What Is Post-Traumatic Growth?
"Suffering is universal: you attempt to subvert it so that it does not have a destructive, negative effect. You turn it around so that it becomes a creative, positive force.? Those are the words of Terry Waite who survived four years in solitary confinement, chained, beaten and subject to mock execution.
Interest in how trauma can be a catalyst for positive changes began to take hold during the mid 1990?s when the term posttraumatic growth was introduced by two pioneering scholars Richard Tedeschi and Lawrence Calhoun."
Positive psychology is a relatively new realm and aims to explore the better aspects of our minds as opposed to those which might be considered abnormal. This frontier is breaking new ground with a term called "post-traumatic growth". Post-traumatic growth examines the characteristics of trauma that you can benefit from. No one will argue that trauma changes us forever. Among these positive changes are a sensitive appreciation toward relationships, wisdom and expression, and less materialism matched with a greater inclination toward enlightenment.
"Importantly, and this just can?t be emphasized enough, thisdoes not mean that trauma is not also destructive and distressing. No one welcomes adversity. But the research evidence shows us that over time people can find benefits in their struggle with adversity. Indeed, across a large number of studies ofpeople who have experienced a wide range of negative events, estimates are that between 30 and 70% typically report some form of positive change
We can all use this knowledge to help us cope when adversity does strike, be it bereavement, accident or illness. We can seek to live more wisely in the aftermath of adversity and as the opening quote says, subvert suffering. "
In what ways have you grown as a result of your traumatic experience(s)?
Read the full article here: Posttraumatic Growth, Psychology Today
