Posttraumatic Growth: Beyond Resilience

Posttraumatic growth, also known as benefit finding, refers to positive psychological change that one may experience from the adversity and challenges that they face, which may result in a higher level of functioning.

I've spoken up, quite a bit, about my concerns related to Acute Stress Disorder (ASD), PTSD, and the long-term impact of this pandemic on our #mentalhealth. We need to talk about it. It's important to not only have this conversation, but for organizations and individuals to begin implementing tools and strategies to help navigate it – and to ensure that we don’t ignore this.

It's also important to discuss posttraumatic growth (PTG), resilience, and the process of thriving. If you've participated in my sessions, you'll know that I reference and challenge the traditional definition of resilience, which refers to our capacity to recover from challenges that we face. The recovery point is reaching the previous level of functioning before the experienced trauma. Thriving, on the other hand, goes above and beyond, and includes finding benefits within those challenges.

Some examples may include: a greater/renewed appreciation (for relationships, life, and experiences), revised priorities, a greater sense of personal growth and strength, and new possibilities.

That's what PTG requires us to do. Find benefits.

At the end of every training session I've led over the past two months, I’ve asked participants this question, “what is ONE benefit that you have experienced in the last X days?” – the chat box quickly fills up with meaningful examples and experiences – some that have moved myself and others in the group so deeply…

…and that’s the beautiful part of PTG – it is deeply meaningful.

So, if we're able to, let's start here.