Assimilation and Accommodation Processes Following Traumatic Experiences

The organismic valuing theory of growth following adversity (Joseph & Linley, 2005 Joseph , S. & Linley , P. A. ( 2005 ). Positive adjustment to threatening events: An organismic valuing theory of growth through adversity . Review of General Psychology , 9 , 262 – 280 .Crossref, Web of Science ® , Google Scholar) is an account of recovery following trauma that attempts to integrate an understanding of posttraumatic stress with posttraumatic growth. It stipulates that processes of assimilation and accommodation dictate psychological outcomes following trauma. This article explores the nature of these processes with a view to enhancing clinicians' understanding of recovery from trauma. This was achieved via analytic induction and in-depth exploration of 13 personal accounts of “making sense of traumatic experiences.” The findings expanded Joseph and Linley's (2005 Joseph , S. & Linley , P. A. ( 2005 ). Positive adjustment to threatening events: An organismic valuing theory of growth through adversity . Review of General Psychology , 9 , 262 – 280 .Crossref, Web of Science ® , Google Scholar) theory. Clinical implications for treatment of trauma survivors are discussed, and methodological considerations and directions for future research are presented.