September 19, 2021
As stated in article one of this series on resiliency, according to the American Psychological Association, resiliency is:
“the process of adapting well in the face of adversity, trauma, tragedy, threats, or significant sources of stress—such as family and relationship problems, serious health problems, or workplace and financial stressors. As much as resilience involves “bouncing back” from these difficult experiences, it can also involve profound personal growth.”
In the first article, we discussed resiliency, who has it, how it is formed, and how we all can attain it. This article will focus on the differences between resilience and posttraumatic growth.
What is Post-traumatic Growth?
Although some people get resilience and posttraumatic growth confused, they are not the same animal. Resilience is the process of adapting in the face of tragedy, where posttraumatic growth refers to positive changes experienced as the result of adversity in life or a life-altering crisis.
For instance, a woman has been in an unhealthy personal relationship for ten years. She has endured much pain and suffering both emotionally and physically. The woman enters group therapy to understand why she remains in the toxic relationship and learns that she is not stuck but can leave anytime she wishes.
Finally, after several sessions with her therapy group, she decides to leave and does so. The woman finds that she can do whatever she wishes with her life outside her relationship and turns a horrendous experience into a learning one.
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