Personal recovery from a clinical high risk state

Longitudinal perspectives on posttraumatic growth following a first episode of psychosis

with Dr Gerald Jordan

Posttraumatic growth refers to the positive psychological changes experienced following adversity or trauma and can occur in at least five domains: developing improved relationships with others, new appreciation for life, new possibilities, increased personal strength, and spiritual or existential growth.

Posttraumatic growth has been reported following a range of adversities, including a first episode of psychosis. Most research examining posttraumatic growth following a first episode of psychosis has evaluated growth at one timepoint. The lack of longitudinal research on this topic precludes insights into if and how experiences and facilitators of posttraumatic growth change over time; and if experiencing posttraumatic growth fosters recovery. This presentation will describe findings from a recent longitudinal qualitative study examining posttraumatic growth following a first episode of psychosis at two time points. In this study, participants described how over time, they developed a greater willingness to give back to other people and communities; and increasingly drew on community-based resources to facilitate posttraumatic growth. Findings from this study also revealed how posttraumatic growth shaped personal, but not clinical, aspects of recovery.

Gerald Jordan is a Postdoctoral Fellow at McGill University, the Yale Program for Recovery Community Health, and the Strategies for Patient Oriented Research National Training Entity. He is also an Associate Editor for BMC Psychiatry and the American Journal of Psychiatric Rehabilitation. His research employs participatory, mixed methods to examine how people transform their lives and communities following a significant mental health challenge, and how such transformations are shaped by personal, social and community-level determinants of health and resilience.

Register to attend in person or online.