Wednesdays With Watson: Faith & Trauma Amy Watson- PTSD Patient-Trauma Survivor

What Happens After Survival? Exploring Post-Traumatic Growth

• Amy Watson: Trauma Survivor, Hope Carrier, Precious Daughter Of The Most High God • Season 7 • Episode 20

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The journey through trauma is not simply about survival – it can become a pathway to profound personal transformation. In this deeply moving episode, Amy Watson reveals her own path from childhood abuse and a suicide attempt to becoming a trauma therapist and doctoral candidate, introducing listeners to the scientifically validated concept of post-traumatic growth.

While trauma itself is never a gift, the struggle with trauma can catalyze remarkable changes in those who face it directly rather than avoid it. This isn't wishful thinking or toxic positivity – it's a psychological phenomenon documented in hundreds of research studies. Amy walks us through the five domains where this growth commonly emerges: discovering unexpected personal strength, deepening meaningful relationships, finding new life possibilities, gaining profound appreciation for everyday joys, and developing deeper spiritual understanding.

What makes this conversation particularly powerful is Amy's transparency about her own experience – how the trauma that nearly destroyed her became the foundation for her life's purpose and deepest connections. She shares the pivotal moment when a friend told her she was "worth fighting for," highlighting how safe relationships become crucial anchors in the healing journey. Particularly striking is her honesty that post-traumatic growth can coexist with ongoing symptoms; healing isn't linear, and growth doesn't erase pain.

For anyone weathering the aftermath of trauma, this episode offers genuine hope without minimizing suffering. Amy provides practical insights for nurturing growth through storytelling, social support, reflective thinking, and faith, while cautioning against rushing the process or using the concept to dismiss others' pain. Her message resonates with compassionate authority: you are not broken, healing is possible, and there is something meaningful waiting on the other side of survival. If you're struggling to believe transformation is possible after trauma, this conversation might just change your perspective.

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Speaker 2:

Hey everybody and welcome back to the Wednesdays with Watson podcast. If you don't know by now, I am your host and my name is Amy Watson. You have stumbled, maybe for the first time, on the Wednesdays with Watson podcast, and this is a podcast dedicated to all things trauma and mental health related. As I mentioned, my name is Amy and I am your host, and this podcast has been going since April of 2020, and it is our motivation and our direction, and our desire is to help those of you out there living with the effects of trauma and or severe mental illness. We are here to help On this podcast. We believe that the three C's are all that gets us to where we want to be, and we are going to talk about that in today's episode. Those three C's meaning community, church and counseling, and so today we're going to talk about something that we've not discussed before on the podcast, and so settle in and let's drop into this episode about post-traumatic growth. Okay, guys, as it turns out, there is an actual scientific term for that which I have experienced as a survivor of a lot of trauma and as a person who was diagnosed with complex post-traumatic stress disorder in 2007. Today, I am here as an advocate and as a professional who works with patients who have been traumatized every day, and just a few short months away from being Dr Amy Watson. If you have listened at all to this podcast, you know that that should not be able to happen.

Speaker 2:

Why do I say that? Well, just the cliff notes for those of you who have not listened to this podcast, and you can find many episodes here where I talk about parts of, in some cases, all of my story. And what does this mean? Why is it a big deal that I am able to do these things that I only dreamt of doing so long ago? Well, it is definitely because of Jesus, it is because of his people, but it is also because of hard work that I have done, and I am not uncomfortable telling you that, because it has been just that. It has been hard work. And so, to that end, what happens when you put in the hard work is post-traumatic growth. This is a powerful, evidence-based concept that offers hope to people like you who have walked through the fire and wondered, really wondered, if anything beautiful could possibly grow from the ashes.

