A Self-Study on Psychotherapy and Post-Traumatic Growth
This post, adapted from a research paper, offers a unique look into a deeply personal self-study. I use transpersonal research methods to explore my own journey of healing and post-traumatic growth.
What are the links between psychotherapy and holistic interventions in my spiritual journey? This was the question at the heart of a qualitative and quantitative study I conducted on myself. After experiencing profound growth resulting from psychotherapy I received while living in transitional housing for former foster youth, I wanted to explore in-depth which specific interventions led to my healing.
The experience I focused on was post-traumatic growth, a concept that describes positive changes after trauma in five key areas: life-appreciation, better interpersonal relationships, spiritual awakening, increased personal strength, and a greater ability to be optimistic.
How I Researched My Own Journey
To answer my question, I used a multi-phase approach to prepare, collect, and analyze data from my own life. This involved unconventional, transpersonal research methods that went beyond traditional techniques.
Preparation: I began by engaging in mindfulness and meditation to become aware of my physical and psychological state. I then used visual prompts—including photos of my old apartment, my former therapist, chakras, crystals, and white sage—to help recall memories and feelings from that period.
Data Collection: A core part of my data collection was life mapping. I painted my life's journey from age three to thirty-three on a canvas, using colors and symbols to represent key moments, struggles, and transformations. For example, I colored the period when I was twenty-one black to represent a time of depression , while my time in therapy at age twenty-four began an expansion of consciousness.
Analysis: As I reviewed my notes from the photos, journal entries, and the life map, I tallied every instance of the five domains of post-traumatic growth. This allowed me to see which experiences and interventions correlated most strongly with my healing.
What Sparked My Post-Traumatic Growth?
The data clearly showed that I experienced most of my post-traumatic growth after the age of twenty-one, during the period when I was living in a transitional housing program and receiving therapy.
When I analyzed which specific interventions had the highest correlation with positive growth, a few key factors emerged.
Three interventions correlated to 4 out of 5 domains of post-traumatic growth: my apartment building (a stable environment), my therapist, and being introduced to crystals.
Two other interventions correlated to 3 out of 5 domains: learning about chakras and watching the documentary The Secret.
These findings were astonishing. They confirmed that having a stable home was a critical foundation for my healing. The documentary The Secret was one of the first things I did in therapy, and it opened the door to asking more questions about transpersonal topics like energy and intention setting. And to this day, I use crystals as a way to cope with stressors, and can now see what a profound impact they have had.
The Relevance of a Personal Journey
This way of "doing therapy" and conducting research is not conventional and cannot be studied using only traditional methods. The topic of how holistic interventions lead to post-traumatic growth is deeply relevant to transpersonal psychology because it focuses on the transformative experiences of one's life. While I still wonder if my experience is translatable to other youth in similar situations, this journey allowed me to pinpoint the specific factors in my own spiritual awakening.
References
Anderson, R. & Braud, W. (2011). Transforming self and others through research: Transpersonal research methods and skills for the human sciences and humanities. State University of New York Press.
Aslam, N. & Kamal, A. (2019). Assessing positive changes among flood-affected individuals: Translation and validation of post-traumatic growth inventory-short form. Pakistan Journal of Medical Research. 58(2).
