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A Researcher's Personal Narrative: Positive Emotions, Mythical Thinking and Posttraumatic Growth

C.W. Post Campus, Long Island University, NY

Despite much empirical effort, and the development of the posttraumatic growth model, we still know little about the processes of growth from trauma and the conditions that enhance or inhibit the transformation. To further explore these topics I used a journal in which, for a period of about 18 months, I recorded my struggle with a highly traumatic event. I offer a personal narrative that depicts my predicament, my efforts to recover, the thoughts and feelings I experienced and the social context in which I developed posttraumatic growth. I discuss the shifts in my grief-saturated thinking as I responded with positive emotions to my surroundings and encountered model stories of growth. I illustrate the role of mythical thinking in the cognitive processing of trauma toward growth and conclude with clinical implications.

Key Words: posttraumatic growth • personal narrative • positive emotions • mythical thinking

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