Post-Traumatic Growth

A topic that we have all been grappling with is how to cope with the trauma of COVID-19. Trauma is the response to a deeply distressing or disturbing event that overwhelms our capacity to cope, or integrate the emotions involved with an experience. Many of us feel we have been traumatized by the effects of COVID-19.

What can we learn from our experience with COVID-19? We have all had to adapt to the public health crisis using our go-to coping tools, including resilience. Resilience is the process of adapting well in the face of adversity, trauma, tragedy, threats or significant sources of stress. Resilience is a dynamic process that we can nurture and develop at any point in our lives.

Resilience has many components. We can tweak our resilience level by utilizing some tried and true methods. We can deliberately ruminate on our situation, use problem-solving, self-reflect, find meaning in our experience, reframe our circumstances or take the time to sit with our emotions. As we take control of our circumstances and make the necessary changes we reach a new state of post-traumatic growth.

Research has shown that resilience can lead to post-traumatic growth in five major domains: relations with others, new possibilities, personal strengths, spirituality, and appreciation of life. An integral part of post-traumatic growth theory is the idea that transformation occurs not in spite of trauma but as a direct consequence. In other words, the growth could not have occurred without the trauma—or at least not in the same way at the same moment.

If you would like help honing your resilience skills, reach out to one of our therapists here at Heartwork Counseling Center.