Abstract
Although a future focus is recognized as a contributing factor to resilience, the content of future
focus is seldom explored. Care-leavers in South Africa exit the statutory system and enter into
adulthood largely unsupported. Their futures are hampered by limited preparation for leaving care,
the absence of follow-up services and contextual factors such as high unemployment rates. Having a
well-developed future focus may contribute to better outcomes for care-leavers. Drawing on data
from a small qualitative study carried out in four child and youth care centres in a town in the
Eastern Cape of South Africa, this article argues that possible selves methods provide a useful
tool with which to unpack the content of future focus, and in doing so identify contributors to
resilience. Study findings reveal a reciprocal interaction between possible selves and resilience:
resilience enablers help to generate compelling possible selves, while possible
selves lead to activities that promote resilience.