Boulder Crest Foundation Explores Suicide Prevention Through the Lens of Posttraumatic Growth

New Suicide Prevention resources invite questions about the roles of connection, regulation, and hope

BLUEMONT, VA, UNITED STATES, September 24, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — What might Posttraumatic Growth contribute to the conversation about suicide prevention? Could the processes that help people grow through trauma and adversity also help create a pathway away from crisis?

During Suicide Prevention Month, Boulder Crest Foundation is inviting people to explore these questions through a new collection of videos, podcasts, personal stories, and research examining suicide prevention through the lens of Posttraumatic Growth (PTG).

KEY FACTS

* Posttraumatic Growth (PTG) is positive psychological change that can emerge through the struggle with trauma and adversity.

* Emerging research has found associations between PTG and lower levels of suicidal ideation and behavior in some populations.

* Boulder Crest is exploring Connection, Regulation, and Hope as pathways for examining suicide prevention through a PTG lens.

* Boulder Crest does not claim that PTG prevents suicide or that PTG-based approaches replace clinical care, crisis intervention, or other evidence-based approaches.

WHAT IS PTG?

Posttraumatic Growth is the positive psychological change that can emerge through the struggle with trauma and adversity. While research into the relationship between PTG and suicide is still developing, early studies have found associations between PTG and lower levels of suicidal ideation and behavior in some populations.

These findings do not establish that PTG prevents suicide. They do, however, raise important questions about whether the experiences and processes associated with growth may also help reduce risk and restore a sense of possibility.

“Posttraumatic Growth invites us to ask a different set of questions about suicide prevention,” said Josh Goldberg, CEO of Boulder Crest Foundation. “What helps someone feel less alone? What helps them navigate overwhelming psychological pain? What makes it possible to imagine a future that feels different from the present? We do not claim to have all the answers, but we believe these are questions worth exploring.”

EXPLORING CONNECTION, REGULATION, HOPE

At the center of the exploration is Connection, Regulation and Hope; pathways we find while examining suicide through the lens of Posttraumatic Growth. Informed by PTG principles and established theories of suicide, it examines three interconnected experiences:

* CONNECTION: Strengthening relationships and reducing the isolation that can deepen psychological pain.

* REGULATION: Developing the capacity to navigate intense emotional and physiological responses without becoming overwhelmed by them.

* HOPE: Restoring the ability to imagine a future that is meaningfully different from the present.

This begins with a question: If disconnection, dysregulation, and hopelessness can contribute to a pathway toward suicidal crisis, could movement in the other direction — toward connection, regulation, and hope — help create a pathway away from it?

“Posttraumatic Growth does not minimize suffering, and it does not suggest that growth is inevitable,” said Dr. Richard Tedeschi, co-founder of the science of Posttraumatic Growth and Executive Director of the Boulder Crest Institute for Posttraumatic Growth. “It offers a way to understand how people can begin to make meaning from deeply challenging experiences, strengthen their relationships, reconnect with purpose, and imagine new possibilities for their lives. As research continues, we are interested in what those processes may help us understand about suicide prevention.”

The Connection-Regulation-Hope lens is intended to advance research and expand the conversation surrounding suicide prevention. It is not a replacement for clinical care, crisis intervention, or other evidence-based approaches.

“The emerging research gives us reason to be curious about the relationship between Posttraumatic Growth and suicidality, while also requiring us to be careful about the conclusions we draw,” said Dr. Taryn Greene, Director of Research and Operations at the Boulder Crest Institute. “Our goal is to ask better questions, examine the evidence, and explore how connection, regulation, and hope may help people find a way forward through profound struggle.”

EXPERT PERSPECTIVES, EMERGING RESEARCH, LIVED EXPERIENCES

Boulder Crest’s Suicide Prevention collection brings together research, expert perspectives, and honest personal conversations to explore these questions from multiple angles. Featured resources include:

INSIDE PTG PODCAST:
>> Holding Hope: Exploring PTG & Suicide, a special Inside PTG episode featuring Dr. Tedeschi and Dr. Greene in a candid conversation about psychological pain, hopelessness, disconnection, and the emerging research connecting PTG and suicidality.

>> Could PTG Be a Protective Factor Against Suicide?, an episode examining asking key questions, what current research suggests, what remains unknown, and where the field might go next.

>> What Makes Hope Possible: A Veteran’s Story of Struggle and Survival, a special Inside PTG conversation between Dr. Greene and Ian Ricci, Director of Warrior PATHH, Boulder Crest’s PTG-based training program for veterans, service members, and first responders struggling in the aftermath of trauma. Ricci reflects on the period when he made plans to end his life, the pivotal moment while attending Warrior PATHH that changed his trajectory, and the connection, purpose, and hope he has built since.

PEER REVIEWED ARTICLES: A collection of peer-reviewed research examining the relationships among Posttraumatic Growth, social support, combat exposure, interpersonal suicide risk, and suicidal ideation.

PSYCHOLOGY TODAY: Can Posttraumatic Growth Protect Against Suicide?, a new Psychology Today article that considers the experiences of disconnection, dysregulation, and hopelessness — and asks whether movement toward connection, regulation, and hope could help create a pathway away from crisis.

Together, the resources invite viewers and readers to consider:
* What helps a person reconnect with others during profound struggle?
* What helps someone regain enough regulation to move through the next difficult moment?
* What makes hope — and the possibility of a different future — feel real again?

“Suicide is extraordinarily complex, and no single framework can provide every answer,” Goldberg added. “But Posttraumatic Growth offers a hopeful and deeply human lens through which to continue asking questions, advancing research, and exploring what helps people find their way forward.”

Explore the full collection on the Boulder Crest Suicide Prevention webpage and watch the Suicide Prevention: Exploring PTG, Suicide, & Struggle playlist on YouTube.

If You or Someone You Know Is Struggling, Call or text the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 for free, confidential support 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The Crisis Text Line is also available by texting HOME to 741741.

About Boulder Crest Foundation
Boulder Crest Foundation is a national nonprofit organization and the Home of Posttraumatic Growth. Since 2013, Boulder Crest has developed, delivered, studied, and scaled programs based on the science of Posttraumatic Growth — the positive psychological change that can emerge through the struggle with trauma and adversity.

Through its life-changing programs, training, research, and educational resources, Boulder Crest helps service members, veterans, first responders, and their families transform struggle into strength and live great lives in the aftermath of trauma. Its programs are offered at no cost to participants and families.
To learn more, visit BoulderCrest.org.

Jennifer Grady
Boulder Crest Foundation
jen.grady@bouldercrest.org
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