Speaker 2:

And, as I say that, I think about that. Those things that I have been through, ranging from childhood abuse in any form that you can think of all the way through to domestic violence. Lots of loss, lots of grief, lots of anxiety, lots of depression, a suicide attempt, a hospitalization in 2008. That was five days after I tried to take my life, and so I look at it so many years later and I am grateful to the star of the story, who is Jesus, who is the ultimate catalyst for post-traumatic growth. I am grateful for his people and I am grateful here on the other side of this microphone, just a little bit different from those of you who have not had the opportunity to work through those things that try to destroy you. But beauty can come from ashes and if you're under the sound of my voice, you're hearing that right now. You're hearing that beauty. You're hearing those things that should not be able to happen.

Speaker 2:

So, whether you're a trauma survivor, whether you're a clinician like myself, I am both of those. Whether you're a family member of somebody who has been through trauma or someone who is just curious about what's possible when we, when we, wrestle with trauma, what, what do we? What happens when we successfully get on the other side of working through our trauma? If you are wondering any of those things, this episode is for you, and I do want to say, though, something very clearly is that post-traumatic growth is not a silver lining. That happens passively as a result. It is not some toxic positive thing that we say and, more importantly, if you're experiencing post traumatic growth, it does not negate your pain. But post traumatic growth is real, it is studied, and it is something that many survivors can, and often do, experience if they are committed to the process of working through their trauma, not avoiding their trauma, understanding that so many times that the only way through is through. So let's first talk about what is post-traumatic growth. The term post-traumatic growth was first coined in the 1990s by psychologists Richard Tedeschi and Lawrence Calhoun. They noticed that many trauma survivors didn't just recover, but they actually became stronger, wiser, and here's where I really identify with post-traumatic growth. They became more purpose driven than they were before their trauma.

Speaker 2:

Post-traumatic growth is defined as a positive psychological change that occurs. Now this is really important to listen to what I'm going to say here. It is a positive psychological change that occurs as a result of the struggle with highly challenging life circumstances. Now notice it didn't say that it's a positive psychological change that is the result of highly challenging circumstances. It's not a result of the trauma itself, but it is a result of the struggle with that trauma. Through it, only way through it is through it. It's what happens when the hard work of therapy, living in community, processing, healing, going before the Lord, it is what happens when that hard work begins and continues. It doesn't happen to everyone and it doesn't mean that the trauma is worth it, as we air quote when we say that. But it does mean that our God made the human spirit remarkably resilient. And when you think of that in history, when you think of survivors of the Holocaust, when you think of survivors of war, when you think of survivors of pestilence and famine, sometimes you see incredibly strong people come out of those hard times because of their struggle with the hard time, because of their refusal.

Speaker 2:

If you ask me one thing besides God himself, the star of the story changing the narrative for you, if you were to ask me what is the one secret ingredient? It would be not to avoid. And that's really difficult. Right, because PTSD, by definition, one of the things that has to occur if we're diagnosed in PTSD is the avoidance of the trauma. Right and so. But we understand that post-traumatic growth comes from not avoiding the trauma, not avoiding the struggle with the trauma, and so that's really important. So you've got to be in a position where you can face the things that happen to you and you can wrestle with that struggle of that trauma.

Speaker 2:

Both Tadishi and Calhoun identified five areas where post-traumatic growth tends to show up. So let's walk through them, and, as I do, I want you to think about whether this is true of you. The first is personal strength. Survivors often report discovering a new inner strength. They say things like I never knew that I could survive that, but I did. And I will tell you, guys, that there have been so many times in my life not in the past decade or even the past 15 years, but there have been so many times in my life when I was shocked that I woke up in the morning because it was that bad, the trauma was that bad, the struggle with the trauma was that bad, or my avoidance of all of it included some sort of drug induced situation where I'm literally surprised that I woke up. And so I look at those times now. Some of that trauma happened when I was seven years old, so 40 years ago. When I think about all the things that I've been through, I will absolutely say I never knew that I could survive that, but I did.

