You've Heard of Post-Traumatic Stress — but What About Post-Traumatic Growth?

Trauma symptoms arise when a stressor exceeds our ability to cope in that moment — it is when we move from manageable discomfort that we can respond to, into overwhelming or intolerable pain. In a stressful situation, our nervous system responds by energizing us into fight or flight mode. An adaptive response enables us to maintain a sense of confidence and safety during and after a stressful event. In trauma, we lose our sense of safety, and our inability to cope challenges our confidence.

One thing I've learned in my work as a trauma specialist is that people are really, amazingly resilient. It is seriously inspiring and it is part of why I love my job. But resilience doesn't always look the way you might expect. Growth, as we all know, is not linear.

The Capacity to Heal

Sometimes, we see resilience in the immediate response to a traumatic event or stressor. At other times, the resilience comes later. Even if we have experienced maladaptive nervous system responses to stressors, that trauma is something we truly can heal and grow from at any point in the future. We don't have to just "push through." Regardless of how strong, graceful, or resilient we think we were or weren't — we all possess the capacity for resilience and the ability to heal our nervous systems, to stop suffering from the effects of trauma, and even to experience growth.

What Is Post-Traumatic Growth?

Post-traumatic growth can happen as a result of the resilience we must access after experiencing trauma. It describes the same idea as the well-known expression, "what doesn't kill us makes us stronger" — but it's a special kind of strength. The concept of post-traumatic growth isn't that trauma somehow benefits us, and it isn't meant to be a silver lining on a painful experience. Rather, it suggests that sometimes we experience something beyond just resilience, beyond healing even: meaningful growth following our recovery from trauma.

Imagine if after a physical injury, you not only recovered, but felt like you had increased your strength and abilities in a significant way during the recovery process. You still went through something painful and might wish it had never happened, and you might have grief surrounding what you went through — yet you can also move forward with new capacities that you can deeply appreciate. The same can be true with our mental health and growth after trauma.

The Five Areas of Post-Traumatic Growth

Psychologists Richard Tedeschi and Lawrence Calhoun developed the theory of PTG in the 1990s and identified five key areas of growth:

• Appreciation of life
• Relationships with others
• New possibilities in life
• Personal strength
• Spiritual change

Research also points to two key traits most often associated with PTG: openness to experience, and extraversion. When I learned this, my first thought was about my teen clients. Adolescence is developmentally a time of openness and extraversion — a time of new experiences and seeking social connections. All of us are capable of healing and PTG, but teenagers are built for resiliency and are strong candidates to experience post-traumatic growth.

How to Support Growth After Trauma

In order to achieve that growth, we need to gain some amount of self-awareness, resilience, and healing. We need to learn about and recognize our symptoms as our nervous system's response to trauma — not personal deficits or weakness. We need connection and social support, not judgment or isolation. And we might need the help of a mental health professional; talking with a friend is helpful, but processing and learning coping skills with a therapist is different and often needed.

If you're already farther along in the healing process, some ways to notice or encourage post-traumatic growth: reflect on the qualities that have contributed to your resiliency; write, draw, or talk about any changes you've noticed in the five areas of PTG; and practice exercises that encourage gratitude, social connection, and positive visions of the future.

Trauma can leave a lasting impact and a legacy of pain. Yet what I see from working through the effects of trauma with so many of my clients is that it really is possible to heal — and to find meaning and growth through and after the healing process.