Abstract

This article presents a case study that contributes to the field of research on resilience. It has the trajectory-based approaches as its starting point, aiming to obtain the description and the understanding of the processes of coping with adversities throughout life, identifying different coping trajectories, differentiating them according to the outcome of each one, and revealing resilience factors. Through phenomenological analysis, it was possible to raise nine adverse events faced by a person and six types of coping trajectories: resistance; minimal-impact resilience; emergent resilience; gradual recovery with turning point, with residual pain; mild-to-moderate persistent distress and delayed dysfunction with gradual improvement and turning point, with residual pain. The proposed design proved to be promising for understanding individual resilience as a complex, dynamic, and contextual process.

Keywords: Resilience; Coping; Adaptability; Psychological stress