Season Two, Episode Seven: Coming Back from Trauma -- Recovery, Healing, and Post-Traumatic Growth

Peace, Love, and Psychology

In order to give hope and provide context to the healing process, in this episode we look at the three levels of coming back from a traumatic exposure: recovery, healing, and post-traumatic growth. In trauma recovery, the primary focus is on learning how to manage the symptoms that persist after exposure to traumatic stress. During this stage, the therapy process will focus on identifying which symptoms a person is experiencing and on understanding how these particular symptoms are affecting the person’s life. We discuss the mind/body model for treatment of trauma and describe how the Cognitive-Behavioral approach to mind/body treatment relates to the “bottom-up” and “top-down” approach discussed in Bessel van der Kolk’s book, The Body Keeps the Score.

Over time, effective interventions targeting recovery may lead to a significant decrease in the frequency and intensity of symptoms, signaling a shift from recovery to healing. In the phase of trauma healing, the focus may change from introducing and applying mind/body interventions to a process of identifying triggers in the environment and working to reduce their negative impact on the patient. It is sometimes within this stage that patients begin to feel relief, only to be re-triggered by unexpected life events. We discuss how these episodes do not mean that a person must start back at the beginning, nor are they signs that a person is somehow weak or pathological. Rather, these setbacks can signal a need for more refined or enhanced coping skills along with a strategy to manage environmental triggers. The good news is that the work that the person has already put in can be a solid foundation for rapid recovery from even the most upsetting episodes.

Finally, we discuss post-traumatic growth, which is the acknowledgement that some people who go through a traumatic experience can emerge on the other side with a greater degree of life skills, self-knowledge, and an expanded sense of meaning and purpose. We explore the five life domains that are often described as potential areas for growth as a person recovers and heals from trauma. Post-traumatic growth is an often overlooked or neglected aspect of trauma treatment, yet it can give people enormous hope to understand how they can emerge from a life challenge with greater strength and life satisfaction.

By understanding the phases involved in coming back from trauma, a person can stay focused on their goal of recovering, healing, and growing after a traumatic experience.

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