Resilience Factor 10: Meaning, Purpose & Growth

Introduction

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What is Post Traumatic Growth?

"Post traumatic growth can be assessed using the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory, which includes three general domains: Changes in the perception of self, changes in the experience of relationships with others, and changes in one's philosophy of life." (p. 261-262). Through trauma we can find meaning, purpose, and growth.

Reference:

Southwick, S. M., & Charney, D. S. (Eds.). (2018). Resilience: The science of mastering life’s greatest challenges. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108349246

Dee Dee Call

When I was working as an RN in pediatrics, we had a speaker come to our clinic for lunch one afternoon. His name is Nick Springer. Nick had his arms and legs amputated at the age of 14 after contracting Meningitis. He came to the clinic to educate the staff about the importance of the Meningitis vaccine, a 2-series vaccine that his parents did not know about. Nick is an amazing man, he can do anything and has done everything. He has won Olympic medals and toured the country educating people on the importance of immunizations.

His strength, passion and determination are the definition of growth. He related to others during his time in the Paralympics and became a role model to all. New possibilities arose for every sport he learned. Personal strength from the love and support of his family and team. Spiritual change as he never once gave up, he never once let his tragic story become tragic. His appreciation for life as a husband and father is awe inspiring.

Nick Springer passed away this past April and the world has lost an amazing man. I was honored to meet him, to learn his story and I was saddened when I learned of his passing.

Sandomir, R., (2021). Nick Springer, Paralympic Gold Medalist, Dies at 35. New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/23/sports/nick-springer-dead.html

Daniale Delkettie

Three secrets

This Tedx talk was soo good. I could relate to what she talked about. It's not just being 'happy' despite trauma, but it takes work getting through it in order to achieve some sort of normalcy after a tragic loss. This 16 min video is really encouraging and straight-forward and shows that post traumatic growth is possible with the right mind set and work.

Reference

Hone, L., (2019, September 25). The three secrets of resilient people|Lucy Hone |TEDxChristchurch [Video]. TED. https://youtu.be/NWH8N-BvhAw

Hirut Gebrehanna

PERMA (Positive emotion, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, Accomplishments)

This article outlines the PERMA+ model and well-being theory and provides practical ways to apply its components in our private practice or personal life. These models are by Dr. Martin Seligman, a known American physiologist educator and author of many books. The PERMA model help to make life worth living and how to define, quantify and create well-being. I have experienced this model and find it helpful in my day-to-day endeavor to achieve my goal. I relate the positive emotion with resilience that it drives my positive attitude and expresses compassion towards others. Engagement also helps me focus and take responsibility for the task at hand, revise and identify my weakness and strength. The relationship includes friends, family, colleagues, bosses, mentors, supervisors, and the community. The interactions and strong socializing with these groups contribute to my physical and psychological well-being. Meaning reminds me of the purpose of my existence on this planet. It guides me to use my passion for others. As a nurse, it helps me listen to my patients' concerns and help them meet their goals. Meaning gives value to my family and friends and facilitates me to spend quality time. Finally, accomplishment helps me measure my success in life, celebrate with pride, set goals for the upcoming challenges, and continue towards another achievement.

Reference:

https://positivepsychology.com/perma-model/

Kim Huynh

22-year-old hospitality student Karessa Royce is a gun violence survivor. She was a victim of the 2017 Route 91 Harvest Music Festival mass shooting in Las Vegas and sustained physical, emotional, and psychological injury. The shooting positively changed her personality, and she refuses to be defined as a victim of the traumatic event. Royce portrays resilience and growth through the display of posttraumatic growth factors. She demonstrates how the ordeal exposed her to new opportunities. She enrolled in her university’s safety committee board which provides training and education in the institution and community for occurrences similar to the 2017 shooting. Royce also conquered prior contemplations of dropping out of college and became more serious with her studies. She additionally became more comfortable with public speaking and peaceful protests (Royce, 2018). Hence, personal strength was also increased through the ordeal. Furthermore, Royce demonstrates a changed self-perception and spirituality because of the shooting. She adopted positivity and optimism by saying “yes” more and believing that if she survived a mass shooting, she was capable of surviving so much more (Royce, 2018).

Additionally, she relates more to her friend “Abigail," who successfully grew from trauma. As a child, Abigail experienced parental separation, her mother’s drug addiction, homelessness, starvation, and lack of clothing (Royce, 2018). She resiliently overcame her traumatic childhood and raised her own happy, stable family. The experience has changed Royce and Abigail’s connection from friendship to mentorship. It has also enabled Royce to gain a deeper appreciation for life. She encourages the audience by stating how the individual rather than past ordeals define outcomes in life. She also tries to use her experiences to motivate others to appreciate life more.

Reference

Royce, K., (2018, June). Post traumatic growth: Surviving a mass shooting [Video]. TED. https://www.ted.com/talks/karessa_royce_post_traumatic_growth_surviving_a_mass_shooting

Jane Jugao

Meaning, Purpose, & Growth after a traumatic event

Lindsey Roy is a survivor from a boat accident and lost her legs unfortunately from the traumatic event. She completely lost her left leg and partially lost on her right leg. She developed ideas and ways of coping . Through a challenging recovery process, she learned impactful lessons on how to harness disruption and find clarity in the chaos.

