Resilience isn’t pretending the storm didn’t hurt you. It’s deciding what you do next.

In Badder Than the Storm, former Anglican priest and frontline mental health professional David Giffen challenges the easy language we use about resilience.

Drawing from years of crisis work and firsthand experience of addiction, recovery, institutional failure, and rebuilding, David explores what actually happens when the plan collapses, trust disappears, and there is no clean way through.

This is not a talk about positive thinking.

It is about learning to face what is real, take responsibility for what is yours, and keep moving when there is no easy solution.

Audiences leave with:

• A more honest understanding of resilience under pressure

• Practical ways to respond when circumstances or systems break down

• A framework for leading others without denying difficulty

• A clearer distinction between endurance, avoidance, and genuine recovery

Badder Than the Storm is for organizations and communities looking for a more honest conversation about resilience—one grounded in reality, responsibility, and what it actually takes to keep going.