Abstract:
From the moment they occur, crisis events involving personal loss can disrupt people’s lives and irrevocably change how they engage with the world. Living with the crisis of irreplaceable loss in a world that has suddenly become unfamiliar and unpredictable is both existentially and psychologically challenging. In the aftermath of crisis, how does the survivor go about relearning his existence and incorporating the inconceivable into a newly emerging view of the world? In Western society it is quite common for individuals and groups to report that their experiences of powerfully disturbing crisis events have created a set of conditions that forced them to make significant personal changes which resulted in beneficial growth. Thus, in such crises, the survivor may oscillate between emotional distress and a fuller knowledge of reality, the questioning of old core beliefs and goals and the establishment of new ones, holding on to their past self-narrative and the creation and integration of a new one, whilst attempting to maintain psychic and physical balance. This oscillation gently accommodates the pre-crisis elements of the survivor’s whole experience and enables the possibility of movement toward continuing future growth and the recognition and use of opportunities. In the last decade or so, mirroring the trend to positively reframe these disrupting states, crisis and bereavement work has become increasingly interested in those outcomes that suggest: enhanced psychological well-being and health; personal and spiritual development and increased coping skills; and, improved relationships and enhanced personal resources. In this brief paper, an autobiographical account of loss is given to demonstrate how exposure to crisis can provide opportunity for significant personal transformation. The analysis uses the integrated conceptual frameworks of Lawrence Calhoun and Richard Tedeschi’s post-traumatic growth model and Stanislav and Christina Grof’s psycho-spiritual paradigm, blended with some current ideas about crisis, grief, and bereavement.
