Growth Mindset in Recovery

A few weeks ago, in a Groupme conversation one of our members and brain injury survivor, Dorothy brought to mind the idea of radical acceptance.  Radical acceptance in recovery can be deeply troublesome and complicated. In an attempt to gain some sense of control, I have seen some patients refuse to use the terms “brain injury” or “stroke”, as if by ignoring what happened, they will be unaffected by their condition. I have also seen others who have brain injury and are determined to be “recovered.” Such that there is no space to be injured or to adjust or to grow.

Carol Dweck’s findings on the Growth Mindset reveal a significant advantage to seeing challenges as opportunities.

But with either side of this continuum of recovery, there is a denial of recovery as an ongoing and forever evolving process. Part of the bitter pill that is radical acceptance is this understanding that you can’t undo having a brain injury. Whether it is mild, moderate, or severe you’ve had an experience and it opened a world of understanding to you.

This conversation triggered a question that I have had for the past decade: What makes a survivor resilient? I think we have a piece of that answer in the radical acceptance that Dorothy brought up along with the secret weapon of the constantly improving survivor: a growth mindset.

The researcher, Carol S. Dweck, Ph.D coined the term Growth Mindset when she uncovered the role of positive attitudes and beliefs with grade school children. Specifically, she noticed that children who believed they were ‘yet’ to master a concept were more likely to be successful compared to those who simply saw failure.

In her TEDX lecture, she explains, “Instead of luxuriating in the power of ‘ yet’ they were gripped in the tyranny of now.” Children missed the opportunity to grow intellectually and lost out on the availability of their brain’s neuroplasticity (the ability of neural pathways to heal, rewire, and develop).

These same principles of learning that Dweck demonstrates with children, apply to survivors of brain injury. Growth Mindset emphasizes the power of effort, the importance of learning, and the value of opportunities. How often do we see challenges as burdens or evidence of our own intrinsic failure? How often are we oppressed by the ideas of recovery we have and where our minds and bodies meet us?

Journal Prompt

Where in my life am I gripped in the tyranny of now?

List 3 areas for growth where you can luxuriate in the power of ‘yet’?

There are many great definitions of a growth mindset that you can find in a google search. As for me, I have my own quick and dirty understanding and that is that a person with a growth mindset is committed to growth without EGO. This means that it doesn’t matter if Larry is doing “better” or “worse” than you. It doesn’t matter if you think you know more than the person trying to teach you something. The survivor with a growth mindset can learn from ANYONE and is open to ANYTHING that might move them forward.