What is Post Traumatic Growth?
Recently, I have been hearing more and more about Post Traumatic Growth Syndrome. While this term has been around quite some time, it is now more relevant that ever. Prior to 2020, I had heard many stories of people that had survived tragedies that sounded horrific. In many of these instances, the people say that the tragedy (aka the worst thing that had ever happened to them) ended up being a blessing. I often wondered, is that what they “really” mean? How can they be thankful of something so awful? Well, this is where Post Traumatic Growth comes into play.
In an American Psychological Association feature article, written by Lorna Collier titled Growth after Trauma, “Post-traumatic growth (PTG) is a theory that explains this kind of transformation following trauma. It was developed by psychologists Richard Tedeschi, PhD, and Lawrence Calhoun, PhD, in the mid-1990s, and holds that people who endure psychological struggle following adversity can often see positive growth afterward.”
While some people are literally destroyed by a tragic event, other people actually grow and flourish like Miracle on the Hudson survivor, Dave Sanderson. A survivor of US Airways Flight 1549 that crash landed in the Hudson river on January 15, 2009, Dave has had the unique experience of surviving a plane crash. Traumatic events such as plane crashes can have a devastating impact on one’s psychology. However, through the lessons he had learned in his life, Dave has been able to grow. He became an inspirational and motivational speaker something he had not ever considered and in his TEDxQueensU talk, Bouncing Back: An Experience with Post-Traumatic Growth Syndrome Dave says weather you sink or swim mostly depends on your mindset and the beliefs and values you had prior to the traumatic event.
Now that the entire world has experienced living with and through Covid, the most significant global catastrophe of the century, how to we all grow from this?
Fortune 100 Executive Coach, Crisis and Change Expert, Anne Harbison says that now is the time to see the opportunities that exist from the Covid crisis. In her just-released book, Never Waste a Crisis, Anne says “We would never ask for a crisis. A crisis shakes our foundations, our confidence, and dreams for the future. But when life brings us to our knees, we have a unique opportunity to look up and reach out.” If viewed through the right lens, there is opportunity for growth personally and professionally.
It’s no secret that most of us don’t like change including myself. If something is working, why change it? Well, the reality is when we are forced to change because of our circumstances, then we are also forced to look for new innovative opportunities.
As we are just approaching the final stretch of 2021, I am looking forward to witnessing all of the new growth that has been created from this pandemic.
If you are looking for a speaker to educate, motivate or inspire on the topic of Post Traumatic Growth syndrome, please check out Upside Speakers where all of the speakers have a unique PTG story to share.