Jim Rendon — author of Upside: The New Science of Post-Traumatic Growth — discusses exciting, new research on how traumatic experiences can be opportunities for personal transformation. 

Here's what we talked about: 

2:15 – The amazing story of Jim’s father and how it got him interested in what happens to us after we survive trauma. 

11:37 – The surprising responses from prisoners of war and combat veterans that started the study of post-traumatic growth, and why it hadn’t really been studied before. 

15:46 – The 5 distinct areas of post-traumatic growth, why they’re so hard to measure and the ways we try to measure them anyway. 

20:29 – PTSD: what goes on in the brain and the body after trauma, and how we can manage it to help post-traumatic growth. 

25:47 – What is trauma? The complicated nature of trauma and why we never think it’s going to happen to us. 

29:31 – Deliberate rumination: how to turn a traumatic ordeal into an opportunity for transformation. 

36:13 – The importance of social support in healing, what to do if you aren’t getting the kind of support you need and how to give better support to loved ones.

40:35 – Alternative therapies: the many different paths to healing and understanding trauma. 

44:05 – A real life story about the power of perseverance and a positive attitude in post-traumatic growth. 

55:32 – Your life story: why who we are has changed and will change again over time…whether it’s with trauma or without. 

57:49 – Do we need post-traumatic growth to be happy? How trauma gives our lives more meaning, even when it doesn’t happen directly to us. 

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Hosted by Sean Croxton of Underground Wellness.