Posttraumatic Growth: Helping Clients Overcome Trauma

2012 ◽  
Vol 43 (4) ◽  
pp. 12-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sena Moran ◽  
Eileen Burker ◽  
Judy Schmidt

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.

2013 ◽  
Vol 35 ◽  
pp. 43-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ulrike Schmidt ◽  
Sebastian F. Kaltwasser ◽  
Carsten T. Wotjak

PTSD can develop in the aftermath of traumatic incidents like combat, sexual abuse, or life threatening accidents. Unfortunately, there are still no biomarkers for this debilitating anxiety disorder in clinical use. Anyhow, there are numerous studies describing potential PTSD biomarkers, some of which might progress to the point of practical use in the future. Here, we outline and comment on some of the most prominent findings on potential imaging, psychological, endocrine, and molecular PTSD biomarkers and classify them into risk, disease, and therapy markers. Since for most of these potential PTSD markers a causal role in PTSD has been demonstrated or at least postulated, this review also gives an overview on the current state of research on PTSD pathobiology.


2020 ◽  
pp. 003022282090965
Author(s):  
Yudi Zhang ◽  
Xiaoming Jia

Previous studies have sporadically explored the effect of various bonds on the mental health of shiduers (i.e., parents who lost their only child). However, research has rarely classified different bonds to systematically describe their effects. This study administered a self-compiled questionnaire, the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale, the Zung Self-Rating Anxiety Scale, the posttraumatic stress disorder Checklist, the Prolonged Grief Questionnaire, the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory, and the Adult Dispositional Hope Scale to 466 shiduers. The commemoration rituals that occur soon after the loss predict a lower level of posttraumatic stress disorder. Similarly, the commemoration rituals that occur on special days predict lower levels of depression and anxiety. In contrast, the continuation of commemoration rituals on ordinary days predicts higher levels of depression and prolonged grief. Support from family members and relatives, other shiduers, and nonshiduer friends are all beneficial to shiduers’ mental health.


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