Skip to content
Home » ResilienceCon

ResilienceCon

Come join us in Nashville, TN!
ResilienceCon 2024 will be held in person,
April 14-16

Followed by a Resilience Portfolio Consortium meeting on
April 17 (9-2pm Central)



Questions? Email us at lifepaths@lifepathsresearch.org



ResilienceCon Poster Awards

In 2024, poster awards will return!


ResilienceCon Promising Scholar & Advocate Scholarships

We are offering 8 scholarships this year (4 Promising Scholar and 4 Promising Advocate). Click the link below for more information.

Full scholarships include conference registration and a $200 housing allowance for people who travel to Nashville from outside the area. We will pay full scholarship winners a $200 housing reimbursement after a submission of receipt from a hotel, AirBNB, or other forms of housing is received.


ResilienceCon™ is a new approach to conferences that offers a variety of traditional and innovative formats.
ResilienceCon is an international conference that offers opportunities to interact with colleagues who are interested in strengths-based approaches to understanding, preventing, and responding to violence and other adversities.


ResilienceCon™ focuses on strengths-based approaches for research, prevention, and intervention on violence and other adversities.
All ResilienceCon sessions are interview-based.
Every session makes time for moderated interviews of the presenters, followed by an audience Q&A.
The format makes space for:

  • Great conversations
  • Where participants hear about lessons learned, professional stories
  • What it really takes to successfully implement a project or intervention.

ResilienceCon is targeted to Social Workers, Psychologists, Mental Health Professionals, students, and related fields such as education, sociology, criminology, women & gender studies, and public health.  The program offers content at Beginning, Intermediate, and Advanced Levels.

  1. Describe strengths-based approaches for overcoming adversity.
  2. Identify evidence-based protective factors contributing to resilience.
  3. Describe program considerations for different settings, such as schools, communities, and clinics.
  4. Compare pros and cons of different models & programs for resilience.
  5. Explain the ways that resilience and social justice priorities overlap.

Read what others are saying about ResilienceCon:

“ResilienceCon was the best conference I ever attended, exactly what the academy needs at this time!  In essence, ResilienceCon not only inspired me, but became a place that has set me on a new research trajectory, a trajectory that is based in CBPR and action, in strengths-based work. Thank you so much for all your work in this wonderful initiative. I am excited to participate in future conferences, and will continue to spread the word!”

Caitlin Elsaesser, MAT, LICSW, PhD, Assistant Professor, University of Connecticut

“ResilienceCon is the best conference ever!!! It has awesome topics, great atmosphere, amazing discussions, excellent research, fabulous connections and opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration, inspirational stories, and accomplished speakers from different fields, states, and countries. What else? Of course – resilience in practice!!! Supportive, caring, kind, and generous people all around you! It’s the first time at a conference where I felt so inspired, cried, and let myself be fully me- unapologetically authentic, where your life pathway emerged clear and purposeful as you watch in awe your amazing transformation!!! Talking about life-work balance; it all became clear and integrated. I left humbled, thankful, inspired, fully charged, full of ideas, and with many more connections to amazing people doing fantastic things to improve our world. I’m attending again for sure! Come join us!”

Susana Mariscal, PhD, Associate Professor, Indiana University School of Social Work

“ResCon is a special space and I felt really fortunate to be around other researchers and clinicians doing important community-based and justice-focused work.”

Devin English, PhD, Assistant Professor, Hunter College

“The day after ResilienceCon I’m still processing the thoughts triggered by the total experience. Memories of amazing people and ideas are swimming in the sea of my awareness and competing for my attention with the mundane callings to which I have returned.

I am home though, with a greater appreciation for my privilege, not as white, elderly male, but as a person lucky enough to have been branded early in life with a searing desire to help people. One of the perks of that inclination is spending time with others who are so dedicated to relieving the suffering of others. Every person I encountered at the conference showed their compassion tattoos proudly. We were one, not because of our similarities but because we didn’t allow our differences to make any difference. I’m reminded of the proverb, ‘As sword sharpens sword, so one [person] sharpens another.’

I’m especially grateful for the work quality of many of the presenters who were more devoted to empirical research then me. The brevity and conciseness of their presentations seduced the data-friendly part of my brain while being merciful to my short attention span for this type of information.

Most importantly to me, a safe space was created for making meaningful connections with others. I took a deep dive into the mental landscapes and heart languages of some individuals, and I was able to see how they arrived at unique understandings that I would have rejected out of hand in the past.”

Tom Bissonnette, MSW, Executive Director, Young & Wiser, Chattanooga, TN.

The National Resource Center on Domestic Violence called ‘connectedness’ “the golden thread that ran through all of the presentations and discussions at ResilienceCon,” and we can’t wait to continue that theme into 2024!


We are seeking conference proposals on all aspects of resilience, strengths, well-being, and adversity in individuals, families, and communities. See the Call for Submissions for detailed topics.

— Sherry Hamby, Nicole Yuan, and Susan Yoon, Co-Chairs of ResilienceCon.