What is
Resilience First Aid?
Building the capacity to manage pressure, adversity, and stress — before it becomes a mental health concern.
Most workplace wellbeing programs respond to problems that already exist. They are designed to support people who are already struggling — already anxious, already burnt out, already showing signs that something has gone wrong.
Resilience First Aid (RFA) takes a different approach.
Rather than waiting for the problem to surface, RFA builds the psychological capacity that makes people more able to manage pressure, navigate adversity, and maintain their wellbeing under stress — before those experiences develop into clinical mental health concerns.
It is upstream work. And in the context of functional suffering — where people are quietly carrying a cost that no system is currently equipped to see — it is some of the most important work an organisation can do.
DEFINITION OF RESILIENCE
Resilience is defined as Advancing Despite Adversity.
Advancing - True resilience is goal-oriented — it's not about returning to how things were, but about continuing to move toward something meaningful despite adversity. That requires clarity of purpose, because without a goal there is nothing to advance toward.
Despite - This word is deliberate. It signals that adversity is not a prerequisite for resilience. A truly resilient person does not wait for hardship to force growth — they build the capacity to advance toward their goals regardless of what circumstances arise. This is why resilience is most powerful when developed proactively, before a crisis arrives, as a foundational skill for living rather than a reaction to difficulty.
Adversity - This is not only the major life-altering events — it includes the small, everyday challenges that accumulate over time. Heavy traffic, difficult colleagues, frustrating processes, personal setbacks. These minor irritants may seem insignificant individually, but they quietly drain energy and focus, often producing emotional reactions disproportionate to the original cause. In organisations, this shows up when people become so fixated on small annoyances — imperfect systems, compliance requirements, process friction — that they lose sight of what actually matters. Building resilience means developing the capacity to navigate both the large and the small without being derailed by either.
Table of Contents
COMMON QUESTIONS
Questions Asked about the Resilience Suite
What is the difference between Resilience First Aid and the other resilience programs?
Resilience First Aid is the flagship accredited program — comprehensive, evidence-based, and designed to equip participants to both build their own resilience and support others. The other programs serve different contexts and time commitments. RFAST is a concise introduction suitable for awareness sessions. PRE is a one-day foundational program. HART is specifically designed for high-adversity environments. Resilience Coaching is one-to-one. The right program depends on where you are, what you need, and how much time you have available.
Do I need to have experienced trauma or burnout to benefit from resilience training?
No — and in fact the opposite is true. Resilience training is most effective when undertaken proactively, before a major crisis arrives. You do not need to be struggling to benefit. Building resilience capacity now means you have more to draw on when adversity does arrive — which it will, in some form, for everyone.
Is resilience training suitable for the whole organisation or just leaders?
Both. Resilience is relevant at every level of an organisation — from frontline staff to senior leadership. The programs can be tailored to specific audiences and contexts. Leaders benefit from understanding both their own resilience profile and how to build resilience in their teams.
How is this different from a standard wellbeing program?
Most wellbeing programs focus on symptom management — stress reduction, mindfulness, work-life balance. Resilience training goes deeper. It builds the psychological capacity to advance toward goals despite adversity, addresses the six domains of resilience systematically, and gives participants a measurable, evidence-based framework rather than a collection of tips and techniques.
What is the PR6 and do I need the assessment before training?
The PR6 is the evidence-based resilience measurement framework that underpins the training programs. The assessment measures resilience across six domains — Vision, Composure, Reasoning, Tenacity, Collaboration, and Health — and provides a data-informed starting point for individual or team development. The assessment is included in all the resilience programs, except RFAST, and adds significant value when used alongside it.
Can resilience training be delivered online?
Yes. All training is available face to face or online. A blended learning option is also available for RFA and HART — combining self-paced online learning with instructor-led sessions.
How long does resilience training last?
It depends on the program. RFAST is 2.5 hours. PRE is one day. RFA and HART are two days each. Resilience Coaching is ongoing and structured around individual need. All programs are available in formats that suit different organisational contexts and schedules.
Is this training accredited?
Yes. Resilience First Aid, PRE, RFAST, and HART are all delivered through the Hello Driven accredited framework. RFA and HART are accredited by Suicide Prevention Australia. Tammie is a Certified Resilient Workplace Partner and Certified Resilience Coach — among the highest levels of accreditation available in resilience practice in Australia.
What is Resilience First Aid?
Resilience First Aid is an accredited, evidence-based training program developed by Hello Driven,
grounded in the PR6 model of resilience — one of the most comprehensive and rigorously researched resilience frameworks available. It is one part of a broader suite of resilience training and assessment available through Tammie Horton as a certified Resilient Workplace Partner.