She has two children and her husband who support her recovery journey. I think this is the 1st growth factor, “Relation to others” according to Drs. Tedeschi and Calhoun. She was also learning how to walk again with new prostatic legs. I think it is the 2nd factor, “New Possibilities”. Even though the journey was tough, I see her strength and appreciation of life that it could be worse, which are the factor 3 and 5, according to Drs. Tedeschi and Calhoun.

Reference

Roy, L., (2017, September 8). What trauma taught me about happiness [Video]. TED. https://youtu.be/IUw8z7laPuI

Magnum Kandel

I found a video of Dr. Bryan McVerry. In this video, you can see the growth from a traumatic event along with the appreciation of life and resilience in both Bryan and his wish as a couple and individually. Bryan was "shot" in the chest when a piece of a sledgehammer broke off while he was chopping wood in his backyard a few years ago. The metal piece punctured his pulmonary artery with such a catastrophic injury that Bryan had a slim chance of surviving. Despite those odds, a rapid EMS response team and skilled cardiac and trauma surgeons were able to save him.

Reference:

UPMC. (2011, October 31). Bryan's Trauma Survivor Story | UPMC [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/KV8VJW1RUV4

Andrea Monroe

Through the looking glass

I discovered the story of Russel Redenbaugh who survived a catastrophic rocket blast when he was teenage boy. His loss and grief after the accident included the loss of multiple fingers and his eyesight. Russell had a decision to make about his personal future after his accident – dependence or independence. His story shows an amazing example of post traumatic growth factors including personal growth, appreciation for life, new possibilities and personal strength after numerous surgeries (Southwick & Charney, 2018). He relates this growth mindset to his leanings from jujitsu as a blind student – from which he went on to earn 3 gold medals.

References:

Redenbaugh, R., (2013, May 23). Post-Traumatic Gifted: Moving from Scarcity to Abundance: Russell Redenbaugh at TEDxBend [Video]. TED. https://youtu.be/AOOc3VO_Gyg

Southwick, S. M., & Charney, D. S. (2018). Resilience: The science of mastering life’s greatest challenges (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press.

Margarita Zaytseva

The person who does not stop inspiring me and build strong character in me is my mom. I want to talk about her because I could feel her pain and confusion when she experienced loss of a child, husband, brother and her mom within 5 year life span, it is a short time to loose so many loved ones and not to break because she could. She chose not to for those who was still living and for herself. She is very sensitive with others who experience loss and she is not afraid to shed a tear with them to support their grief and remember her losses too. She has never been materialistic, and after losses she is even more focused on memories, relationships, forgiveness and patience. She understands people without talking, she feels them and she is always there to support and lend a helping hand. She has a big and strong heart, that I hope I will build with life experiences. She is my role model and my definition of resilience.

Leah Foster

Meaning, Purpose, & Growth

Elizabeth Smart is a woman who was kidnapped from her home at age 14 and held captive for 9 months by a man and his wife where she was treated as another one of his wives. She is now an advocate for victims of abuse. She speaks a lot about reclaiming your power and not letting your past consume your future. A quote from this video that I love was something her mom told her after she was rescued from her kidnappers, "Elizabeth, what these people have done to you is terrible and there aren't words strong enough to describe how wicked and evil they are. They have stolen 9 months of your life away from you that you will never get back. But the best punishment you could ever give them is to be happy, is to move forward with your life, to do all the things that you want to do. Because by feeling sorry for yourself, by holding onto the past, by reliving it, that's only allowing them to steal more of your life away from you. And they don't deserve that. They don't deserve a single second more. So, you need to be happy and you need to move on with your life."

Reference

Goalcast. (2018, September 13). Kidnapped but Not Powerless! An Inspiring Speech by Elizabeth Smart| Inspiring Women of Goalcast. [Video] YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYVAQk8WG-Q

Haruna Tanaka

A meaning of the trauma

She is a fire dancer, Danielle Torley. When she was young, she lost her mother in a house fire. She also involved the house fire. Why she decided to become a fire dancer through such traumatic accident?

Some years later, she and her family seemed to overcome the grief but she felt full of fear in her life. Then she saw a fire dance, and she found "I need the art as my hobby to overcome my trauma. Because the dance is like a kind of meditation, it will relieve me." She started practicing. Finally, became a great dancer.

In the presentation, she called the practice of fire dance as an "exposure therapy". By doing so, she could accept the fear of the fire. As Chapter 11 reading (Meaning, Purpose, and Growth) says, after acsepting trauma, you can find your role of your life. Therefore trauma seemed like meaningful. I thought she went through the process, too.

In conclusion, accepting traumatic memory is really important. However, it can take long time, and it sometimes needs a event happened by chance, like she saw the fire dance. So I think you don't feel pressed. The time will come unexpectedly. All you have to do is to watch for meeting the chance.

Reference:

Danielle Torey. (2020, Novemver 26). I steped out of grierf ------by dancing with fire.[Video] YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3clwllhdlg

Overall Summary / Synthesis

It can be painful to live, we sometimes encounter an overwelming events. So all people can have trauma,but it's okay! What important is to overcome it. Then you can find what to do in the future based on the breakthrough.

In the TED talks, there're a lot of honored people, but they sometimes have the trauma as well. By listening their ideas, you can find how to overcome sorrow.

Getting over a traumatic memory is really hard. So you can spend many time. One thing important is accepting it, and find your way or roll of your life.

Haruna Tanaka

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