HEALTH AND WELLBEING.

On Growth. 

Our lives are in a state of constant flux- change and evolution- growth signifying life, In a beautiful article that articulates the previously obscure facets and details of growth and its personal nature composed by researchers Mia Maurer, Jason Maurer and colleagues, alludes to how it is distinguished from both maturation- relating personal growth specifically to well-being and functioning well, rather than the particular intellectual, emotional and physical skills that are gained through maturation- and from individualism- the latter, often perceived to be the goal of personal growth, is the ideal of “self made”.

Personal growth, one of the seed beds of wellbeing, rather than a fixed state- is an unfolding that the authors elucidate “is not sequential or linear, but chaotic and iterative”, is holistic- and “ is often arduous and occurs over a long period”.

Growth as a process begins upon self knowledge- both felt and conscious, self awareness, which gives way to an increasing openness to experience (without judgement), an internalised sense of autonomy and responsibility and in doing so increases the capacity for one to develop self compassion and ultimately compassion for others.

Personal growth- often tied to the idea of individual achievement and self centeredness, is at its heart, when seen through a broader lens, fundamentally a process through which we rediscover a sense of cohesion, our authentic selves and that ultimately unites us with others. As Maria Popova writes “Growth, then, is not something we do only for and by ourselves, but something we do for and with others”

18.Dec. 2025

Helen Couts.

References and Further Reading.

Mia M. Maurer, Jason Maurer, Eva Hoff, Daiva Daukantaitė,, What is the process of personal growth? Introducing the Personal Growth Process Model,, New Ideas in Psychology, Volume 70, 2023, 101024, cited online https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0732118X2300017X#bib57

Popover Maria, 14th May 2023. What It Takes to Grow: Pioneering Psychoanalyst Karen Horney on the Key to Self-Realization. The Marginalian. https://www.themarginalian.org/2023/05/14/karen-horney-growth/