Can existentialist thinking about the meaning of adversity lead to post-traumatic growth?

Post-traumatic growth (PTG) is a concept used to describe positive psychological changes that occur in the aftermath of trauma. PTG has been studied extensively by psychologists over the past 40. Work on PTG aligns with a particular philosophical tradition, associated with existentialist thought and with figures like Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, and Frankl, which highlights the beneficial role of suffering, adversity, and trauma. In this paper, I critically examine an existentialist-inspired model of PTG that is prominent in the psychological literature. This is the ‘meaning-making model’. After outlining the model, I’ll raise a number of difficulties with it, and suggest that meaning-making, in the absence of normative constraints, is insufficient for genuine growth. I will then outline the kinds of normative constraints that should govern meaning-making, and which can result in genuine growth. These reflections indicate how existentialist thinking about meaning can help us understand how genuine growth is possible in the aftermath of trauma.