From Devastation to Integration: Adjusting to and Growing From Medical Trauma

Recent trauma research has begun to investigate the possibility of posttraumatic growth. However, most studies have investigated posttraumatic growth using quantitative methods and thus have neglected people’s subjective experience and have left unexamined post-traumatic growth in persons with visib...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Qualitative health research 2006-10, Vol.16 (8), p.1021-1037
Main Authors: Salick, Elizabeth C., Auerbach, Carl F.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adaptation, Psychological
Adult
Aged
Data analysis
Disability
Disabled Persons - psychology
Female
Health technology assessment
Humans
Interviews as Topic
Life Change Events
Male
Medical research
Middle Aged
Personal development
Personal growth
Physical trauma
Positive life orientation
Qualitative research
Resilience
Self Efficacy
Trauma care
United States
Wounds and Injuries - psychology
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Summary:Recent trauma research has begun to investigate the possibility of posttraumatic growth. However, most studies have investigated posttraumatic growth using quantitative methods and thus have neglected people’s subjective experience and have left unexamined post-traumatic growth in persons with visible impairment. To fill some of these gaps, the authors examined the process of recovery and posttraumatic growth using a qualitative method. They interviewed 10 participants with visible impairment from chronic illness or serious injury using a semistructured interview. Using a grounded theory data analysis procedure, the authors developed a stage model of trauma and recovery from the interviews. The stages that emerged are thematically entitled Apprehension, Diagnosis and Devastation, Choosing to Go On, Building a Way to Live, and Integration of the Trauma and Expansion of the Self. The authors discuss limitations of the study and clinical implications for psychological counseling with this population.
ISSN:1049-7323
1552-7557
DOI:10.1177/1049732306292166