Speaker 2:

Now, as a Christian, I will absolutely tell you that that survival came because of the star of the story, jesus, who showed up and sent his people and gave me the desire to fight, but, at the same time, I had to decide to fight and that happened. And I tell this story many, many times, and I don't often go a week at work where I don't think about this story that I'm getting ready to tell you. When I was hospitalized in 2008, one of my friends came to me and one of the things that she said to me when she left she gave me a hug and I said thank you for coming and she said to me you are worth fighting for and that I look back on and I say it to patients at least once a week now at the hospital you are worth fighting for and so, if you're under the sound of my voice, remember that you are worth fighting for yourself. Right, I can fight for you, people can fight for you, but you have to fight for yourself. It is a worthy fight because you will discover the resilience, the resistance that God placed in you to survive the atrocities that this life sometimes can bring to us.

Speaker 2:

So personal strength, closer relationships. Now, it is true that our trauma can highlight bad relationships and ones that we should walk away from, but it also can clarify. This is so huge, this is so huge. It can also clarify who truly shows up for you and that I can tell you from personal experience, as I look back over the past 15 years and the people that have steadily been there with me. Whether it's the unsolicited text message, an invitation to lunch, the hug, whatever it is, we know who showed up for us and we know who did not. And those people who showed up for us, you are connected to us for the rest of your life because that's the kind of loyalty that this brings. This is post traumatic growth. It can deepen, deepen, deepen, meaningful relationships. It sometimes leads to deeper connections with others, and especially those who understand suffering. So we get personal strength that we didn't know we had. We get closer relationships because we realize who showed up for us and who did not. We understand that there are new possibilities. Man, this is huge for me.

Speaker 2:

I never in a million years thought that I could be doing what I'm doing right now, which is working in a hospital, which was always my dream, which is being a doctor, even though I'm not going to be a medical doctor. I am oh so close to that. Healing, just healing. I've got a private practice in victory, trauma counseling just the things that are available to me now that weren't available when I started all of this hard work. It's absolutely mind blowing to me and it reminds me of that, that verse Ephesians 320, where the Bible says that he is able to do, exceedingly and abundantly all that we could ask or think. And when I look back on what I thought that I would be doing, I didn't even think I'd be alive at 53 years old guys. But to know that I next May will walk across the stage at Liberty University and be hooded Dr Amy Watson, is mind blowing to me and, by definition, post traumatic growth.

Speaker 2:

Oh, I am so grateful to the Lord. I am so grateful to Jesus, who is the star of the story. I am grateful to those people who showed up and continue to show up for me. I continue. I am so grateful for the people that pray for me. I am grateful for the people who walk this road with me, the people that I can be myself with. I am so grateful, and I never thought that those relationships would be possible. I never thought that this vocation could be possible, never even really considered a doctorate degree. But here we are post traumatic growth, and so not only do we get personal strength that we didn't know we had, not only are the relationships that matter brought closer, but we understand that the sky is the limit for us. They pursue new careers that would be me creative outlets we started this podcast five years ago advocacy roles an entirely new path that they would have never considered before. Oh, the possibilities for those who want to be on the other side of all the bad right.

Speaker 2:

These two scientists, these two doctors also realized that there was an appreciation for life. After trauma. They found that small joys became more precious. Survivors often described noticing beauty in the ordinary things that they didn't before, and that is so true. A sunrise, a sunset, a body of water. Yesterday I was late for church and so I ended up just grabbing my hammock and going to the park and throwing my hammock up between these two massive oak trees, looking out on the Gulf. I live in the Tampa Bay area and just the appreciation for the sun glistening off of the water, the warmth of the sun, the cool of the breeze, it was just like unbelievable. And for somebody who did not want to be alive to the tune of taking handfuls of pills, an appreciation for life is definitely part of my story.

Speaker 2:

These doctors also in addition to personal strength and closer relationships and new possibilities, appreciation for life.

