When you sit in a room or on a video call with strangers and begin to openly discuss feelings of fear, rage, and despair, something strange happens. Walls collapse more quickly than you might anticipate. More than anything else, that could help to explain why a course that was quietly developed within The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has grown into something much larger than its founders probably had in mind. As part of the Church’s Self-Reliance Services program, the Relief Society’s emotional resilience videos are reaching parts of the world that no one could have imagined when the materials were first released.
The course, officially named “Finding Strength in the Lord: Emotional Resilience,” consists of ten chapters that address issues that mental health practitioners have long struggled with: stress, anxiety, depression, anger, and what the course refers to as “healthy thinking patterns.” It is a component of a larger curriculum for self-reliance that also covers career counseling and financial literacy. However, this module appears to have touched a nerve in a way that the others didn’t quite.
During the last weeks of 2020, Lori Harding, a welfare and self-reliance specialist in South Jordan, Utah, saw the program take off in her area. It’s important to keep in mind that most people were dealing with both real grief and pandemic fatigue at this time. An already tense emotional landscape had been made worse by natural disasters. “Recent major natural disasters coupled with the onset of the pandemic has really affected a number of individuals of all ages in my region,” Harding said. A faith-based organization starting an emotional resilience course at the exact moment when collective resilience was at its lowest point is almost quietly remarkable.
Kelly Scotts, a participant from Geneva, Switzerland, explained why learning in small groups sometimes succeeds while individual effort doesn’t. Scotts described the experience of sitting through challenging personal territory with others, even virtually, as “a unique bond and closeness.” The success of the program is not coincidental with that sense of belonging. It’s most likely at its core. Information about emotional regulation is not the only thing that people need. They require witnesses. They require a room—real or virtual—where another person nods.
A young adult from Holladay, Utah named Alyssa Free described the event in a way that is difficult to ignore. She claimed that the program helped her develop deliberate habits and learn healthy ways to deal with emotions. It’s interesting that she didn’t talk about a clinical or solitary spiritual experience. She talked about both working together, something that religious communities and self-help culture have traditionally found difficult to accomplish at the same time without one consuming the other.
The extent to which the videos have become popular outside of active church membership is still unknown. However, ten additional translations are reportedly underway, and the materials are currently accessible in English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Russian, and a number of other languages. That is a significant logistical endeavor. It implies institutional assurance that there is demand, as well as likely a few discussions with local leaders who mentioned that groups were filling up more quickly than expected.
The course places a strong emphasis on the theological notion that challenges are refinement rather than punishment. Sister Mitzi Semo, a member of the general advisory council of the Relief Society, related her own story of being alone and hopeless as a teenager before receiving help and regaining her faith. When told in a group context as opposed to printed in a pamphlet, this type of story has a different impact. When given in a secure setting, personal testimony accomplishes something that a carefully chosen video cannot.
Observing all of this, it seems that the program is succeeding in part because it doesn’t act as though the challenging aspects aren’t difficult. The manual itself acknowledges that virtual group dynamics, such as connection, belonging, and full engagement, are genuinely challenging. Facilitators are specifically trained to manage these dynamics. Participants may trust it because it acknowledges its flaws.
Church distribution centers and the Gospel Library app provide access to the manuals and videos. Local leaders, facilitators, and—most unpredictably—word-of-mouth will determine whether the reach keeps expanding. It appears that the final section is already fulfilling its purpose.⁖※
