This podcast explores a research publication by Benight, Deboeck, and Ricca. The study, titled Posttraumatic growth and posttraumatic distress relationship across time: a change dynamics approach was published in Anxiety, Stress, & Coping - An International Journal.

This episode takes a deep dive into new research that challenges how we understand healing after trauma. Instead of treating recovery as a fixed state, something you either achieve or don’t, the podcast explores trauma as a constantly moving process. Drawing on a 2025 study of California wildfire survivors, the hosts unpack how post‑traumatic growth and distress change day by day, often accelerating together. Using ideas borrowed from physics—like momentum and acceleration—the episode reframes healing as an active, dynamic journey, where periods of intense pain may also signal meaningful growth in progress.

What if resilience isn’t about being tough or bouncing back, but about having the right support to heal? In this first episode of a new podcast series, we introduce the Lyda Hill Institute for Human Resilience at UCCS and explore its groundbreaking approach to trauma, stress, and recovery. From cutting‑edge clinical therapies to creative expression, nature‑based healing, and community training, this episode lays the foundation for understanding resilience as something dynamic, human, and deeply connected to our environment.