{"id":35701,"date":"2017-09-11T14:25:11","date_gmt":"2017-09-11T21:25:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/?page_id=35701"},"modified":"2017-09-14T09:42:52","modified_gmt":"2017-09-14T16:42:52","slug":"posttraumatic-growth","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/posttraumatic-growth\/","title":{"rendered":"Posttraumatic Growth"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"DaisiesThe healing journey after a traumatic event such as abuse<\/a>, domestic violence<\/a>, military combat, loss<\/a>, or other types of psychological upheaval will likely look different for each person. The progress toward greater mental health and emotional well-being, a period during which a person might be participating in psychotherapy<\/a> and other types of treatment, can be called posttraumatic growth.<\/p>\n

Psychologists Richard Tedeschi, PhD, and Lawrence Calhoun, PhD developed the theory of posttraumatic growth in the 1990s. Though the idea of recovering from the effects of trauma<\/a> was not new, the introduction of posttraumatic growth grew as a systematic study in psychology, social work, science, and counseling because of Tedeschi\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s and Calhoun\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s influence. Today, it is a concept many therapists use to help inspire people in therapy<\/a> toward positive change, assess the progress of people healing from trauma, and better understand the transformation process as someone recovers.<\/p>\n

What Is Posttraumatic Growth?<\/h2>\n

At its most simplistic, posttraumatic growth is positive change that can happen for a person after experiencing trauma or a major life crisis. The process might be different based on the type of trauma a person endured, what kinds of therapy the person experiences afterward, and the levels of support they can depend on throughout treatment. As the inverse of posttraumatic stress, or PTSD, posttraumatic growth can be characterized by the signs one is overcoming the harmful effects of trauma.<\/p>\n

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Some therapists have described posttraumatic growth as synonymous with resilience<\/a>. But while resilience implies an ability to bounce back after trauma, posttraumatic growth acknowledges a person\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s continuous, sometimes lifelong, efforts to move beyond trauma and the effects of PTSD. Putting an emphasis on posttraumatic growth can help focus the therapeutic process not just on someone\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s survival after trauma, but their ability to thrive.<\/p>\n

What Does Posttraumatic Growth Look Like?<\/h2>\n

Therapists use various assessment tools to measure the ways in which a person has achieved growth after trauma. One method developed by Tedeschi and Calhoun is called the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI). In this model mental health professionals use five areas to assess for positive change:<\/p>\n