Prospectus: Round One

The first chapter of my dissertation has proven to be a challenge, but a fun challenge. I am so excited about what I am doing. I am not totally certain where my study will take me, but that is part of my enthusiasm. Taking a qualitative approach, I am hoping to be surprised. Yet, I am confident that when I am finished I will have a better understanding of coping, support, and resilience.

Choosing to study the process of resilience in military families also makes me feel very proud of what I am doing. I hope that at the end of my process I will be able to share information with practitioners so they can better help military families with members at war. These men and women are faced with many challenges, so knowing how to better support them will be a big first step.

Resilience is a very tricky construct, and I am learning that understanding family resilience will not likely mean understanding an outcome. More likely I will be able to better understand the process, as in how people are managing the risks, challenges, demands, and feelings they are experiencing. I'm sure as I navigate the dissertation process I will find that most of what I am interested in will be more complicated and challenging than I first assumed. And I'm looking forward to it!!