Post Traumatic Growth

There is a growing recognition among trauma therapists that there can be positive personal growth that occurs for some individuals after a trauma.  It is defined as the experience of individuals whose development in some areas has surpassed what was present before the traumatic event. It is not the trauma itself that causes the growth, but the personal struggle with identity and meaning that the person experiences that results in this growth. Although this in no way makes the pain and suffering less, it does offer a silver lining to a terrible experience. The care and compassion that I see in folks I works with is quite inspiring. Having gone through what they have been through they never want another person to have those same feelings of pain, loneliness, etc. I have worked with people who are on disability and struggling to make it financially living in San Diego. And yet they help each other out financial, or with a meal or a place to shower or stay for others who have even less than they. To me this is a direct outgrowth of the pain and suffering they have experienced and is a beautiful example of the capacity for love and giving that we each have in our hearts.