Main Contributors in the Field:  Richard G. Tedeschi and Lawrence G. Calhoun

Introduction from a great website with articles, info, and current research

http://ptgi.uncc.edu/index.htm

POSTTRAUMATIC GROWTH: A Brief Overview

What forms does posttraumatic growth take? Posttraumatic growth tends to occur in five general areas. Sometimes people who must face major life crises develop a sense that new opportunities have emerged from the struggle, opening up possibilities that were not present before. A second area is a change in relationships with others. Some people experience closer relationships with some specific people, and they can also experience an increased sense of connection to others who suffer. A third area of possible change is an increased sense of one’s own strength – “if I lived through that, I can face anything”. A fourth aspect of posttraumatic growth experienced by some people is a greater appreciation for life in general. The fifth area involves the spiritual or religious domain. Some individuals experience a deepening of their spiritual lives, however, this deepening can also involve a significant change in one’s belief system.

Some Clarifications

Most of us, when we face very difficult losses or great suffering, will have a variety of highly distressing psychological reactions. Just because individuals experience growth does not mean that they will not suffer. Distress is typical when we face traumatic events.

We most definitely are not implying that traumatic events are good – they are not. But for many of us, life crises are inevitable and we are not given the choice between suffering and growth on the one hand, and no suffering and no change, on the other.

Posttraumatic growth is not universal. It is not uncommon, but neither does everybody who faces a traumatic event experience growth.

Oh shit, we are in September and already at week #4. How are you feeling? Were you inspired by the first couple of classes? Are pumped to get writing? ok, perhaps confused as hell? The real question I wanna know — Have you started yet?

Much of what challenged me when I wrote anything (from a memorandum, to a  well executed email, to the manuscript of our book) was just starting. Let me know have you started? And how did you do it?

Sydnee’s Sample Contract

SARK. (2008). Juicy pens thirsty paper. Three rivers press: New York: pg. 1.

Please find the writing contracts that we mentioned in class. Remember that these are just samples. You should write your contract first and foremost by yourself, for yourself, to yourself.

For the history nut out there, here’s a quick read from 2000 about the history weblogging.

 What makes a weblog a weblog? Dave Winer, 2003

What is a blog to me?

Well it’s an opportunity to get my thoughts focused, or, another way to put it, it’s a place for me to log my thoughts/feelings/narrative about a specific topic. For example, here I will post narratives and thoughts about being an SPN writer and provide tips and resources as they come to mind.

This is the first time I have ever written the content to a blog. I hope you find it interesting and supportive to your process as a writer. I will do my best to bring you to direct resources that I may use or mention throughout my own writing. I am also a visual person so you will see me post pictures and banners of “eye-candy” as it pertains to my posts. Also, I am big fan of music and video so you may not see/read text but you may witness videos or music that I find to be inspirational or relevant.

What are your definitions of “blog”?

Dear SPN Students,

Our lives, our cultures are made up of many overlapping stories and experiences. If we listen to the media we may hear all the negative stories being pushed  on us and may begin to believe that everything is bad. Everything. The New York Times reports August 28^th, 2012: “Churning Storm Nears Hurricane Strength” “Court Rules Israel Wasn’t at Fault in US Activist’s Death” “Afghan Beheadings Could Signal Confusion in Taliban Ranks”. But as Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, a Nigerian author states, “The single story creates stereotypes, and the problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue, but that they are incomplete. They make one story become the only story.” So, SPN friend and student, we ask you in this course to do perhaps what could be the most courageous act – we ask you to write. To write your own story. And not just one. We ask you to write as many stories as you can muster. And we, your instructors, are here, to teach, guide, and to support you in your individual writing endeavors. We are here to give you the freedom to wrench the stories from your gut and your intellect, and to encourage you to grow into an understanding that your stories are important both for you and for others. We will help you the best we can, while maintaining that ultimately it is all up to you to start, sustain, and finish your writing project. 

How vain it is to sit down to write when you have not stood up to live.

~Henry David Thoreau

I think of being human as a kind of writing incubator. You are your own hatching station.

~SARK

If, at this time before our course begins, you know that you will be so busy living life that you have no time to sit down to do the readings or do a lot of writing, then you will have to ask yourself a question: is this the semester when I should be “standing up to live” rather than “sitting down to write?” If your answer is yes, then please consider putting off taking this course until the fall of 2013. To be a good writer requires that in addition to living, you also need to do much sitting. Richard Rhodes, the winner of two Pulitzer Prizes for his books, says that the most important part of the anatomy for a writer is not the hand, head, heart, or eyes…it is the butt. Without putting “butt to chair” on a regular basis, writing will not get done. Butt to chair is the basic posture for all writers. So, if you think that your activities for this upcoming semester are likely to take away all your time for writing/reading, then please drop the course. We will not ask you any questions or hold anything against you. In fact, we will respect and admire you for your good sense, honesty, and self-insight. And as SARK has reminded us perhaps your hatching is not yet ready. We are sure that Henry David Thoreau would be proud of you too, if what he says above is any indication.

photo credit: Bill Watterson

EDFS 309 SPN syllabus Fall 2012