A Playbook for Post-Traumatic Growth
How is it that two parents of children killed in the Newtown, Connecticut, school massacre were able to turn their heartbreak into something positive by founding Sandy Hook Promise, a nonprofit organization dedicated to preventing gun violence?
It’s difficult to imagine at a time of tragedy, but life-altering trauma can give way to meaning, spurring people to create enduring, beneficial outcomes for the greater good.This is what psychologists call post-traumatic growth (PTG) — positive psychological changes that occur as part of a healing process.
Researchers discovered that people who experience profound difficulties are more likely to experience PTG than they are to face post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which often brings intense anxiety, sleeplessness, depression, or intrusive thoughts.After a traumatic situation, people need time to heal physically, mentally, and emotionally.
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