Nidhi Tewari: Simone Biles is in her Post-Traumatic Growth Era
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As the Olympics inspire people worldwide to reach, here in the U.S., therapist and wellbeing speaker Nidhi Tewari writes about the inspirational return of Simone Biles and the importance of taking care of your mental health. Read on to hear what Nidhi has to say:
I remember the day in 2021 when the news broke that Simone Biles was dropping out of the All-Around Finals at the Olympics. The world was shocked and devastated, and I was hosting a room on Clubhouse when the mixed responses to her decision started streaming in.
Some people labeled her a quitter. Others lauded her as a hero.
I viewed her as the example that we all needed.
I thought then that she was incredibly resilient, and I now think that she embodies post-traumatic growth.
Biles at the 2024 Olympics
In an interview with NBC News at the Olympics, she discusses the difficult decision to walk away from the competition. In a series of conversations, she talks about how upsetting it was to not have her head in the game, and that she felt like she was letting her team and country down. But she was reeling from the years of abuse she endured while training with the US Gymnastics Team, and could not continue.
She talked about how the urge to mask was strong, but that eventually, the mask had to come off.
As a therapist who specialized in treating trauma, I can tell you that trauma takes you out of the present moment, and being present is essential for competing safely in gymnastics.
The experience that she had in 2021 during her vault routine, which she describes as the "twisties", or when you lose connection to your body and lose spatial awareness while doing flips on the vault, was likely part of a trauma reaction.
The brain copes in the best way that it knows how when it has to endure ongoing trauma, and this often takes the form of dissociation, or disconnection from body and emotions.
Over the past 3 years, Simone took the time that she needed to heal from her trauma. She openly shares about how she prioritizes Therapy Thursdays, and that she once viewed therapy as a weakness, but now sees it as a strength.
She also leaned on her community to help her to rebuild her life post-trauma.
Too often, people think that healing happens individually, but we are relational creatures who heal in relationship with one another. Trauma happens in relationships, but so does healing. Simone strengthened her relationship with her parents, teammates, friends, and she became an auntie.
Focusing on the quality of these relationships helped her to heal much more quickly than if she was alone in the journey.
Biles' Post-Traumatic Growth Era
What we're seeing in the 2024 Olympics is Simone Biles' Post-Traumatic Growth Era.
In our society, we focus so much on trauma that we forget about the beauty that happens after healing.
Post-traumatic growth (PTG) is a theory created by Tedeschi and Calhoun in the 90s that explains transformation after trauma. It's the idea that people can endure psychological struggle after adversity and can see positive growth following that struggle.
This concept is different from resilience.
Resilience is being able to bounce back following adversity. There may be some struggle, but the level of distress experienced prior to the bounce back is much less compared to the trauma reactions people grapple with before PTG.
Traumatic events change your core beliefs relating to safety, responsibility, vulnerability, and control, and many people experience post-traumatic stress disorder after a traumatic experience, which includes flashbacks, nightmares, distress, and avoidance.
Recovery is often long, grueling, and requires a tremendous expenditure of energy.
Biles' recovery process has been tough, including taking a 3 year break from gymnastics to focus on her mental health and wellbeing. The sport that she loved was also a major trigger for her trauma, so taking this time away was necessary for her healing.
But once she started working through the trauma, she experienced positive shifts. And now, she's at the 2024 Olympics competing once again.
How to Gauge Post-Traumatic Growth
Post-traumatic growth has a few hallmarks, and while I don't know Simone Biles personally, her interviews show that she has experienced changes in a some of the few key domains.
These domains include:
Relationships with others
New possibilities in life
Appreciation of life
Personal strength
Spiritual change
-She seems to be embracing new possibilities by approaching gymnastics with fresh energy and enthusiasm. She's excited to be back and to compete.
-Her appreciation for life is evident as she speaks about her healing journey. She is radiant and mature with a new perspective on life.
-Her personal strength can be seen in her decision to step away then and come back now. Many people would not want to revisit the sport that created the conditions for harm, but here she is persevering.
The strength it takes to work through those triggers and continue on is tremendous.
I am celebrating Simone Biles for entering her Post-Traumatic Growth Era, and I can't wait to see what these 16 days at the Olympics and beyond bring.
She is the exemplar of moving from trauma to triumph, and I'm here for it. I hope you're here for it too.
About the Author/Speaker:
Nidhi Tewari is a workplace culture and wellbeing keynote speaker, expert, & consultant. She brings a decade of clinical expertise as a therapist who specialized in working with high performing leaders to her work with organizations, leadership teams and event audiences who are looking to improve workplace culture, mental health, and leadership skills.
Nidhi has helped to transform workplace culture with organizations like Godiva, NPR, and SHRM, and she has spoken to the World Economic Forum, TEDWomen, National Speakers Association, UC San Diego, American Society for Quality (ASQ), Embodiment Conference, and many more.
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