Primer on Posttraumatic Growth

A guide for helping your clients overcome negative events, based on the latest research on posttraumatic growth

Drawing on the growing empirical and theoretical material on posttraumatic growth—an outgrowth of the positive psychology movement—Primer on Posttraumatic Growth provides insight, depth, and treatment recommendations for both the clinicians who work with those who have experienced dramatic negative events in their lives and for other professionals who support victims of trauma and extreme stress.

This essential primer examines:

• The connections between meaning and growth
• The impact of cognitive processing on posttraumatic growth
• Positive emotion and posttraumatic growth
• Posttraumatic growth and an 'open' personality
• The human drive to be in positive and important interpersonal relationships
• Forgiveness: can it be extended towards all areas of posttraumatic growth?
• Posttraumatic growth and religious and spiritual variables
• Wisdom and posttraumatic growth

MARY BETH WERDEL, PhD, is an assistant professor at Fordham University. She writes and lectures on the relationships between posttraumatic growth and both positive and negative aspects of spirituality. Dr. Werdel is also a Licensed Professional Counselor and family therapist, skilled in working with families from a variety of cultural and experiential backgrounds.

ROBERT J. WICKS, PsyD, is a clinical psychologist and a professor at Loyola University Maryland, where he teaches in the largest CACREP-approved counseling program of its type in the world. The author of more than forty-five books, Wicks is a recognized expert in the prevention of secondary stress. He has addressed thousands of educators and professionals, including students at the FBI Academy and caregivers in China, Vietnam, Northern Ireland, and South Africa.