The Soutar Method

Explore the Soutar Method

 

This is the framework I use to help people build resilience in a way that actually works – not by trying harder, but by getting clearer.

You’ll find everything here: what the method covers, why it matters, and how you can start using it.

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The Soutar Method at a Glance

The Soutar Method is like a well-tended garden – rooted in what’s true, shaped with intention, and designed to thrive. It brings together five key skills, grounded in context and aimed at creating real, lasting resilience.

You don’t need to master everything at once. But it helps to see how the pieces connect – and to begin where you are.

Diagram of the Soutar Method, illustrated as a classical temple with five labelled pillars - Fill Your Well, Strategic Self-Care, Old Scripts, Communication, and Boundaries - resting on foundations of Structural Inequalities, Personal Circumstances, and Values, and supporting the upper levels of Decision-Making and Problem-Solving.

Want to know how the method came about? Read the story here →

Foundations
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A lawn path between flower borders planted with roses, foxgloves, yew bushes, leading to an arch in the wall with roses growing over it that leads to the next part of the garden
Foundations

The Context We Start From

Resilience doesn’t happen in a vacuum.  We all carry different loads, and the Soutar Method starts by naming and understanding them.

Structural Inequalities

The bigger forces that shape our lives – like class, sex, race, and access to support.  These aren’t excuses; they’re real constraints, and ignoring them distorts the picture.

Personal Circumstances

Health, caregiving, income, past trauma – the day-to-day realities you’re navigating.  You don’t have to push these aside to make progress.  You work with them, not around them.

Values

The things that matter the most to you.  When your actions align with your values, things get lighter.  When they don’t, everything feels harder than it should.

The 5 Pillars of the Soutar Method
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Pillars of the Soutar resilience framework – structured English garden path with lavender, salvia, and brick wall espalier symbolising steadiness, strength, and practical skills.
The 5 Pillars of the Soutar Method

The Core Skills of Resilience

These are the practices that make up real resilience.  They’re not quick fixes – they’re the tools that help life feel less like a constant firefight.

 

Pillar: Filling Your Well
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Fill Your Well – resilience pillar representing emotional replenishment and self-nourishment within the Soutar Method.
Pillar: Filling Your Well

Filling Your Well

The basics of keeping yourself resourced.  Sleep, rest, quiet time, connection.  Without this, everything else becomes harder to access.

Pillar: Strategic Self-Care
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Close-up of pink echinacea and purple lavender in structured garden planting, symbolising intentional, long-term self-care and resilience planning.
Pillar: Strategic Self-Care

Strategic Self-Care

Not bubble baths – but long-term self-responsibility.  Planning, structuring, and caring for your future self, not just reacting in the moment.

Pillar: Old Scripts
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Old Scripts pillar in the resilience framework – tangled garden reflecting inherited beliefs, shame, and self-talk patterns
Pillar: Old Scripts

Old Scripts

The stories you’ve absorbed about who you are, what’s allowed, and what will happen if you go against the grain.  This is about noticing them – and then choosing differently.

Pillar: Communication
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Pale pink foxglove flower with open bell-shaped blooms in a formal garden border, symbolising clarity, expression, and the layered structure of effective communication.
Pillar: Communication

Communication

Saying what you mean, kindly and clearly.  Listening without collapsing.  Asking without apologising.  Speaking up without breaking down.

Pillar: Boundaries
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Boundaries pillar of the resilience framework – maze-like garden representing clear limits and emotional protection.
Pillar: Boundaries

Boundaries

Knowing where your limits are – and holding them without explanation or guilt.  Not everything deserves access to your time, energy, or peace.

Outcomes
Outcomes of using the Soutar resilience framework – garden path opening into growth, clarity, and empowered decisions.
Outcomes

What Changes as a Result

When you put the skills into practice, you start making clearer choices – not just reacting to stress, but actually solving problems and shaping your life.

Problem-Solving

Being able to think clearly about your challenges, identify the root cause, and find solutions that create a win-win-win – for you, for others, and for the bigger picture.

Decision-Making

Choosing based on what matters – not just what feels urgent, or what pleases others.  Decisions that hold up under pressure.

Where to Start

Understanding the method is a strong beginning – but actually getting started can still feel confusing.

The Soutar Method is built to be worked through in order, starting with your foundations and building up from there. But if you’re feeling stuck, overwhelmed, or unsure what you need most, there are a few good ways to begin.

Choose the path that suits you best:

U

"I want quick help with what's tripping me up."

Take the quiz to find your most pressing blindspot and get some quick wins.

"I want to work through the whole method step-by-step"

Raise Your Resilience is my full course - it guides you through the Soutar Method in depth.

"I already know what I'm working on."

Whether it's boundaries, self-care, or unpicking old scripts, there's a focused toolkit that can help.

✨ Prefer to explore at your own pace?

You’ll find thoughtful, in-depth articles on each part of the method over in The Library – nothing hidden, no purchase required.