Beyond Resiliency: Fostering Post-Traumatic Growth

If we’re merely taking a short-term view, the novel COVID-19 virus and subsequent impact on our lives has been one of the major disruptions. Collectively, data on mental health concerns has shown alarming rates of increased anxiety, depression, burnout, and trauma since the pandemic began. Many report continued anxiety about re-emerging into the world in the coming weeks, months, and years. Disruption, stress, and trauma, regardless of the underlying trigger, have a similar physiological pathway that includes activation of the sympathetic (fight or flight) nervous system. This process has a similar psychological pathway as well. Today’s initial session will uncover the deeply human reactions involved in the stress, phyioslogical, and psychological responses with traumatic experiences, including the major hallmarks of: ~ Anxiety (unpredictability, uncertainty, lack of control, and threat to values) ~ Depression (tangible and ambiguous loss) ~ Burnout (emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and decreased satisfaction) ~ Trauma (just because you may be used to it does not mean you are not affected by it) It bears repeating that these reactions are deeply human in nature, and extend beyond the pandemic to any traumatic experiencing you may have endured.

We all intuitively have a sense of what resiliency means, and we each would likely define it with some shared agreement that this concept converges on our ability to get through hard times. Human beings are hardy creatures: we have endured so much in our collective human history. But just because we've endured, doesn't mean we haven't struggled, suffered, or experienced extreme bouts of hardship. Resiliency has been studied and researched extensively, as we all recognize the fundamental importance of this concept in our individual and collective well-being. The two psychological frameworks of resiliency that stand out time and time again include: 1. Our ability to bounce back 2. Flexible adaptations to meet changing demands Today’s lesson will discuss the resiliency framework in detail, with guided practice towards reflection on how you are already engaging in resiliency practice in your daily life. We will place emphasis on how we can develop cognitive flexibility in our daily lives.

Whereas resiliency focuses on how we get through hardship, the general concept stops at surviving, and therefore, stops short of a fundamental understanding of our human potential for thriving; that "Through challenge, we become." Adversity, hardship and trauma, although unpleasant and likely life-altering, offer us an amazing opportunity for growth and expansion in our lives. Post-traumatic growth (PTG) is the framework for how we might ultimately thrive in the face of adversity. PTG, first and foremost, is the understanding that our bodies have a well-worn physiological path for processing stress and trauma through our nervous system, primarily through activating the sympathetic (fight or flight) branch. At some point, enough exposure to major life disruption leads to internal questioning in a cognitive reckoning regarding what possible good could come from any of these experiences. We’ve seen that people can not only live through hard times, but can adapt, grow, and come out stronger than ever before. Many who have endured significant hardships not only demonstrate remarkable levels of resilience, but they thrive following. The PTG process requires deep work and committed practice, that, at its core, begins with a cognitive reckoning involving deep contemplation.

Defined as a “positive psychological change that occurs as a result of the struggle with highly challenging life circumstances,” post-traumatic growth has been shown to lead to 7 areas of change, including: 1. Greater appreciation of life 2. Strengthening of close relationships 3. Increased compassion and altruism 4. The identification of new possibilities or a purpose in life 5. Greater awareness and utilization of personal strengths 6. Enhanced spiritual development 7. Creative growth Today’s lesson will describe these growth areas in more detail.

Now, don't get me wrong, none of this easy. The path of post-traumatic growth is hard, at times arduous, work. Like all things worth creating, the process of PTG requires committed action and discipline. It's rare that PTG happens without the involvement of 5 factors: 1. Education and understanding 2. Emotional regulation 3. Disclosure and communication 4. Narrative development 5. Service and meaning At the start, we must first recognize that taking these steps will likely fundamentally go against our human tendencies to avoid extremely uncomfortable experiences. Experiential avoidance is a human characteristic designed to protect experiencing further pain or distress. Education and understanding is element number 1 in this process. We must begin by normalizing the impact caused by extreme hardship, including our natural instincts to protect ourselves, which thus impacts how we approach or avoid those situations and experience. Understanding how we naturally process these experiences and the inflictions they cause brings increased awareness. And awareness is a foundational ingredient in working through, not moving past, these experiences.

Being fully present is just the start. Managing our psychological experiences in mind, body, and emotion, especially those that encompass negativity or pain, is at the heart of continued growth. With hardship comes a naturally tendency to experience strong emotions (anxiety, sadness, fear, anger, and/or guilt), along with powerful thoughts including failure, regret, guilt, uncertainty, doubt, and catastrophe. Emotional regulation is not about not experiencing pain, rather, it's about understanding our own ability to influence our experiences in mind, body, and mood to work through (not past) pain. This requires deliberate shifting of our focus through cognitive, behavioral, physiological, social, and emotional skills. We have an amazing ability to regulate our experiences to align with a more valued sense of how we want to be in this moment. Emotional regulation helps establish further engagement in the PTG work.

Talking about our experiences is critical in being able to evaluate them clearly, understand the effects they have had (and continue to have) in all areas of our lives, and identify the possibilities we may be able to take to address and ultimately work through these concerns. Negative experiences in our lives lead to a tendency to become restrictive, guarded, and focused on protection and safety. Seeking safety is a normal human repsonse to adverse events. The only path to expanding and potential growth is through creating space around the events we've experienced and the experiece of those events. This requires a process of articulating and talking through the experiences in a supportive environment. Today’s lesson focuses on developing a framework surrounding talking through these experiences with an emphasis to broaden and build upon our options moving forward.

Our self-talk is critical in our well-being. We first need to bring awareness to our current narrative surrounding the situation we find ourselves in, including an authentic reflection about the messaging we are telling ourselves about our stressors, trauma, and hardships. We then have the opportunity to shape our narrative through managing our self-talk that aligns with our values and desired way of being. Learning to craft our internal messaging is vital in aligning with growing through our unique obstacles. Our mindset is powerful - we get whatever follows “I am” in our thoughts. Today’s lesson will discuss the importance of narration in your personal journey and help guide through a framework of being the orchestrator of your own mind.

Generally speaking, we can reshape our perception of hardship more productively when we can connect to work that benefits others. This can come in the form of small or large acts of service. Expanding our purview to include meaning and connection beyond our immediate selves helps us reframe our experiences aligned with both personal and communal good.

Optimism is a bedrock principle of positive psychological and overall well-being. Gratitude practice has been demonstrated to connect us to a number of positive physical and psychological outcomes. Three Good Things is a well-researched practice that takes gratitude practice a step further by helping bring awareness to the influence of our own actions on our sense of well-being on a daily basis. Today's concluding practice will center on how to engage in a genuine practice of 3 Good Things, with an emphasis on fostering psychological well-being and keeping you on the path of post-traumatic growth.