Building Resilient Kids

Help our children become happy, healthy and confident young adults, from The Resilience Shield co-author and leading resilience expert Tim Curtis.

Life is hard – and our kids know it. They’re fast learners and highly attuned to life’s challenges. By around eight years of age, most children have developed their own habitual way of reacting to stress. So how do we help today’s children be more resilient?

Tim Curtis is a leading international resilience expert, co-author of the bestseller The Resilience Shield, former Special Forces officer, crisis management executive and father of three. Through decades of resilience-based work and rigorous, peer-reviewed research into the Resilience Shield model, he understands the strategies required to inoculate our kids against stress, anxiety and depression.

In Building Resilient Kids, Tim presents the latest thinking from leading childhood professionals, groundbreaking resilience research and the wisdom of lived experience. This book will arm you with the knowledge and techniques to help your kids grow into kind and happy young adults, capable of confidently confronting adversity while being highly functional, contributing members of society.

Praise for Building Resilient Kids

‘Tim Curtis is a man who really knows about resilience and in Building Resilient Kids he dives deeply into the subject using research, true stories together with insights gained from his life in the armed forces. For parents, educators and community members, this is an excellent guide to help all kids thrive despite moments of adversity and challenge.’ MAGGIE DENT, bestselling parenting author

‘A precious rarity – an educative handbook and an utterly absorbing read. Curtis’s book is a must have for parents, educators and young people. Crafted as the ultimate guide on resilience building for young people, it is also the most precious of things, a love letter to his own children.’
DR SARAH JEFFERSON, PhD educator and education expert

‘A brilliantly written, evidence-backed tome by one of Australia’s experts in resilience. This time extending his work towards youth, Tim Curtis uses humour and storytelling to translate high level scientific concepts into practical methodology with easy-to-implement strategies targeting each age group. This book is groundbreaking; and has never been needed more than it does today.‘
DR KATE BEACHER, clinical psychologist

Author Biography

Tim Curtis grew up in a military family, navigating a transient childhood that taught him adaptability through frequent moves and new schools. Despite the trials of bullying, heartbreak, and the occasional teenage brawl, he earned a military scholarship and served in the elite Special Air Service Regiment (SAS). Tim then led teams in the world’s most challenging environments. He gained firsthand insights into the stabilising power of families and connected communities – which shaped his work on building resilient kids. Co-author of the bestselling The Resilience Shield and co-host of The Unforgiving60 podcast, Tim considers his greatest achievement to be his three kind, well-adjusted kids – crediting much of this to his wife.