The Posttraumatic Growth Workbook - by Richard G Tedeschi & Bret A Moore (Paperback)

About the Book

Having a traumatic experience does not automatically mean someone will develop PTSD. In fact, many men and women--from veterans to victims of assault to those injured in accidents--have reported that, through their struggles with the effects of trauma, they now experience life differently and have found meaning in their traumatic life event. Written by two psychologists and experts on trauma psychology--including one of the key researchers on posttraumatic growth (PTG)--this unique, evidence-based, step-by-step workbook offers trauma survivors a new model for processing their traumatic experience in order to gain wisdom, strength, and resilience.

Book Synopsis

People who experience trauma often struggle with its effects, but many men and women have found meaning in their traumatic event and now experience life differently. Written by two psychologists and experts on trauma psychology--including one of the key researchers on posttraumatic growth (PTG)--this unique, evidence-based, step-by-step workbook offers a new model for processing traumatic experiences in order to gain wisdom, strength, and resilience.

There is no denying the psychological and physical costs of trauma, but suffering a traumatic experience does not necessarily mean you'll develop posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and have to live with its debilitating long-term symptoms. While the process of recovering from trauma is difficult and painful, survivors also experience posttraumatic growth (PTG). And with the right approach to healing, the same challenges that create PTSD can also set the stage for a psychological rebirth.

The Posttraumatic Growth Workbook expands the focus on posttraumatic stress and its related difficulties to include the significant potential for positive growth in the aftermath of trauma. With this guide, you'll learn more about traumatic experiences and their short- and long-term effects, discover where you are in your own process, explore vulnerability as an important aspect of post-traumatic strength, identify and develop other strengths for coping with--and growing beyond--your trauma, and successfully integrate your experience into your personal story.

Navigating the aftereffects of trauma is a difficult journey, but many people report having a new appreciation for life and feeling even more resilient after working through their traumatic event. Using this powerful, PTG-based workbook, you'll find it's possible to come out of your trauma even stronger and wiser.

Review Quotes

"If there were no trauma, there would be no posttraumatic growth. When trauma happens, a new path begins. This path may be full of sorrow and despair, but we are not alone. In spite of trauma, we can grow as people. This book offers the key to unlocking our true potential."
--Kanako Taku, certified clinical psychologist in Japan, and associate professor in the psychology department at Oakland University


"Richard Tedeschi and Bret Moore's The Posttraumatic Growth Workbook is a gift to people suffering from loss, grief, and trauma. These useful exercises and helpful--and hopeful--readings will not only assist you as you cope with loss, but, more importantly, will help you to continue to grow, despite loss and grief."
--Rev. Kenneth J. Doka, PhD, professor at the College of New Rochelle Graduate School, senior consultant for the Hospice Foundation of America, and author of Grief is a Journey


"We see the suffering and results of over fifteen years of war in Iraq and Afghanistan on a daily basis at Boulder Crest Retreat for Military and Veteran Wellness. We also see the amount of strength that exists in military families. If there is one community in our nation that can achieve posttraumatic growth, it is the combat veteran who was forged on the anvil of adversity, and the military family that endured the long and stressful deployments. This workbook is a must for our brothers and sisters who have witnessed the worse that humanity has to offer--war."
--Ken Falke, retired US Navy Bomb Disposal specialist, philanthropist, and founder of the EOD Warrior Foundation and Boulder Crest Retreat for Military and Veteran Wellness

About the Author

Richard G. Tedeschi, PhD, is professor of psychology at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and a licensed psychologist in practice for over thirty-five years. He helped originate the concept of posttraumatic growth (PTG), and has published many academic books and articles on the subject. Tedeschi has consulted with the US Army and many other institutions to train professionals in growth-oriented practice.

Bret A. Moore, PsyD, ABPP, is a prescribing psychologist and board-certified clinical psychologist in San Antonio, TX. He is a former active-duty Army psychologist and two-tour veteran of Iraq. Moore is the author and editor of fifteen books and has authored dozens of book chapters, scientific papers, and popular press articles. His views on clinical psychology have been quoted in USA Today, The New York Times, and The Boston Globe, and on CNN and Fox News. He has appeared on NPR, the BBC, and CBC.