Because hope is better when it's backed by evidence

The Duke Research

My approach isn't just experience-based, it's been rigorously studied.

The resilience curriculum I developed has been validated in four studies, including two randomized controlled trials, with researchers from the Duke Clinical Research Institute, published in peer-reviewed journals, and proven to promote clinically significant improvement in:

  • Anxiety

  • Depression

  • Distress

  • PTSD

  • Self-Efficacy

The Early Adopters

Used by organizations that can't afford to use anything that doesn't work

My resilience-training programs have been used by Navy SEALs, the LAPD, the National Guard, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and more than 20 hospitals nationwide, including Duke Health and the NIH.

My programs have also been used in middle schools and high schools, including private, charter and public schools in under-resourced communities, and in after-school programs, including Project Blue, Boys & Girls Clubs, the USTA.

The Funders

Backed by funders who vet meticulously before writing a check

Institutions like these fund a small fraction of what they review, and only after rigorous scientific vetting:

The National Cancer Institute, the Navy SEAL Family Foundation, Pfizer, Genentech, Amgen, Livestrong, the Duke Cancer Institute, the Colorado Health Foundation, the Women's Cancer Research Fund, the Aspen Center for Integral Health, the Susan G. Komen Foundation, the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, and the Annenberg Foundation, as well as, private, public, and charter schools.

The people who've used my programs range from first responders and military families to cancer patients and healthcare providers, from family caregivers and those facing grief or end of life, to corporate executives and high-net-worth families, to divorcing parents and kids in under-resourced communities.

Different lives, different circumstances, the same underlying need: real tools for real resilience.

Featured In

What Love Is: The Duke/Pathfinders 50, a PBS documentary built around my first research study at Duke, still airs periodically.

Books

  • It Takes Two Minutes to Shift Your Mindset and Build Resilience

  • Resilience: Why Some People Have It, Others Don't, and 47 Skills to Get It

  • Resilient Family Capital: The 15 Strategies Every Family of Wealth Needs

The Resilience Model

Resilience is the ability to overcome challenges, bounce back from setbacks, disappointments and failures, and use hardship to become a stronger, happier version of yourself.

Everyone needs resilience.

Everyone can learn these skills.

© 2026 Kristin MacDermott Method, Inc.

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