Speaker 2:

They saw that people with post-traumatic growth it shook their belief system. People with post-traumatic growth. It shook their belief system but then it led to a deeper or redefined spirituality, faith or worldview. And I think about what my struggle with trauma did for my faith. I will never forget when I, early on, right after I first got out of my domestic violence marriage and I was standing by a closet that was filled with t-shirts from vacations that we had gone together and the pain just overtook me and I slid down the wall and I just sat there for hours and did battle with the Lord and I remembered liking it in my mind to the wrestling match that Jacob had with the angel and Jacob said I will not let go until you bless me. And that's what it was like for me that night, I went from wondering whether God still existed to a sweet communion with him, begging him to walk me through what seemed like was going to take me over, and it did. It deepened my faith with Jesus. It deepened it. I am so grateful. Now again, though, guys, none of this erases the pain, but these changes that we just talked about the personal strength, the closer relationships, the new possibilities in life, the appreciation for just the little things in life and for the spiritual growth, they exist and they're part of healing.

Speaker 2:

So, for those of you out there, like me, who are my science buffs, what does the science say about this? Is this just a feel-good theory? Is it just something that Watson has made up? Actually, no. There are 400 peer-reviewed studies that have investigated post-traumatic growth across populations. This includes combat veterans, people like me, survivors of abuse, survivors with life-threatening illnesses of abuse, survivors with life-threatening illnesses, car accidents, abandon, neglect, all of it. For example, a 2021 study published in the Frontiers of Psychology found that post-traumatic growth was significantly associated this should not surprise us with lower depression and greater life satisfaction in trauma survivors, even if the PTSD symptoms remain.

Speaker 2:

And here's something important you can have post-traumatic growth and post-traumatic stress disorder at the same time. That is true of me. I still, technically, would have all of the things, all of the DSM criteria for post-traumatic stress, but I also have all the criteria for post-traumatic growth. It reminds me that song by Avalon that truly is this intersection of where joy and sorrow meet. Ptsd and post-traumatic growth is not mutually exclusive. You can still and I do experience nightmares, anxiety, hypervigilance, and the deeper faith, the new purpose, the gratitude, the better relationships, because, you see, the human heart is complex like that, because our God, our creator, is mind-blowingly creative when he created us and he created us with the ability to heal.

Speaker 2:

So, as I've mentioned many times, if you have listened to this podcast before, you know that I live my own story with PTSD. You know that I've had my own days when I didn't think I would make it through. And I'm not here to wrap this story up and put a bow on it and call it good, but I have seen the goodness of God in the land of the living for me. I have seen post-traumatic growth in my own life and I will, until my last breath, tell you about it, because healing looks like this podcast, healing looks like an almost completed doctorate degree. Healing looks like the deep personal relationships that I'm able to have. Healing looks like working on an inpatient unit as a therapist and helping people. Healing looks like full night's sleep. People Healing looks like full night's sleep. Healing looks like the ability to eat without problems. Healing looks like no hospitalizations. Healing is for me because God has given it to me, because of the way he created me and the hard work and the people that he has put in my life, and able to do that Because, you see, post-traumatic growth doesn't mean that I wanted the trauma.

Speaker 2:

There was a time when I would tell you that I would go through all the trauma again if it just helped one person, and I don't mean that, really I don't. If I had to choose it again, I would not go through it again, but it happened it. Just because I decide to grow from it doesn't mean that I wanted it or that I'm making it something that didn't happen. Trauma can be redeemed and has been in my life. So some of you might be asking me a question how can we cultivate post-traumatic growth? Well, here are a few key factors that research has shown to support it. Telling your story helps you make meaning of your experience. Yeah right, telling your stories, finding somebody that will listen.

Speaker 2:

Therapy is also another way to do this Journaling, listening to podcasts, trusted conversations with your friends. Tell your story, because it matters. Also, get yourself some social support. I've said this from the very beginning of this podcast. It is one of our C3s community social support, because safe relationships matter, whether that's friends, whether it's support groups or whether it's a trauma-informed therapist. Post-traumatic growth thrives in connection and if you've been a part of this podcast for any amount of time, you know that another C, as I mentioned at the beginning of the podcast, is church. Guess where you can get both community and church at the same place? Social support, because safe relationships matter. And, just as a side note, if you're listening to this podcast because you love somebody with PTSD or because you just love people in general, please know that safe relationships matter. That same friend that told me that I was worth fighting for I met at church. We started a friendship over normal things going to football games with your coworkers, all the things but she was safe and she invested in a relationship with me and 15 years later, I am here to tell about it and I should not be.

