Post-traumatic growth: how do you get it done?

You often hear about people developing post-traumatic stress. This is a condition characterized by severe anxiety and depression after something terrible has happened. After a traumatic event, many people go through a period where they feel a bit down—which is perfectly normal. And some people get stuck in that state; that’s called PTSD. Most people return to normal, but there’s also a group of people who actually experience post-traumatic growth. This is a term that very few people are familiar with.

How does post-traumatic growth work, and can you still experience post-traumatic growth even if you suffer from PTSD now? In this blog, I take a closer look at it.

My experience with post-traumatic growth

In a way, as an expert by experience, I can tell you more about post-traumatic growth. If you've known me a little longer, you probably already know this story.

As it happens, I am a father of four children. During the birth of one of my children, things got very exciting (it turned out okay in the end), but that moment was very traumatic for me.

As it happens, I myself was not being very helpful. I was out partying and on drugs and by now celebrating the New Year for a few days when my wife suddenly went into labor.

So this didn't go completely great and instead of supporting her, I then left to numb those feelings of stress with drugs.

Only something really crazy happened. I was standing in the kitchen at one point and I could see in front of me, so to speak, how everything was going to go to shit and I thought, "This is all your fault." Then I got rid of everyone in my house, never touched the drugs again and became more fanatical about entrepreneurship and straightening out my life. You see what came of it.

Now I can still wonder if that was the trauma or if the trauma was something else that made me turn to drugs in the first place, or if the long-term drug use was the setback that allowed me to grow anyway, but that this moment gave me the strength to turn the pain into something positive. In fact, there are also terms like growth through stress or growth through setbacks or difficulties[1].

My baby turned out fine and I have since experienced tremendous post-traumatic growth mentally, physically and materially.

Now, it doesn't all have to be as dramatic as mine in terms of growth, but growth is certainly possible, and so is dramatically large growth.

What about post-traumatic growth?

One of the first psychiatrists to talk about post-traumatic growth is Viktor Frankl[2]. This was a man who, in a concentration camp where he was imprisoned, noted which people stayed alive and which people died. It was mainly the people who had a life goal for after liberation who experienced growth and were able to survive.

In a way I understand that, because it has become my life's goal to show the positive power of hypnosis all over the world. Right now, this is still working well mainly in the Netherlands and Belgium, but who knows what the future holds.

It doesn't matter how big your trauma is to get post-traumatic growth. This is at least what applies to interpersonal trauma, such as when a loved one has threatened you or something similar.

Post-traumatic growth is most likely to occur if the trauma is a life-threatening illness or wound and if you relive the symptoms[3]. In addition, women have a slightly higher chance of traumatic growth than men and particularly as the woman experiences a traumatic event at an older age[4].

However, if you have an impersonal trauma - such as being injured in an accident - then the likelihood of post-traumatic growth gets smaller and smaller as the trauma gets bigger and bigger[5]. In itself, this makes sense, because what else can you do if, for example, you can no longer move anything in your body?

What is important for developing post-traumatic growth is that the significant people in your life—such as your partner—see you as a survivor of a traumatic event and that you hold the belief that the world is meaningful[6].

What is also interesting is that post-traumatic growth does not prevent you from still suffering from PTSD. American veterans who felt they had experienced post-traumatic growth five months after their deployment to Iraq often actually suffered more PTSD 15 months after deployment. Thus, researchers suggest not pointing out the positive effects that trauma can/could have too soon after trauma[7].

How can you tell if you have post-traumatic growth?

If you are experiencing post-traumatic growth you will notice:

1. Greater appreciation for life
2. Greater appreciation for relationships
3. A greater sense of personal power
4. What you care about has changed
5. A richer life (more money or doing or buying more fun things)
6. A richer spiritual life

In addition, post-traumatic growth is not something static, it can continue to develop throughout your life and also gives you feelings of life wisdom[8].

Turning trauma into something positive with hypnosis

Hypnosis allows you to address unconscious behavior and thoughts. Thoughts play an important role in the development of post-traumatic stress and post-traumatic growth.

After a traumatic event, people often have negative thoughts about themselves and the world and blame themselves for what happened. If this persists for too long, you may develop PTSD.

If you manage to avoid having these kinds of negative thoughts and blaming yourself for the event, this can lead to post-traumatic growth[9].

Research on people with cancer shows that hypnosis can help support post-traumatic growth[10],[11].

This is because hypnosis allows you to address your thoughts and beliefs. If the traumatic event has given you the belief that the world is a bad place, hypnosis can help you shift your focus from everything bad about the world, to everything good about the world.

If a traumatic event has left you feeling weak, hypnosis can help you shift your focus to where you are strong and where you do have control .

For example, if you had a traumatic childhood , this can cause you to see the world as an unsafe place, even if you haven't been bothered by anyone for years now (because that's because you're paying attention).

But what if you've been safe for years now because the world is just pretty safe?

This is a belief that hypnosis can help you with.

Something else I like to say is that you are not a victim, but an offender. This does not mean that what happened to you is your fault. This means that how you react to it is something you do. In that you are the perpetrator and that means you can also react in a way where you can build your life right.

The best way to get revenge, for example, is to lead a successful and fulfilling life yourself.

Hypnotic suggestions, for example, can help you gain beliefs that make you feel stronger and better about the world you live in. These can include suggestions such as:

"I can do anything."

"I decide how I react."

"I get to take my time to rebuild my life."

"The world has beautiful sides."

"I can enjoy the little things in life."

These are just a few examples. Depending on your beliefs and the issues related to your trauma, a hypnotherapist can offer you other suggestions to help you develop a mindset that supports post-traumatic growth.

Something else that could be done is to make a plan for how to get out of the dip of trauma. You can probably imagine what your life could ideally look like, or even in a year or something after the current moment?

A hypnotherapist can then help you with the progression technique to achieve this ideal image; to see how to get there one step at a time. This is a technique that people can learn in the third training at the Hypnosis Institute Netherlands.

So post-traumatic growth is definitely an option if you have suffered from a traumatic event. Have you suffered a trauma and want to finally move on with your life? Then go to bestetherapeut.co.uk to find a therapist who can help you with this.

Would you like to learn more about hypnosis and exactly how it can help people solve their problems? Then join us for the free online masterclass.

Or enroll in one of our seminars or trainings. We have trainings that are taught online, and you can now attend on-site trainings again. So you can choose a form of training that fits into your life.

Click here for more information on training and seminar dates.

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