuals and the process by which individuals cope with stress. The goal of this course is to give an in-depth understanding of the theoretical and empirical work on stress (negative life events, psychological and physiological stress), coping, and resilience. The course is taught from the perspective of clinical psychology and positive psychology and covers factors like social support, self-efficacy, optimism, and gratitude. Major focus is given to the study of resilience to stress and related topics (depression, anxiety, self-injury) through the lens of positive psychology. The course includes assignments that allow students to experience first-hand how positive psychological interventions work.