Practicing gratitude (e.g., writing down 5 things you're grateful for) has been shown to increase positive emotions and resilience.  This practice can help people with stress and trauma to reframe their experiences, and can also help with sleep, optimism, and general happiness (among other things).

Grand Valley State University

Resilient people are those who "bounce back" quickly after negative or stressful events.  Positive emotions promote resiliency by returning the body to equilibrium after stressful situations; more resilient people tend to experience more positive emotions.  Interventions for resilience ought to emphasize self-efficacy and competence, as well as altering one's explanatory style and cultivating character strengths.

Resilience

Kobau, R., Seligman, M., Peterson, C., Diener, E., Zack, M. M., Chapman, D., & Thompson, W. (2011, August). Mental Health Promotion in Public Health: Perspectives and Strategies From Positive Psychology. American Journal of Public Health, 101(8), 1-9.

Mental Health Promotion in Public Health: Perspectives and Strategies
From Positive Psychology

Explanatory style refers to the way an individual habitually makes sense of life events. Fortunately, these attributional habits can be changed. People can be taught to interpret events in more positive ways through a process known as learned optimism. Interventions often focus on skills like recognizing and avoiding thinking traps, questioning negative beliefs, and relaxation. Training in healthier attribution habits has been proven to make people less vulnerable to depression. Examples of such interventions include the Penn Resiliency Program and the Comprehensive Soldier Fitness Program.

Explanatory Style and Learned Optimism Interventions

Character strengths are stable positive traits that are not bound to a specific culture.  Psychologists use the Values in Action Inventory of Strengths (VIA-IS) to classify these.

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