ABSTRACT
A growing body of evidence demonstrates the positive implications of sports injury or physically disabling events. Drawing from psychological research on sport injury and disability, this chapter will consider the ways in which injury – even severe life-altering ones – can be a learning opportunity enabling positive developmental experiences, self-exploration and greater sporting prowess. While terms such as benefit finding, stress-related growth or posttraumatic growth have all been used to connote notions of personal development following injury, in the current chapter, we employ the term ‘personal growth’ to capture growth experiences among individuals sustaining injuries of a greater or lesser severity. We first discuss the implications of injury – both positive and negative (Section 1) – followed by discussion of research examining the nature of growth as well as factors facilitating its development (Section 2). In the third section, we articulate practitioner-based strategies focused on facilitating personal growth with injured athletes and para sport athletes. We conclude the chapter (Section 4) with a case study exemplifying the notion of growth in the injury aftermath.
