Cultivating Student Resilience: Practical Strategies for Well-Being – Faculty Focus | Higher Ed Teaching & Learning

The introduction of self-regulation and stress-management strategies into higher education curricula has recently come into focus as a necessary component of promoting resilience and preventing future professional burnout (Hsu & Goldsmith, 2021; Egan et al., 2022; Zhang et al., 2025). In addition to enhancing academic performance, evidence-based regulation strategies could help mitigate the effects of the high-stakes, high-stress environment inherent in college and post-graduate education (Chongjin et al., 2025), and learned self-regulation skills may carry over into the professional environment after graduation (Emerson et al., 2023). Integrating short, reflective activities and simple self-regulation practices into established curricula may be an effective strategy for providing students with helpful and actionable means to foster self-awareness and well-being (Egan et al., 2021; Gilani, 2025). This article aims to discuss how stress management can be a tool for building resilience and promoting deep learning, outline several practical approaches that educators can use to weave self-care into existing curricula, and introduce several strategies to foster students’ self-exploration and awareness. 

Unmanaged and excessive stress impairs the cognitive flexibility needed for deep learning (Zhang et al., 2025).To mitigate these effects on students, resilience skills such as cognitive reframing and emotional regulation can be taught as effective techniques to support academic success (Egan et al., 2022).  

Many of the self-reflection skills that help increase stress tolerance are closely linked to those of metacognition, a fundamental component of self-regulated learning (SRL). In a systematic review of interventions to improve SRL, 74% of the analyzed interventions focused on metacognitive skills as a means of supporting self-regulation in students (Simón-Grábalos et al., 2025). SRL boosts confidence, enhances critical thinking, and improves student performance. SRL also helps learners develop essential career skills such as solving complex problems and effective time management (Gagnon et al, 2026).  

Teaching adult learners basic principles of brain function and neuroplasticity may help them reframe stress, regulate emotions, and improve self-efficacy and optimism for change (Tabibnia, 2024). Leveraging the brain’s ability to reorganize in response to practiced experiences can be framed for learners as a viable pathway to build resilience and manage stressors. This strategy reflects the concept of growth mindset-a belief that intelligence is both malleable and improvable (Ng, 2018). Thus, emphasizing and encouraging a growth mindset could be a powerful tool for helping learners navigate both academic and future professional challenges.  

Demanding schedules and packed curricula make it difficult for students and educators to prioritize stress management and wellness practices, despite recognizing their inherent value (Chongjin et al., 2025). Transitioning from a theoretical understanding of the importance of self-care to the practical application of building student resilience, requires stress management to be viewed and treated as a professional competence rather than an individual responsibility (Jian et al., 2025). Intentionally integrating self-care concepts and methods into existing course curricula and resources is a key to normalizing the prioritization of mental, emotional, and physical health for students. The following actionable methods for embedding self-care initiatives into existing class time are simple and effective.  

Syllabus Resourcing

Include a section on the front page of each course syllabus that acknowledges the demands of the course. Explicitly list campus mental health resources and encourage their use.  

Embracing Error

Making mistakes is an important component of learning. Changing the wording when addressing errors is a simple way to create an inclusive learning environment and build critical thinking skills (Chong et al., 2025) 

Be curious: “What makes you say that?” Encourages sharing and dialogue, allowing faculty to give feedback that focuses on critical thinking and processing skills, rather than the binary view of “right” and “wrong”.   

Normalizing Uncertainty

Ambiguity is a hallmark of many professions, and building tolerance for it is a critical skill. Letting students know that knowing how to find a reliable answer to a question or solution to a problem is often more valuable and important than knowing the answer immediately (Ng, 2018). Incorporating case-based learning with multiple plausible approaches is an effective way to model this principle for students (Hsu & Goldsmith, 2021). 

Model Vulnerability

Hearing faculty share their professional missteps or errors and how they were corrected or turned into learning moments is a powerful way to come alongside students and show that mistakes are not personal failings, and to model their effective use.  

Physical Grounding Techniques

Lead short, evidence-based physical grounding techniques to help students decrease tension and stress (Bently et al., 2023).   

Scan for Signals

Encourage students to take a moment prior to tests and quizzes to “scan” their emotional state and stress level help them become aware of and monitor their emotional and physical responses to stressful situations. Encourage them to use physical grounding techniques before, during, and after high-stakes testing.  

Write it Down

Promote short reflective journaling assignments, giving prompts to help students identify what study techniques work for them, what areas of their training cause the most stress (Gilani, 2025; Sage & Sele, 2015), and help by suggesting possible solutions or avenues of exploration, including seeking higher levels of care with professional counseling.  

Create Community

Provide short prompts for structured, time-limited peer conversations where students discuss both course topics and the emotional stressors of the week. (Chong et al, 2025; Gómez et al, 2024).

Cultivating resilience in students prepares them for lifelong learning and normalizes the practices of attending to personal wellness and maintaining mental health. By incorporating simple practices into classroom curricula and placing value on self-reflection, the role of making mistakes as part of a natural learning process, and showing students how stress can prevent deep learning, educators can provide life skills that could help prevent burnout in professional practice (Chong et al., 2025). 

Additional Resource from the Author

Lee Lipton’s Mindfulness in Education Toolkit

Call to Action for Readers: Choose one of the above ideas and put it into practice in your classes next week.  

Lee Lipton is a certified physician associate with extensive experience in urgent care, family medicine, and women’s health, and a clinical instructor for the University of the Pacific’s Physician Assistant program. As an international corporate health educator, she presents trainings on resilience, mindfulness, and preventive care. Her professional interests include health behavior change and the impact of mindfulness on disease outcomes and clinician burnout. Lipton holds a Master’s degree from UC Davis and is currently pursuing a doctorate at the University of the Pacific. A published author, her work appears in the Journal of the American Academy of Physician Assistants. 

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