What is Post Traumatic Growth?
Post Traumatic Growth (PTG) is a positive psychological transformation that can happen after trauma.
The science of PTG demonstrates that when we're forced to reflect on our lives and make sense of the destruction caused by trauma, our struggles can become a catalyst for change.
Trauma does not have to be the end of the road, rather it can be the path to a new beginning.
Traumatic Events
Traumatic events are often unexpected and can damage or destroy our core beliefs. in the aftermath of trauma, we must rebuild our system of core beliefs, just as a city rebuilds its infrastructure after an earthquake. Better. Stronger.
"Through our darkest moments we're tested and forged into the wiser, more authentic human beings we're destined to be."
Josh Goldberg, CEO, Boulder Crest Foundation
The phases of Post Traumatic Growth
The five phases of PTG represent the process we must undertake on the road to PTG, which includes grieving what we lost and rebuilding core beliefs.
Post Traumatic Growth is two things:
(1) A process that helps us grow in the midst of stress, struggle, hardship, and trauma, and
(2) A series of domains where we grow.
The five domains of Post Traumatic Growth
Now that we understand what PTG is and the phases that make up the PTG process, we can learn about the areas of life where people commonly experience transformation after trauma.
The domains of Post Traumatic Growth capture the outcomes in the five areas where people grow following trauma. People can grow in one or more of five different areas, and the type and degree of growth varies from person to person. Many times, the life changes that people report in the aftermath of trauma are the result of a combination of these different domains of growth.
Transformed by Trauma: Stories of Post Traumatic Growth
Transformed by Trauma challenges the popularised belief that trauma leads to a life of diagnosis and diminishment. In this book we shed light on the age-old concept of Post Traumatic Growth, highlighting elements of PTG and the process that many of us take to transform our struggles into strength.
All of our lives are filled with ups and downs, triumphs and tragedy, success and stress. The question is not whether we will experience difficulty, challenge, or trauma; it is what we will do in response to such events and experiences. While the dominant narrative of cultures around the world suggests that trauma diminishes our prospects for a great life, Richard Tedeschi, Bret Moore, Ken Falke, and Josh Goldberg know differently.
Rich, Bret, Ken, and Josh have dedicated their lives to ensuring that people can grow in the aftermath of trauma, and live great lives — filled with Post Traumatic Growth. This remarkable book harnesses the power of all their experience, and the incredible true stories of combat veterans and military and veteran family members who have transformed loss into gain and pain into purpose.
The Boulder Crest Foundation Podcast series - The Bridge
The Bridge Podcast series supports the Boulder Crest mission to facilitate Post Traumatic Growth through transformative programs, world-class training and education initiatives and research and advocacy efforts. It provides a view into how we collectively can move society from the world as it is to the world as it should be. In this first episode Boulder Crest’s CEO, Josh Goldberg, shares more about our vision and mission and how we will Struggle Well as we cross the bridge together.
Speaking of Psychology: Transformation after Trauma, with Richard Tedeschi, PhD
Why do some people experience profound positive changes after enduring something terrible and others don’t? In this episode of Speaking of Psychology, Dr. Richard Tedeschi, who developed the academic theory of post-traumatic growth (along with colleague Dr. Lawrence Calhoun) discusses all things Post Traumatic Growth and thriving in the aftermath of trauma.