Dealing with Trauma & Adversity

      "The greatest and most important problems of life are all fundamentally insoluble. They can never be solved but only outgrown (accepted & transcended)."          Carl Jung 

 

     “traumatic life experiences can be conducive to the development of (personal) wisdom, a notion prominent in concepts such as post-traumatic growth, stress-related growth, or growth through adversity. After negative experiences such as accidents, life-threatening illness, or the death of a close other person, many people report self-perceived increases in aspects of personal growth such as compassion, affect regulation, self-understanding, honesty and reliability, spirituality, and self-reported wisdom itself. While such self-perceptions of growth may be delusional, it seems plausible that personal wisdom is fostered by the experience of fundamental changes that ‘force’ individuals to grow by challenging them to reorganize – but not completely destroy – their assumptions about life and priorities.”

     Staudinger UM, Gluck J. "Psychological wisdom research: commonalities and differences in a growing field." Annu Rev Psychol 2011; 62: 215-41.
 

     “There are at least two ways to picture a broken heart, using heart in its original meaning not merely as the seat of the emotions but as the core of our sense of self. The conventional image, of course, is that of a heart broken by unbearable tension into a thousand shards—shards that sometimes become shrapnel aimed at the source of our pain. Every day, untold numbers of people try to ‘pick up the pieces,’ some of them taking grim satisfaction in the way the heart’s explosion has injured their enemies. Here the broken heart is an unresolved wound that we too often inflict on others.
     But there is another way to visualize what a broken heart might mean. Imagine that small, clenched fist of a heart ‘broken open’ into largeness of life, into greater capacity to hold one’s own and the world’s pain & joy. This, too, happens every day. Who among us has not seen evidence, in our own or other people’s lives, that compassion and grace can be the fruits of great suffering? Here heartbreak becomes a source of healing, enlarging our empathy and extending our ability to reach out.” 

     Palmer PJ. "The politics of the brokenhearted. On holding the tensions of democracy." Fetzer Foundation, 2005.
 

     “When worldviews change, new possibilities can emerge, even within the same set of circumstances. Worldview transformation … is a fundamental shift in perspective that results in long-lasting changes in people’s sense of self, perception of relationship to the world around them, and way of being.”  

     Schlitz MM, Vieten C, Miller EM. "Worldview transformation and the development of social consciousness." Journal of Consciousness Studies 2010; 17(7-8): 18-36. 


      "The most intense conflicts, if overcome, leave behind a sense of security and calm that is not easily disturbed. It is just these intense conflicts and their conflagration which are needed to produce valuable and lasting results."             Carl Jung

     In Nova Scotia, dentists, physicians and veterinarians can call a free, confidential Professionals' Support Program, operated by Doctors Nova Scotia:

Confidential help line: 
902-468-8215  or  1-855-275-8215 (toll-free)
E-mail: professionalsupport@doctorsns.com

Photo: winerston   www.dpreview.com