What Is Resilience and How Can You Build It After Trauma? With Dr. Carol Chu-Peralta

In this episode of The Hanley Effect, hosts Dr. John Dyben and Dr. Rachel Docekal sit down with clinical psychologist Dr. Carol Chu‑Peralta, PhD., Founder & Clinical Director of the Center for Resiliency, to unpack the science and practice of bouncing back after trauma.What We DiscussResilience, defined: Not a personality trait, but a capacity to respond effectively to stress, and it can be developed.How to build it (especially in kids): Allow “life experiments” (small, everyday challenges) so children practice recovering and problem‑solving.Post‑traumatic growth: The shift from feeling stuck in symptoms to reclaiming agency and integrating new resources.Intergenerational transmission of trauma: How unaddressed trauma responses can pass behaviorally and biologically across generations, and how to interrupt the cycle.Trauma is subjective: Two people can face the same event and have different outcomes; it’s about whether the stressor exceeds one’s current capacity.A helpful analogy (STAIR‑NST): Two houses on the same shoreline, one on stilts, one on bricks, weather the same storm differently; foundations = internal resources.Dr. Carol also shares her own path, from early trauma work to launching a group practice during the pandemic when requests for care surged. Her message to anyone who’s curious but hesitant: you don’t need a label to ask for help, and you don’t have to be in crisis to start.About Our GuestDr. Carol Chu‑Peralta is a Clinical Psychologist and Founder of the Center for Resiliency, specializing in trauma, parenting, anxiety, depression, and neuro/psychological evaluation. Trained at NYU and Bellevue Hospital, she helps individuals and families break generational patterns and build durable emotional resilience.Resources & ContactCenter for Resiliency: centerforresiliency.comHanley Foundation: hanleyfoundation.org | 844‑502‑4673