When healing brings growth after trauma
Moving through life after experiencing traumatic events can be really tough. Life can feel overwhelming and heavy, and you may feel confused and scared about the future. You might even begin to believe that good things are beyond reach. Traumatic events are among the major contributors to the development of psychological problems. It is common to feel sadness, shame, and guilt, or to start showing symptoms of depression or anxiety after going through such experiences. But interestingly, research suggests that for some of us, working through these struggles can also lead to meaningful positive growth. This positive change is often called “posttraumatic growth”, which highlights how challenging times can sometimes help us grow in unexpected ways. In this mini sketch, we will explore the concept of posttraumatic growth.
What Do We Mean by “Trauma”?
Trauma is perhaps one of the most frequently used words in the mental health community today. However, people often use it in many different ways, which can make it confusing to reach a clear understanding of what it truly means. Trauma is discussed in at least two ways in the psychology literature. For example, trauma can be described as experiencing or being exposed to a life-threatening or deeply harmful event, such as serious injury, sexual violence, or actual threat of death (American Psychiatric Association, 2022). This example can include events that happen directly to us, events we witness, learning that it happened to someone close to us, or repeated exposure to such aversive details through work, as first responders or healthcare professionals often do. This definition of trauma is often used in clinical settings as a part of diagnostic tools, especially when diagnosing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Another way to look at trauma is to focus less on the details of the “event” itself and more on how a person experiences and responds to it. From this perspective, an event becomes traumatic when it shatters our beliefs about who we are, how the world works, and what we want our future to look like (Dalenberg et al., 2017). For example, experiencing a significant knee injury can be painful for most of us, although it is not necessarily traumatic. However, for someone who once dreamed of a professional dance career but can no longer pursue it due to an injury, this event might be traumatic because of what it means to that individual and what it takes away.
What Is Posttraumatic Growth?
Trauma often brings about unbearable changes to our lives. For many of us, even just going through the day becomes a heavy chore. But interestingly, some of us also experience positive psychological changes that go beyond our level of functioning before the traumatic experience (Tedeschi & Calhoun, 2004). Research shows that this kind of growth can show in different areas of life. Eventhough it doesn’t happen the same way for everyone, people report positive changes in key areas of their lives after experiencing traumatic events, such as the following (Tedeschi et al., 2018):
- improved relationships
- an increased sense of personal strength
- a greater appreciation for life
- new possibilities for themselves and their future
- existential or spiritual changes, including changes to values and sense of purpose
It is also useful here to emphasize what post-traumatic growth is not. The observation that sometimes post-traumatic growth occurs does not aim to minimize or underestimate the negative impact of such events. It should not be used to invalidate someone’s pain, loss, or the effects of what happened. Instead, it highlights our complex capacity as humans to have both positive and negative experiences following adversity. That is, we are capable of holding both the good and the bad, and growth can coexist with our pain. Not everyone experiences it the same way, and it is perfectly okay. For some of us, it may emerge months or even years after the event and is not necessarily expected to occur right away. This is because our healing journeys are unique, and there is not a single ideal way to experience them.
How Does Posttraumatic Growth Occur?
One possible explanation for posttraumatic growth is that struggling with traumatic experiences makes us take a step back and reflect on our experiences. We often start reevaluating our goals, values, environments, and circumstances after tragic events (Tedeschi et al., 2018). As we reflect, we might be restructuring some of our existing beliefs, assumptions, and attitudes about ourselves and the world, which may lead us to choose different actions than before. In addition, after struggling with difficult life experiences, we may realize that we can rely on ourselves to face and overcome challenges and that we are capable of rebuilding and thriving. The belief that one has successfully confronted and overcome past traumatic events can serve as a protective factor against future challenges, providing us with a sense of resourcefulness and readiness.
Exploring Growth in Your Life
We are all unique in our experiences, including how we respond to life’s difficulties. After an overwhelming experience, positive change may not feel accessible. Still, if the concept of posttraumatic growth makes you curious about exploring how growth can sprout in your life or be gently encouraged, several approaches may help.
For example, in therapy, this could be a topic for you and your therapist to explore. You may collaboratively work to understand what is meaningful to you in terms of thriving and growing after life difficulties, as well as what kinds of psychological changes therapy might facilitate to help you build meaningful experiences. Most therapeutic approaches focus on building a strong therapeutic relationship and on using methods and resources that enable these explorations to occur continuously and collaboratively.
In addition, daily practices that help you reflect on your experiences, connect with people, places, and communities that provide support, and use creative outlets to explore what is meaningful to you and what thriving might look like in your life can also contribute to this process.
Takeaways:
- Some of us may experience positive changes in our relationships, sense of personal strength, appreciation of life, expectations for the future, and existential or spiritual beliefs following a traumatic event that go beyond our previous level of functioning.
- Posttraumatic growth may be happening due to the process of reflecting on and restructuring beliefs about the self and the world initiated by the traumatic event.
- Posttraumatic growth suggests that we are capable of holding both positive and negative experiences, even in the aftermath of adversity.
- Therapy and other reflective practices might be facilitatory for posttraumatic growth.
References
American Psychiatric Association. (2022). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed., text rev.). https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.books.9780890425787
Dalenberg, C. J., Straus, E., & Carlson, E. B. (2017). Defining trauma. In S. N. Gold (Ed.), APA handbook of trauma psychology: Foundations in knowledge (pp. 15–33). American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/0000019-002
Ning, J., Tang, X., Shi, H., Yao, D., Zhao, Z., & Li, J. (2022). Social support and posttraumatic growth: A meta-analysis. Journal of Affective Disorders, 320, 117–132.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2022.09.114
Prati, G., & Pietrantoni, L. (2009). Optimism, social support, and coping strategies as factors contributing to posttraumatic growth: A meta-analysis. Journal of Loss and Trauma, 14(5), 364–388. https://doi.org/10.1080/15325020902724271
Tedeschi, R. G., & Calhoun, L. G. (2004). Posttraumatic growth: Conceptual foundations and empirical evidence. Psychological Inquiry, 15(1), 1–18.
https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327965pli1501_01
Tedeschi, R. G., Shakespeare-Finch, J., Taku, K., & Calhoun, L. G. (2018). Posttraumatic growth: theory, research, and applications. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315527451
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