Speaker 2:

The third thing is, post-traumatic growth often comes from slowing down and thinking deeply about what the trauma has changed in you, and thinking deeply about what the trauma has changed in you. It's about noticing those shifts, not forcing them. It's about being curious of how the trauma has changed you. There is no judgment. It is not good, it is not bad. It is about being curious about how the trauma has changed you. It's about noticing the shifts, not forcing them.

Speaker 2:

The fourth thing, the key factor that research has shown that supports post-traumatic growth, is spirituality, or faith. Many survivors report that faith gave them the framework for the meaning making that we talked about earlier. When you tell your story and, in fact, spiritual growth, this is not at all shocking to me. It's like a duh moment, right? Spiritual growth is one of the most reported forms of post traumatic growth, and here's a key point, though Whether it's begin telling your story or finding safe relationships that matter, or diving deep onto the how the trauma has changed you with great curiosity and no judgment and faith, you cannot rush them. Growth is not a straight line, it is not linear, it is probably all over the place, it is not a checklist, and it unfolds in its time. You got this, you can do this Now.

Speaker 2:

A word of caution as we close. I want to be very clear. We can never use post-traumatic growth, pursuit of it or when someone has it. We cannot use it to minimize somebody's pain. If somebody said to me yeah, but look at what a great person you are now or look at what you're doing now, I would want to slap them because just because I've done the hard work and I've I'm exhibiting post-traumatic growth, it does not mean that that trauma doesn't still hurt me at some point, maybe every day of my life.

Speaker 2:

We should not tell survivors everything happens for a reason or you'll come out stronger. And a note to Christians here we'd love to throw out Romans 8, 28,. But God will work all things together for good to the glory of them that love God. Right Great verse. We don't read the one before it and we don't read the one after it. We've got to be careful at throwing those kinds of Bible verses at trauma that is just unearthed. Is that true that God works all things together for good to those that love him and are called according to his purpose, absolutely? But we must not weaponize verses like that. We must not tell them everything happens for a reason, does it Sure? But we live in a broken, broken world, and that is far too simplistic for somebody who has been through a ton of trauma.

Speaker 2:

Post-traumatic growth is something that we might discover in time, but it should never, ever be rushed, it should never be pressed onto somebody. Let them get there on their own. So I want to say to you today, though, if you're in the thick of it, if PTSD has a grip on you, you are not broken and healing is possible. And, yes, growth is possible. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but if you want it, there is something on the other side of survival, and that something is post-traumatic growth and together with a community, with counseling, with a church, telling your story, finding safe relationships, thinking and being curious about what the trauma has done and how it has changed you, with no judgment, and increasing your faith, if you will blindly take some of those steps, you will be surprised what might happen for you on the other side. As always, I am just a text message away.

Speaker 2:

If you want to talk to me more about how you might be able to experience post-traumatic growth and you just want to shoot me a message, you can do that right there in your app. Send me a text message I am the only one that gets that and I will address it on the podcast. That's the only way I can answer that. Or you can send me an email. That email is amywatsonauthor at gmailcom or Instagram. Author amywatson, I would love to help you take your first step to post-traumatic growth, and so we'll be back here in two weeks, and before we do that, you know what I'm going to say. You are seen, you are known, you are heard, you are loved and you are so. You are known, you are heard, you are loved and you are so, so valued.

Speaker 1:

You lead my heart to victory. You are my strength and you always will be. I see the evidence of your goodness All over my life, all over my life, all over my life. I see promises and fulfillment all over my life, all over my life, my all my sin the evidence is endless, all my sin rolled away Because of you. Oh Jesus, oh, I see the evidence of your goodness All over my life, all over my life, all over my life. I see your promises and fulfillment All over my life, all over my life. Yeah, when I see you when I wake up in the morning, yeah, I see your promises in fulfillment all over my life, all around us. So why should I fear? The evidence is here. Why should I fear? All the evidence is here. You.

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Amy Watson

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