Healing Yourself: How to start post-traumatic growth

Healing yourself takes a lot of work and patience.

Time is the essential component to healing.

Do you know what post traumatic growth is? Have you heard of it before?

If not, you’re not alone. Many of my clients including those who consult with me haven’t ever heard of the term before.

If you have experienced trauma and find yourself struggling with getting back up this article is for you.

This article (and video) will discuss post traumatic growth and offer tips on how to start the new year right.

What is post-traumatic growth and how can it help me?

Post traumatic growth is the idea that after you have experienced a traumatic event in your life you will come to a place of partial or full acceptance. This state of existence includes a focused perspective of the trauma including the assignment of meaning. Without meaning or the ability to derive meaning from the traumatic experience, healing can seem impossible. Post traumatic growth is a stage of grief and loss and a stage most people strive to arrive at after a trauma.

How do I get there?

Post traumatic growth isn’t a stage that you can arrive at just because you want to or feel you should have arrived at already. Post traumatic growth only occurs when you have done the real work needed to heal and progress after your loss, grief, or trauma.

You may find yourself experiencing the stages of grief and loss before you arrive at post-traumatic growth. The stages of grief are denial, anger, depression, bargaining, and acceptance. Each stage can be experienced at different points in your life, even after you have experienced some form of post traumatic growth.

In order to start the new year right, I have included a few ways to help kickstart healing in 2020.