Lecture12, PTG

Post-Traumatic Growth and Positive Psychology

  • Quote by Aristotle: "Suffering becomes beautiful when anyone bears great calamities with cheerfulness, not through insensibility but through greatness of mind."

Brain Recovery After Trauma

  • Following brain injury (trauma or stroke), surrounding areas experience a brief period of plasticity and new connection formation.

    • This plasticity can be extended through behavioral therapy and treatments that promote growth.

    • These treatments may result in benefits weeks or months after the injury (Science, 2018).

Concept of Post-Traumatic Growth (PTG)

  • Nietzsche's assertion: "That which doesn’t kill me makes me stronger."

  • PTG is an area of increasing interest, studying if traumatic events can lead to positive life changes (Jayawickreme & Blackie, 2014).

Understanding Resilience and PTG

  • Werner (1990) states that when stressors overwhelm protective factors, even resilient individuals may develop issues.

    • Interventions may assist in balancing vulnerability and resilience by reducing risk exposures or enhancing protective factors.

    • Resilience is applicable during and after challenging situations, while PTG emerges post-trauma.

Prevalence of PTG

  • Research suggests that as many as 70% of trauma survivors report positive change in one life domain (Linley & Joseph, 2004).

  • Controversy exists regarding whether PTG is distinct from resilience and personality factors like subjective well-being.

  • Tedeschi and Calhoun (2004) define PTG broadly as "positive psychological change experienced as a result of the struggle with highly challenging life circumstances."

Manifestations of PTG

  • Five recognized forms of positive transformation:

    1. Improved relationships

    2. Identification of new possibilities

    3. Increased sense of personal strength

    4. Spiritual growth

    5. Enhanced appreciation of life

  • PTG was first described by Tedeschi and Calhoun (1996), focusing on changes in clinical psychology settings post-trauma (Jayawickreme & Blackie, 2014).

Cognitive Distortions and Emotional Writing Exercise

  • Class activity on cognitive distortions:

    • Write about time at Hopkins from the perspective of failure and identify cognitive distortions within.

    • Recognize and categorize various distortion types.

Burns’ Cognitive Distortions: Types

  1. All-or-Nothing Thinking

  2. Overgeneralization

  3. Mental Filter

  4. Disqualifying the Positive

  5. Jumping to Conclusions:

    • Fortune Teller Error: Predicting negative outcomes without facts.

    • Mind Reading: Assuming others think negatively of you.

Further Exploration of Cognitive Distortions

  • Overgeneralization: Viewing a single event as an ongoing pattern of defeat.

  • Mental Filters: Focusing solely on negatives while ignoring positives.

  • Jumping to Conclusions: Making unfounded negative interpretations.

  • Magnification/Minimization: Exaggerating negatives or minimizing positives.

  • Emotional Reasoning: Assuming emotions reflect reality.

  • Should Statements: Using rigid demands that lead to guilt or resentment.

  • Labeling/Mislabeling: Attaching negative labels based on behaviors.

  • Personalization: Blaming oneself for events out of one's control.

Writing Exercise on Success

  • In-class writing about positive experiences at Hopkins, focusing on success instead of failure.

    • Follow-up with Seligman’s 6 questions to understand future scenarios.

Seligman’s 6 Questions for Resilience

  1. What is the worst possible outcome?

  2. What can I do to prevent that outcome?

  3. What is the best possible outcome?

  4. What can I do to ensure it?

  5. What is the most likely outcome?

  6. How can I handle the most likely outcome?

Characteristics of Resilient People

  • Description by Emmy Werner: Resilient individuals are planners, problem solvers, and those who take action to recover from hardships.

Bounce Back vs. Bounce Forward

  • The concept of resilience challenges the idea of returning to normal; instead, we should aim to move forward positively post-trauma.

Mechanisms for Facilitating PTG

  • PTG arises not solely from trauma but from the individual's confrontation with altered beliefs about fairness and justice.

  • Tedeschi and Calhoun propose that rumination, meaning-making, and social support enhance PTG.

Everyday Resilience vs. PTG

  • Understanding the distinctions and overlaps between everyday resilience and PTG in psychological contexts.

Encouraging PTG

  • UPenn Resilience Program offers tools for fostering mental toughness, leveraging strengths, and developing social skills in veterans and spouses.

Growth Outcomes Associated with PTG

  • Common outcomes linked with PTG:

    • Increased compassion

    • Greater spirituality

    • Enhanced life satisfaction

    • Strengthened personal abilities

    • Improved self-confidence

    • Heightened relationship intimacy

Steps to Everyday Resiliency

  1. Notice and address cognitive distortions.

  2. Foster strong social connections.

  3. Cultivate an optimistic explanatory style.

  4. Embrace the roles of planner, problem-solver, and picker-upper.

  5. Develop faith in oneself to enhance self-efficacy.

Emotional Listening and Understanding

  • Emphasis on understanding and empathy as essential elements of support and healing.

  • Quotes from Rodney Smith highlight the transformative power of understanding others’ pain and connection in healing processes.