The next BRIT Challenge will start on
25th January 2025 & finish on 25th March 2025
RESEARCH
The British Inspiration Trust (BRIT) are working closely with the University of Chichester and supporting a Research Study Exploring Perceived Post-traumatic Growth and Psychological Flexibility
CALL FOR PARTICIPANTS
Research Study Exploring Perceived Post-Traumatic Growth and Psychological Flexibility
If you feel your life has been touched by trauma and that you have experienced negative and/or positive changes in its wake, we would love to hear from you…
Most of us are familiar with the term post-traumatic stress and have (or will have) lived experiences of facing challenges and adversity in our lives. However, a growing body of research has begun to recognise that, alongside the distress often experienced in the aftermath of trauma, people sometimes voice other types of changes too – changes which may be perceived as having come about through navigating difficulty.
The study here, therefore, reflects a deep and open interest in the lived reality of people whose lives have been touched by trauma (of any type and at any time), by exploring how they experience and navigate their inner world after traumatic events.
If this is you, your thoughts and feelings will be unique, often complex, and incredibly valuable, and may help us better understand the relationships between post-traumatic stress, post-traumatic growth, and psychological flexibility.
We are looking for people who are aged 18 or over, who feel they’ve experienced trauma (any type of trauma) during their lives, the most significant being a minimum of six months ago.
WHO ARE WE LOOKING FOR?
You will respond to a secure, short online survey about the type(s) of trauma(s) you have experienced during your life; their frequency; your age(s) at the time; the type of relationship(s) you may have had with any other people involved (where relevant) and the trauma you believe has been most significant to you. You’ll then score potential ‘changes’ you may or may not have experienced as a result of this most significant trauma. The questions will take around 15 minutes to complete.
You’ll be asked whether you’re willing, if selected, to participate in a one-to-one interview, offered online for ease. Please be reassured that, regardless of whether you are invited to interview, your contribution will have been uniquely valuable.
For those who are interviewed, the questions will ask you to explore (as much or as little as you are happy to) your thoughts, feelings and processes, both in the direct aftermath of the trauma and during the time since. Interviews will be confidentially recorded for transcription and analysis.
Please note, your information and data will remain confidential and anonymous.
WHAT WILL YOU BE ASKED TO DO?
HOW CAN YOU TAKE PART IN THIS RESEARCH?
WHO CAN YOU CONTACT TO ASK ABOUT THIS RESEARCH?
Alison Woodward (A.Woodward@chi.ac.uk), University of Chichester
​
ABOUT ALISON
​
This research is being conducted by Alison Woodward at the University of Chichester.
After winning a scholarship to study music, in 2003, Alison graduated from the University of Chichester with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music. She also won the Wiley Prize for Academic Excellence.
Since 2006, Alison has been a Senior Lecturer in Music and a Performance Development Coordinator at the University of Chichester.
In 2007, Alison graduated from the University of Chichester with a Master of Arts degree in Music Performance.
Between 2003 and 2010, Alison was Staff Development Mentor, and Bassoon specialist, with West Sussex Music Service.
Since 2018, Alison has been Deputy Head of Department (Music) and Programme Coordinator for the Bachelor of Arts (Hons) acting for Film and Bachelor of Arts (Hons) Music degree courses at the University of Chichester.
In 2017, Alison was appointed Deputy Director of the University of Chichester Conservatoire.
Alison is currently studying for a PhD in Post-Traumatic Growth and will work closely with BRIT, offering an opportunity for our BRIT Ambassadors to be involved in her research.
Alison has four children: Keris, Theo, Ozzie and Abe. She freelances as a soloist and session musician, and performs in a variety of orchestral and chamber ensembles. Alison has recorded several films, one of which won the Caligari Prize at the Berlin Film Festival.
Alison has supported the Sussex Snowdrop Trust since the loss of her precious son, Miles. As a Snowdrop Mum, she shares her experience of how the Sussex Snowdrop Trust were with her family through every step of their journey. Her bravery to share her family’s moving and poignant story raises awareness of the Trust’s work, giving a greater appreciation of the difference fundraising makes to the lives of children who are coping with the day-to-day challenges of a life threatening or terminal illness.
For our BRIT Ambassadors, gaining a deeper understanding of how they have travelled with and through life distress can be vital in communicating their story in a way which resonates with others.
We hope that the process involved may bring fresh meaning to how they perceive and recall their own, personal experience.
What our BRIT Ambassadors did and how they did it is their most potent message. Shining a research-driven light on their stories may help them have even greater impact on the lives of others.
SUPPORT TO OUR BRIT AMBASSADORS
How we hope to support our BRIT Ambassadors
Research into Post Traumatic Growth – ‘Why our relationship with our story matters’
​
Many of our BRIT Ambassadors have experienced adversity or trauma in their lives. They share their lived experience in the hope of inspiring young adults and students, encouraging participation in the annual BRIT Challenge to improve mental health and fitness, increasing fundraising efforts for charities, reducing the stigma surrounding mental health and encouraging others to seek support if they are struggling to cope.
They share their stories many times and, because of this, some have expressed that the sense
of intimate connection with it can fade and grow distant over time.
Inspiring others requires a sustained depth of contact with our lived experience, and this is why our relationship with our story matters.
​
Cultivating new and insightful connections to what we have been through can transform our account of it, creating a sense of common unity with the young adults and students we strive to support.
We know all of our BRIT Ambassadors want to ensure that audiences are inspired by their words.
We also want to ensure our BRIT Ambassadors recognise how inspirational their story is.
Most of us are familiar with the term post-traumatic stress and have (or will have)
lived experiences of facing challenges and adversity in our lives.
However, over the past 25 years, a growing body of research has begun to recognise that,
alongside the distress often experienced in the aftermath of trauma, some people also notice
positive changes – changes which may be perceived as having come about through navigating difficulty.
These changes have been called ‘post-traumatic growth’ and, due to their nature,
post-traumatic growth has inspired a wealth of scientific study.
This, therefore, reflects a deep and open interest in the lived reality of people
whose lives have been touched by trauma.
If this is you, your thoughts and feelings will be unique, often complex, and incredibly valuable, and may help us understand when, how and why this phenomenon occurs.
