What Is Post-traumatic Growth?
No one would want to have to face adverse situations in their life. However, sooner or later, many people are forced to face painful experiences. Some feel devastated by this situation and may even end up experiencing health problems. For others, on the other hand, these facts involve post-traumatic growth that changes the course of their life in a positive way.
It can be hard to imagine how emotional trauma can give us anything positive. However, many people have succeeded in transcending adversity, experiencing real personal transformation. But what exactly does post-traumatic growth consist of? What factors does its appearance depend on?
Post-traumatic growth
Post-traumatic growth can be defined as the positive change that a person experiences as a result of a process of struggle initiated from a traumatic event.
It does not only refer to an individual who can overcome an adverse event without developing pathology, by regaining his initial state. Post-traumatic growth involves a real transformation in the way we see ourselves, how we perceive the world and the course of our life.
So, after the negative experience, one notices clear changes in the person’s point of view:
- Life, in a way, is upgraded, which also produces a change in the scale of priorities
- Social relationships become more intimate and warm. Interpersonal bonds are strengthened when one faces adversity; on the other hand, suffering helps to develop empathy and compassion. This happens, for example, in the case of parents whose child is facing medical problems. Many say they felt more united and close after facing this situation together
- You feel a greater personal strength. Following the traumatic event, we see a significant increase in the person’s self-confidence, as well as confidence in his ability to face future adversities.
- You discover and recognize new possibilities and new paths in your life. This usually happens in individuals who have had strict and oppressive roles and, after the negative experience, have found opportunities to reorient their lives.
- Spiritual development takes place. Morality and spirituality are transformed. A reconsideration of the scale of personal values is taking place and a more transcendent vision of life is developed.
A transformation process
All of this does not happen overnight, by chance or luck. Post-traumatic growth is the result of deep individual restructuring. Following a traumatic experience, the most ingrained paradigms and cognitive patterns become destabilized. Our way of understanding the world is faltering, our set of senses is totally questioned.
So when one faces the new – and painful – reality, a process of deconstruction and reconstruction of the person’s perspectives and assumptions takes place. These become more positive and functional. No one comes out of this post-traumatic growth being the same person because it is a journey of profound transformation.
However, it is not a path free from pain. Stress and negative emotions appear and are present throughout the process. What is more, it is essential for growth to occur. So what is it that makes some people come out of adversity transformed and grown up, while others fall into a dark pit that causes sequelae?
An adequate style of confrontation
Much of this difference is marked by individual personality and temperament. We do not all have the same level of optimism, positivity and resilience. Our genetics and the environment in which we have evolved since birth have shaped our traits and skills.
Thus, some people are more inclined to use confrontation styles that are more useful and functional. It has been shown that those who use reflexive styles and with an emotional expression are experiencing posttraumatic growth to a greater degree.
Therefore, if our coping strategies currently make us feel great pain in the face of adversity, if we feel vulnerable and exhausted, we need to consider changing our style. We can all develop confrontational skills that lead us to increase our confidence and optimism. Obviously, we cannot prevent negative or painful events, but we can grow and learn from each of them.
Our thoughts Is it possible to come out stronger from negative moments? If we want to grow on a personal level, this is precisely where …
