A Remedy for Battered Hearts

How do you represent resilience? Is it Rosie the Riveter, her bicep flexed? Is it a diamond, one of the hardest substances on Earth? Or does resilience resemble hope, which Emily Dickinson described as “the thing with feathers”?

Laura Miller-Graff ’08 takes her inspiration from a butterfly. Its wings form the initial letter in the name of her BRAVE Research Lab — the acronym stands for Building Resilience After Violence Exposure. “You can measure resilience in a lot of ways that sound scientific and dry,” the Notre Dame assistant professor of psychology and peace studies says. “But when you see resilience in action in people, it is amazing to observe. We in the lab wanted our logo to be a representation of that. For us, the butterfly is a hopeful symbol — one that represents a positive future for women and children who are resilient in the face of very significant challenges.”

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