Post-Traumatic Growth: How Healing Can Lead to Transformation
By Rebecca Prolman, LMFT
If you're on a healing journey, you might wonder if things will ever feel different—if the weight of trauma will ever lift or if you’ll always feel stuck in its aftermath.
I used to question this, too. And the answer I discovered is a paradox: the weight of trauma does lift, AND we always live within its aftermath. Healing doesn’t erase what happened. Instead, we integrate those experiences, process them, and grow beyond them. This is called Post-Traumatic Growth.
What Is Post-Traumatic Growth?
Psychologists Richard Tedeschi, PhD, and Lawrence Calhoun, PhD, introduced the concept of Post-Traumatic Growth (PTG) in the 1990s. Their research highlighted how individuals who struggle with psychological challenges after trauma can often experience unexpected personal growth through their healing journey. While trauma can bring pain and hardship, the process of healing can also cultivate resilience, insight, and deeper connections to oneself and others.
Signs of Post-Traumatic Growth
PTG manifests in many ways, and its impact is deeply personal. Some common signs include:
A greater appreciation for life and a renewed sense of purpose.
A deeper desire to live intentionally and align with what truly matters.
A stronger connection to oneself, marked by increased self-esteem, self-compassion, and nervous system regulation.
An enhanced ability to be present in the moment.
Deeper emotional intimacy in relationships.
Greater trust in oneself and the confidence to set boundaries and speak up.
A greater capacity to navigate discomfort and continue growing, even when faced with challenges.
My Own Experience With PTG
People often ask me how I can hold space for others to share and process their trauma every day. I tend to attract clients to my practice who have been through some truly horrific experiences - How do I do this work without becoming overwhelmed?
I have two answers. The first is my own healing—my own Post-Traumatic Growth.
Because the truth is, in my teens and early twenties, my trauma symptoms kept my capacities painfully low. I had regular panic attacks. My feelings were fragile, and I would spiral easily. I was constantly hyper-vigilant, scanning for judgment from others. Speaking my mind or asking for what I needed brought on overwhelming anxiety.
Although I am certainly not “fully healed” (is anyone?), my healing journey has expanded my ability to navigate discomfort, offer compassion without taking on others’ pain, trust in my own worth, and hold hope even when someone in front of me feels completely lost.
And that brings me to my second answer: I do this work because I hold hope and intention for all of my clients. When I see someone struggling, I don’t just see their pain—I also see the deeper connection to themselves, the self-trust, the resilience, and the joy that can emerge on the other side of healing.
And I am holding this hope for you, too. Always. 💛
PTG and CPTSD: Can They Coexist?
It’s important to note that PTG and Complex PTSD (CPTSD) can exist together or separately. Many people who have endured significant trauma experience elements of PTG while still grappling with CPTSD symptoms. Growth does not mean trauma symptoms completely disappear, nor does it mean healing is linear. It is possible to experience profound transformation while still moving through the complexities of trauma recovery.
As a personal example, one of my areas of trauma was an experience when I was 16 and 17, where I was placed in a residential “treatment center” (that’s what they marketed as). Many years later, at 28 years old I iniated a lawsuit against the treatment center for abuse, with the goal to shut them down. They were still operating, and teens were still trapped there.
There were many years after I left the treatment center where this wouldn’t have been possible, for me, due to my trauma symptoms. Every time I thought about or talked about my experiences, I would spiral into flashbacks and panic attacks. I felt immense shame and confusion, along with a swirling sensation in my mind—like my body and brain were screaming, Danger! Don’t look here!
This trauma also affected my ability to feel safe in personal therapy. Therapy itself became a trigger, reminding me of the abusive treatment I had endured. But over time, I was able to work through and heal enough to take action. That healing gave me the capacity to pursue the lawsuit—and ultimately, the facility shut down because of it.
That doesn’t mean I never got triggered during the legal process. There were moments when vivid memories resurfaced, bringing somatic flashbacks of threat. Sometimes, I felt the same deep shame I carried while I was there. But instead of being consumed by these triggers, I could recognize them, move through them, and even use them as opportunities for further healing.
Healing isn’t about never being triggered again. But now, I have a much greater capacity to stay connected with myself, to think about those experiences without being swallowed by them. The memories no longer bring the same overwhelming suffering.
And because of that healing, I was able to follow through with the lawsuit and sit with my clients who have endured similar traumas—helping them find their own path to healing.
Healing Doesn’t Erase Trauma—But It Can Expand Your Capacity for Life
Healing does not return us to the person we might have been without trauma—because that is not possible. And while at first this may feel desired, what is on the other side of healing trauma has so much more for us!
Healing offers us an opportunity to grow beyond our experiences. Through healing, we can develop greater emotional depth, self-awareness, and resilience than we might have otherwise.
This does not mean we must be grateful for what happened to us, nor does it suggest that trauma is a necessary ingredient for growth. But it does remind us that even in the aftermath of pain, hope and transformation are possible.
If you are on a healing journey, know that PTG is not something you have to force or rush. Growth unfolds in its own time - the healing process is deemed a “process” for a reason; it’s slow and steady and the growth reveals itself along the journey.
I have experienced this transformation first hand and have witnessed it in others many times. And if you are struggling to see the possibility of growth right now, please know this: I am holding that hope for you. 💛
How You Can Begin Your Healing Journey
If you’d like to learn more about healing and working toward Post-Traumatic Growth, I have two offers for you:
A Healing Complex Trauma Mini Course – This course lays out the foundations of complex trauma and its impact. ✨
A 4-Week LIVE Course – We will explore more deeply how complex trauma impacts mental health challenges and how to begin the healing process. ♥️
No matter where you are on your journey, healing is possible—and growth is, too.
I’m rooting for your healing!