Post-Traumatic Growth 

My friend, David Murray, recently crafted an outstanding post on Post-Traumatic Growth. I’d encourage you to read his entire post. Here are my reflections, prompted by David’s post. 

PTSD and PTGR 

For a long time I’ve believed that to PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) we must add PTGR: Post-Traumatic Growth Reorder. 

If we are to do that, then we first need to compassionately acknowledge the stress, pain, hurt, and difficulties that come with trauma. No biblical counselor should minimize the evil impact of sin—whether being sinned against personally or experiencing the results of living in a sinful world (cancer, disasters, etc.). 

However, if all we do is talk about sin and disorder, then we have maximized sin and minimized grace. Romans 5:20 tells us that where sin abounds, grace superabounds! 

If the only story we tell in relationship to trauma is the “disorder story” then we set up people for discouragement, depression, and failure. 

The Stories We Tell Ourselves 

David Murray notes that, “Psychologists who have studied how people respond to trauma say that the key to profiting from pain is the story we tell ourselves when we are facing hard times.” 

What psychologists discovered through descriptive research, the Bible has taught us through Divine revelation. Joseph reminded his brothers that though they intended their abuse of him for evil, good affectionately and sovereignly crafted their actions into results that were good (Gen. 50:20). 

And the Apostle Paul, in the context of suffering in a fallen world, reminds us that God works together all things for good. He defines that ultimate good as being transformed and conformed into the image of Christ. 

Justin and Lindsey Holcomb, in their book on healing from sexual assault, Rid of My Disgrace, explain that: 

“We can’t avoid the question, ‘Who am I really’? And we can only answer that by answering the prior question, ‘In what story do I find myself a part?’ Story is powerful. The link between story and identity cannot be understated… There is another story different from the victim story and the self-affirmation story. God offers the redemptive story told in Scripture. The identity from that story is founded on grace.” 

Murray quotes Achor who pulled together the research on trauma and the stories we tell ourselves: 

“Study after study shows that if we are able to conceive of a failure as an opportunity for growth, we are all the more likely to experience that growth. Conversely, if we conceive of a fall as the worst thing in the world, it becomes just that.” 

Then Murray provides a remarkable illustration of this truth found in the growing body of research into post-traumatic growth (PTG) among military personnel. In Murray’s words: 

“Until recently the focus and headlines have all been about Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), an emphasis that produces additional problems, as Dr. Martin Seligman explains:” 

‘If all a soldier knows about is PTSD, and not about resilience and growth, it creates a self-fulfilling downward spiral. Your buddy was killed yesterday in Afghanistan. Today you burst into tears, and you think, I’m falling apart; I’ve got PTSD; my life is ruined. These thoughts increase the symptoms of anxiety and depression—indeed, PTSD is a particularly nasty combination of anxiety and depression—which in turn increases the intensity of the symptoms. Merely knowing that bursting into tears is not a symptom of PTSD but a symptom of normal grief and mourning, usually followed by resilience, helps to put the brakes on the downward spiral’ (Flourish, Kindle 2546). 

“Seligman refers here to an alternative route for potential PTSD sufferers. In his research he questioned 1700 people who had experienced one or more of ‘the fifteen worst things that can happen in a person’s life: torture, grave illness, death of a child, rape, imprisonment, and so on. To our surprise, individuals who’d experienced one awful event had more intense strengths (and therefore higher well-being) than individuals who had none. Individuals who’d been through two awful events were stronger than individuals who had one, and individuals who had three—raped, tortured, and held captive for example—were stronger than those who had two’ (Flourish, 2578).” 

“In another study ‘61.1 percent of imprisoned airmen tortured for years by the North Vietnamese said that they had benefited psychologically from their ordeal. What’s more, the more severe their treatment, the greater the post-traumatic growth.’ Seligman goes on to caution:” 

‘This is not remotely to suggest that we celebrate trauma itself; rather we should make the most of the fact that trauma often sets the stage for growth, and we must teach our soldiers about the conditions under which such growth is most likely to happen’ (Flourish, 2601). 

The Redemptive Story 

Murray concludes with these insightful words of counsel: 

“We agree that the key is the story we tell ourselves. But Christians don’t have to make up a story that may or may not be true, and that may or may not have a happy ending. They simply have to connect by faith with the already-written redemptive story of God. It’s the truest of all stories and has the happiest of all endings for all its characters.” 

Where Are We Focused? Who Do We Trust? 

As we look back on our lives, especially the painful events, where are we focused? Do we allow past pain to so dominate our lives that we doom ourselves to the self-fulfilling prophecy that we are forever scared without any hope for growth? 

Or, do we consciously bring Christ and His redemptive purposes into the picture? Yes, we tell ourselves the truth about the trauma that happened—we don’t deny it or minimize it. We feel its full impact. However, we also tell ourselves the whole truth—the truth about a good God with a good heart who works good out of evil, who creates beauty for ashes (Isaiah 61:1-3). 

God’s Word invites us to turn to our Heavenly Father who took the most despicable evil ever—the crucifixion of His completely innocent Son—and defeated the sin and shame of that evil with resurrection power. Healing from trauma is not only believing a story. It is also trusting the Storyteller—God. 

Join the Conversation 

As you face trauma and suffering, pain and hurt, what story are you telling yourself? Who are you entrusting your soul to? 

RPM Ministries: Equipping You to Change Lives with Christ’s Changeless Truth