Problem:
Existential Questions and Post-Traumatic Growth
Upon hearing the stories of sometimes horrific atrocities clients or client families have experienced, you as a social worker may find yourself confronting existential "why" questions. For example: Why do horrible events happen to good people? Why do people abuse their children? Need Assignment Help?
Trying to make sense of such trauma is not easy, and you may seek answers to these existential questions your whole life. And yet, there are opportunities for growth despite trauma for both clients and social workers. This is known as post-traumatic growth, where a renewed sense purpose or a more profound outlook on life is the by-product.
In this Discussion, you work to seek meaning from the trauma your clients experience and the subsequent healing you help your clients achieve in your social work practice.
Be sure to review the Learning Resources before completing this activity.
Click the weekly resources link to access the resources.
Weekly Resources
- Franklin, C., & Jordan, C. (Ed.). (2024). Turner's social work treatment: Interlocking theoretical approaches (7th ed.). Oxford University Press
- Chapter 25, "Mindfulness-Based Practice" (pp. H250-H260)
- Chapter 27, "Dialectical Behavior Therapy" (pp. H272-H279)
- Chapter 11, "Trauma-Informed Social Work Practice and Complex Trauma Theories" (pp. H98-H107)
- Garland, E. L. (2013). Mindfulness research in social work: Conceptual and methodological recommendations. Social Work Research, 37 (4), 439-448.
- Russo-Netzer, P., & Moran, G. (2018). Positive growth from adversity and beyond: Insights gained from cross-examination of clinical and nonclinical samples. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry , 88 (1), 59-68.
- Vis, J.-A. & Boynton, H. M. (2008). Spirituality and transcendent meaning making: Possibilities for enhancing posttraumatic growth. Journal of Religion & Spirituality in Social Work, 27 (1/2): 69-86.
UCLA Health. (n.d.). Free guided meditations: Quick links.
To Prepare:
Read about trauma-informed social work, and read this article listed in the Learning Resources: Vis, J., & Boynton, H. M. (2008). Spirituality and transcendent meaning making: Possibilities for enhancing posttraumatic growth. Journal of Religion and Spirituality in Social Work: Social Thought, 27 (1-2), 69-86.
By Day 3
Post a response to the following:
In 1 sentence, identify an existential question with which you have grappled in relation to a client who has been traumatized.
Reflect on your fieldwork, or perhaps identify an existential question that might arise in working with the client in the case study you have selected throughout the course.
In 3-4 brief sentences, describe where there is potential for growth for the client as a result of the trauma.
In 3-4 brief sentences, explain where there is potential for growth for you, the social worker, as a result of listening to the client's stories and bearing witness to their trauma.
Describe any challenges you may experience between the meaning you hold based on your personal beliefs and working within the client's potentially different belief framework.
By Day 5
Respond to two colleagues:
Provide a suggestion for how a social worker could help clients to understand and make meaning of the trauma within the client's values and belief framework.