PTSD

The Post-Traumatic Growth Approach to Psychological Trauma

January 18, 2024
World Psychiatry
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Dr. Richard Tedeschi

Over the years, the profession of psychiatry has become increasingly wedded to diagnostic systems such as the ICD and DSM, and to biological interventions. The major professional mental health organizations have recognized manualized “evidence-based” forms of intervention as the standard for treatment of traumatic syndromes such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). But there have been challenges to these approaches. In this article Dr. Tedeschi offers an alternative: the post-traumatic growth approach to psychological trauma.

This innovative approach to trauma intervention, we believe, is a pathway to a more humane and effective way to help a variety of trauma populations.

The post-traumatic growth process is very similar no matter the originating traumas. What is necessary is for expert companions to be an essential part of the response to trauma survivors and to appreciate the opportunities for much more than a recovery. Trauma changes people, but the changes do not need to be diminishment. They are more likely to be growth.

Read the full article here.

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