Violence & Post-Traumatic Growth

Positive Psychology for Violence and Post Traumatic Growth

The Violence & Post Traumatic Growth Initiative was launched in 2020 to further research on Positive Psychology for people recovering from trauma. It falls under the Positive Health Project led by the Positive Psychology Centre.

The initiative has partnered with Combat Academy Community Support Division (CACSD) and GET Therapy Ltd. on the experience of self-defence training for women, particularly women who have been victims of violent assaults, exploring questions around how to instruct and how self-defence training could have a positive impact on confidence in other areas of their lives.

It has a further partnership with CACSD on the development of a Level 3 Certificate on Working with Victims of Crime, which is a CPD course for certified self-defence instructors, and has partnered with Inner Athletics on researching the motivation to start, continue, and teach self-defence and martial arts (2019). This research suggests certain positive character traits combined with environmental triggers to train and teach.

The initiative also runs a Courage Scholarship for Violence and Post Traumatic Growth. This includes one year of preliminary training as a Positive Psychology Practitioner followed by a 6-12 month qualitative research project. The scholarship is aimed at people working within the context of violence and trauma in or related to the military, police, security, humanitarian, human rights, and development sectors.

The first Courage Scholarships were issued in September 2020 and were funded by the Positive Psychology Guild and private donations.

To date (2022), 6 female scholars have come through or are coming through the scholarship process; they are:

• Meet the Courage Scholars (Caitlin Cockcroft)
• Meet the Courage Scholars (Hala Nasrallah)
• Meet the Courage Scholars (Priscilla Akutu-Carter)
• Meet the Courage Scholars (Jesica Zablah)
• Meet the Courage Scholars (Alex Jenkins)
• Meet the Courage Scholars (Agata Rucinska)

The initiative also partners with CACSD on the delivery of the following training programs:

• Level 3 Certificate Self-Defence Instructor
• Level 4 Certificate Anti-Bullying Train the Trainer (work, school, home)
• Professional Level 5 Diploma Personal Safety, Security & Self-Defence

The initiative is open to building academic and organisational partnerships on research and training on Positive Psychology for Violence and Post Traumatic Growth.

For more information on our research projects, or to propose a partnership study of your own, please contact us at: research@ppnetwork.org