The program equips participants to:
- Understand what resilience actually is — and what it isn't
- Recognise the early signs that resilience is being depleted — in themselves and in others
- Apply practical, evidence-based strategies to build and maintain resilience across six key domains
- Support colleagues who may be experiencing the early stages of stress, burnout, or functional suffering
- Create the conditions in teams and organisations where resilience can genuinely develop
RFA does not promise to make people immune to difficulty. It builds the genuine capacity to move through difficulty — and to recover more effectively when the inevitable pressures of work and life arrive.
The PR6 Model — What Resilience Actually Means
The PR6 model underpins Resilience First Aid and measures resilience across six domains:
VISION
Vision
COMPOSURE
Composure
REASONING
Reasoning
HEALTH
Health
TENACITY
Tenacity
COLLABORATION
Collaboration
Together these six domains form a picture of whole-person resilience — not just the ability to bounce back, but the capacity to adapt, grow, and function sustainably under pressure.
This is what distinguishes RFA from surface-level resilience programs that focus on positive thinking or stress management techniques. The PR6 model addresses resilience at the level where it actually lives.
The ALL Protocol — A Framework for Supportive Conversations
One of the most practical elements of Resilience First Aid is the ALL Protocol — a structured conversational framework that equips participants to have proactive, supportive conversations about mental health and resilience without requiring clinical training.
ALL stands for:
- Appreciate — recognise where the person is emotionally. Are they operating from a reactive, emotional state or a calmer, more reflective one? This guides how you approach the conversation.
- Listen — engage in active, empathetic listening that helps the person feel genuinely heard. This co-regulatory process reduces emotional activation and creates the conditions for honest conversation.
- Lift — once the person has stabilised emotionally, shift toward curiosity, strength, and constructive possibility. This is not toxic positivity — it is a deliberate, evidence-based move toward empowerment.
The ALL Protocol gives people in your organisation a clear, practical structure for the kinds of early conversations that most people currently avoid — not because they don't care, but because they don't know what to say. It surfaces information about workload, role clarity, change impacts, and interpersonal dynamics in a way that is supportive rather than clinical, and useful rather than invasive.
Who is Resilience First Aid for?
Resilience First Aid training is designed for anyone who wants to build genuine psychological capacity — and for organisations that understand resilience is a skill to be developed, not a trait to be assumed. It is particularly valuable for:
- People who are experiencing the early signs of stress or strain and want practical tools to manage it before it compounds.
- Managers and leaders who want to better support their teams — and who need to be able to recognise when a team member's resilience is being depleted.
- Organisations with a legislated obligation to manage psychosocial hazards — including workload, lack of support, and the conditions that create functional suffering.
- HR and wellbeing professionals who want an evidence-based framework to underpin their organisation's approach to psychological safety and mental health.
- And critically — people who appear to be functioning well but are quietly carrying a cost. RFA provides both the language and the tools to address that cost before it reaches crisis point.
Want to know more before you reach out?
a full overview of what participants can expect.
Program Formats
Resilience First Aid is just one program in the Resilience Suite. Programs are available in the following formats:
Resilience First Aid (RFA 2 day)
RFA Blended Learning
Personal Resilience Essentials (PRE)
Resilience First Aid Starter (RFAST)
High Adversity Resilience (HART)
All programs can be delivered face to face or online.
How RFA and MHFA Work Together
Resilience First Aid and Mental Health First Aid are complementary programs — and organisations get the most value from both.RFA is the upstream program. It builds capacity and reduces the likelihood of mental health concerns developing. It equips people to recognise early depletion — in themselves and others — and to take action before the cost compounds.
MHFA is the response program. It equips people to recognise and respond to mental health challenges that have already emerged — providing the skills to approach a colleague who is struggling and connect them to appropriate support.
Together they create an organisational culture where psychological safety is not just an aspiration — it is a practiced, supported reality.
Read the full article - What is Mental Health First Aid?
The Legal Context
Under the 2023 Work Health and Safety regulations, Australian organisations are legally required to identify and manage psychosocial hazards in the workplace. This includes workload, lack of role clarity, low job control, and poor support — the very conditions that create and sustain functional suffering.
Resilience First Aid training is a practical, evidence-based response to that obligation. It equips your people to build the psychological capacity that reduces the impact of psychosocial hazards — and demonstrates to regulators that your organisation is taking its duty of care seriously.
Interested in bringing Resilience First Aid to your organisation?
Tammie Horton is an accredited Hello Driven partner delivering RFA, PRE, RFAST, and HART programs for organisations across Australia — face to face and online.