Posttraumatic Growth: Helping Clients Overcome Trauma
Trauma touches the lives of many of the clients with whom rehabilitation counselors work. Posttraumatic Growth (PTG) is a positive psychological response to trauma, manifesting as improvements in critical life areas such as relationships, personality, self-efficacy, and spirituality. Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is an anxiety disorder triggered by trauma. While PTG and PTSD are separate entities, the two have a strong positive correlation. Stress and severe trauma are required to set both PTG and PTSD in motion. Although some people are predisposed to develop PTG based on variables associated with personality traits and the trauma itself, PTG can be facilitated in counseling and therapy. The purpose of this paper is to educate rehabilitation counselors about the difference between PTG and PTSD and to provide recommendations for promoting PTG in clients receiving treatment for PTSD.