Helping Children Overcome Adversity and Trauma

Focus on the Family with Jim Daly

Focus on the Family

Relationships, Kids & Family, Society & Culture, Parenting

4.7 • 4.5K Ratings

🗓️ 30 March 2026

⏱️ 28 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Approximately one in five children struggles with some form of mental illness. Dr. Nicole Wilke helps parents to create a safe, supportive space for their kids where they can develop resilience and heal from trauma. Growing up with over 70 foster siblings in her lifetime, Nicole has extensive experience with vulnerable kids. Using biblical principles and scientific research, she’ll offer practical advice for overcoming adversity to thrive in life.

Receive a copy of the books Overcoming: What Scripture and Science Say About Resilience and Caleb Koala’s Comeback Ride: A Journey to Overcoming -- plus an audio download of "Helping Children Overcome Adversity and Trauma" -- for your donation of any amount!

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Is your marriage struggling, communication breaking down, trust fading, conflict that never seems to resolve?
0:07.6	There's still hope.
0:09.2	Hope Restored marriage intensives by focus on the family, help couples step away from daily life,
0:15.0	and focus fully on rebuilding their relationship.
0:18.0	And right now, through the Marriage Investment Initiative,
0:22.1	Hope Restored is investing $1,000 toward marriage intensives. Visit hoperestored.com slash marriage dash investment.
0:31.6	We want them to have the ability to overcome difficult things because they will experience difficult
0:37.2	things.
0:37.7	It's something that we need to exercise.
0:40.4	So what we want to do is not protect them from every bit of stress, but instead cultivate
0:45.4	that ability to overcome.
0:47.5	That's Dr. Nicole Wilkie sharing about resilient children and her observation that many
0:53.4	children can overcome hardship, even trauma.
0:56.6	She'll offer hope today on Focus on the Family with Jim Daly and I'm John Fuller.
1:00.9	John, every child faces some sort of adversity.
1:04.2	You know, if you just stop and think of junior high, that's nothing but adversity, right?
1:08.7	I remember being punched in the chest because I was not, you know, filled out yet by an older, you know, junior. I think I was a freshman. He just picked down. And he just hit me in the chest and said to his friend, see, he's not filled out like us yet. I'm sitting there wheezing going, I later, he, that guy accepted Christ after high high school and I saw him a couple summers ago
1:29.3	he called and it was fun we forgave so the trauma was closed but I mean that's it that's just a little
1:36.9	maybe more humorous idea there but children you know they hit the wall for some reason I don't
1:43.6	look the right way I don't feel the right way. I don't feel the right way. I think that person is better than me. All those things begin happening like at junior high. I often quote the scripture. You've heard me say this many times, Psalm 3418, which says the Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves those crushed in spirit.
2:02.7	That was my mantra as a boy.
2:08.4	You know, growing up as an orphan, you had to find places to say, Lord, do you see me?
	...

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