(2016) Science and education, 5, 46-52. Odessa.

Vitalii Klymchuk,
Doctor of Psychology, senior lecturer, executive director of the
Institute of Mental Health, Ukrainian Catholic University,
17, Ilariona Sventsitskoho Str., Lviv, Ukraine

POSTTRAUMATIC GROWTH AND WAYS OF FACILITATING IT IN PSYCHOTHERAPY

The relevance of the study is determined by the current situation in Ukraine and the special attention of experts to the field of mental health and posttraumatic stress disorders. Special focus on the disorder, together with the achievement of the important goal (to find the ways of treating it) can lead to stigmatisation and discrimination of people suffering from posttraumatic stress disorders (PTSD). To avoid this, the other phenomenon – the posttraumatic growth (PTG) should be put in focus. The current understanding of the PTG as a situation in which personal development, at least in some areas, has exceeded its previous level, the one a person had had before the crisis. The following tools for measuring the posttraumatic growth are used: The Changes in Outlook Questionnaire, The Posttraumatic Growth Inventory, The Stress-Related Growth Scale, The Thriving Scale, The Perceived Benefit Scales. Besides, the attention is paid to its relations with socio-demographic characteristics, personality changes, cognitive processes, the level of PTSD, the impact of posttraumatic growth on overcoming posttraumatic stress. The model of psychotherapeutic intervention facilitating posttraumatic growth and affecting the intensity of the treatment of PTSD (model by L. Calhoun, R. Tedeschi and THRIVE-model by S. Joseph) has been described. It includes the following components: taking stock (making sure a client is safe and helping him/her to overcome PTSD, for example, by means of exposure techniques); harvesting hope (to learn to have plans for the future, for example, by means of inspiring stories of people, who have experienced the same situations); re-authoring (rewriting one’s experience by means of creating stories, expressive writing technique); identifying change (observing one’s PTG with the help of the questioning or surveys); valuing change (development of confidence in new priorities); expressing change in action (searching for ways of transferring PTG in real world, for example, by means of writing week schedules).

posttraumatic stress disorder, posttraumatic growth, stress, trauma, psychotherapy.

1. Briere J., Scott C. (2014). Principles of Trauma Therapy: A Guide to Symptoms, Evaluation, and Treatment. SAGE Publications [in English].
2. Abraido-Lanza, A.F., Guier, C., & Colon, R.M. (1998). Psychological thriving among Latinas with chronic illness. Journal of Social Issues, 54, 405-424 [in English].
3. Affleck G., Tennen H., Croog S., Levine S. (1987). Causal attribution, perceived benefits, and morbidity after a heart attack: An 8-year study. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 55(1), 29-35 [in English].
4. Armeli, S., Gunthert, K. C., & Cohen, L. H. (2001). Stressor appraisals, coping, and post-event outcomes: The dimensionality and antecedents of stressrelated growth. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 20, 366-395 [in English].
5. Bower, J.E., Kemeny, M.E., Taylor, S.E., Fahey, J.L. (1998). Cognitive processing, discovery of meaning, CD4 decline, and AIDS-related mortality among bereaved HIV-seropositive men. Journal of consulting psychology, 66(6), 979-986 [in English].
6. Calhoun, L.G., Tedeschi, R.G. (1999). Facilitating Posttraumatic Growth: A Clinician’s Guide. Routledge [in English].
7. Dekel, S., Ein-Dor, T., & Solomon, Z. (2012). Posttraumatic growth and posttraumatic distress: A longitudinal study. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 4(1), 94-101 [in English].
8. Epel, E.S., McEwen, B.S., Ickovics, J.R. (1998). Embodying Psychological Thriving: Physical Thriving in Response to Stress. Journal of Social Issues, 54 (2), 301- 322 [in English].
9. Finkel, N. 1975). Strens, traumas, and trauma resolution. American Journal of Community Psychology, 3 (2), 173-178 [in English].
10. Helgeson, V.S., Reynolds, K.A., Tomich, P.L. (2006). A Meta-Analytic Review of Benefit Finding and Growth. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 74 (5), 797-816 [in English].
11. Joseph, S. (2009). Growth Following Adversity: Positive Psychological Perspectives on Posttraumatic Stress. Psychological Topics, 18 (2), 335-344 [in English].
12. Joseph, S. (2013). What Doesn’t Kill Us: A guide to overcoming adversity and moving forward. Piatkus [in English].
13. Joseph, S., Butler, L. (2010). Positive Changes Following Adversity. PTSD Research Quarterl, 21 (3), 1- 3 [in English].
14. Joseph, S., Linley, P.A., Andrews, L., Harris, G., Howle, B., Woodward, C., & et al. (2005). Assessing positive and negative changes in the aftermath of adversity: Psychometric evaluation of the Changes in Outlook Questionnaire. Psychological Assessment, 17, 70-80 [in English].
15. Joseph, S., Linley, P.A., Shevlin, M., Goodfellow, B., & Butler, L. (2006). Assessing positive and negative changes in the aftermath of adversity: A short form of the Changes in Outlook Questionnaire. Journal of Loss and Trauma, 11, 85-89 [in English].
16. Joseph, S., Williams, R., & Yule, W. (1993). Changes in outlook following disaster: The preliminary development of a measure to assess positive and negative responses. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 6, 271-279 [in English].
17. Kunst, M. J. (2010). Peritraumatic distress, posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms, and posttraumatic growth in victims of violence. Journal of traumatic stress, 23 (4), 514-518 [in English].
18. Linley, P.A., & Joseph, S. (2004). Positive change following trauma and adversity: A review. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 17, 11-21 [in English].
19. McMillen, J.C., & Fisher, R.H. (1998). The Perceived Benefit Scales: Measuring perceived positive life changes after negative events. Social Work Research, 22, 173-187 [in English].
20. Morrill, E.F., Brewer, N.T., O’Neill, S.C., Lillie, S.E., Dees, E.C., Carey, L.A., Rimer, B.K. (2008). The interaction of post-traumatic growth and post-traumatic stress symptoms in predicting depressive symptoms and quality of life. Psycho-Oncology, 17 (9), 948-953 [in English].
21. Park, C.L., Cohen, L.H., & Murch, R. (1996). Assessment and prediction of stress-related growth. Journal of Personality, 64, 71-105 [in English].
22. Taku, K., Cann, A., Calhoun, L.G., Tedeschi, R.G. (2008). The factor structure of the posttraumatic growth inventory: a comparison five models using confirmatory factor analysis. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 21 (2),158-164 [in English].
23. Tedeschi, R.G., Calhoun, L.G. (1996). The posttraumatic growth inventory: Measuring the positive legacy of trauma. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 9, 455-471 [in English].
24. Tedeschi, R.G., Calhoun, L.G. (2004). Posttraumatic Growth: conceptual foundations and empirical evidence. Psychological Inquairy, 15 (1), 1-18 [in English].
25. Zoellner, T., Maercker, A. (2006). Posttraumatic Growth and Psychotherapy. Calhoun, Lawrence G. (Ed); Tedeschi, Richard G. (Ed). Handbook of posttraumatic growth: Research & practice. US: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers [in English].