Intentional Growth Training

© 2012, Megan A. Thoen & Christine Robitschek

Updated May 2019

WARNING. This work is protected by copyright and is intended for free use in research, educational, and clinical purposes. This work may not be used for commercial purposes.

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Table of Contents

Contact Information 3 Introduction 4Administration of Intentional Growth Training 6Materials 9

Script outline 9Complete scripts 10

Session 1 10Session 2 18

Personal Growth Initiative Scale – II 19Personal Growth Initiative Scale – II Scoring Information 20

Worksheets 21Session 1: Reflections on Past Growth Attempts Worksheet 21

Session 1: Brainstorming Worksheet 22 Session 2: Questionnaire 23

Previous IGT Research 30References 32

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Contact information

No permission is needed to use Intentional Growth Training (IGT). This work is protected by copyright and is intended for free use in research, educational, and clinical purposes. This work may not be used for commercial purposes.

Please cite this manual in the following manner:

Thoen, M. A., & Robitschek, C. (2012; 2019). Intentional Growth Training. Unpublished manual. Retrieved from https://pgilab.wordpress.com/intentional-growth-training-igt/

Questions regarding the PGI intervention itself should be directed to the 2nd author:

Christine Robitschek, Ph.D.Associate ProfessorDepartment of PsychologyTexas Tech University

Phone: (806) 834-1771Fax: (806) 742-0818Email: chris.robitschek@ttu.edu

Mail: Department of Psychological SciencesTexas Tech University2810 – 18th St, Room 119Lubbock, TX 79409-2051U.S.A.

The 1st author can be reached at:

Megan A. Thoen, Ph.D.Research Assistant ProfessorInstitute for Forensic ScienceDepartment of Environmental ToxicologyTexas Tech University

Phone: (806) 834-1678Fax: (806) 885-1880Email: megan.thoen@ttu.edu

Mail: Department of Environmental ToxicologyTexas Tech University1207 South Gilbert Dr.Lubbock, TX 79416U.S.A.

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Introduction

This manual describes a brief intervention (Intentional Growth Training; IGT) that has been designed to increase Personal Growth Initiative (PGI; Robitschek, 1998, 1999; Robitschek et al., 2012). This intervention has been shown to increase PGI (Thoen & Robitschek, 2013).

Personal Growth InitiativePersonal growth initiative (PGI) is a set of skills used to make cognitive, behavioral, or

emotional changes in the self (Robitschek et al., 2012). PGI comprises four skills, each measured by a subscale of the PGIS-II (Robitschek et al., 2012): Readiness for Change, Planfulness, Using Resources, and Intentional Behavior. Readiness for Change is thinking about what one wants to change, why one wants to change, and if one is really ready to take the first step towards change and personal growth. Planfulness measures one’s planning ability; knowledge of the steps needed to make changes in oneself and knowing how to lay out a strategy for making an improvement in oneself. Using Resources is actively seeking out things or people to help one grow as a person. Examples include reading a self-help book, searching for information on the internet, or talking to a family member, friend, or mental health professional. Anything that one uses to grow that is not already within oneself is considered Using Resources. Intentional Behavior goes beyond having a thought about changing a behavior to following through on making that behavior change. Whether the behavior change is big or small, consciously and intentionally following through on ideas about self-improvement is Intentional Behavior.

People who have a greater level of PGI can more positively cope with life’s everyday challenges, are better problem solvers, and have more choices and tools available when working to change and improve themselves (Robitschek & Cook, 1999, Robitschek & Anderson, 2011). People with high levels of PGI typically have high psychological, emotional, and social well-being (Robitschek, 1999; Robitschek & Keyes, 2009). These relationships are significant for both men and women (Robitschek, 1999) and apply to each of the individual subscales of the Scales of Psychological Well-Being (Ryff, 1989; see Robitschek & Keyes, 2009). Psychological well-being is related to many other positive characteristics, including self-esteem and life satisfaction (Ryff, 1989), suggesting that increasing psychotherapy clients’ PGI and psychological well-being may also lead to positive treatment outcomes (Robitschek & Keyes, 2009).

PGI and depressionResearch with samples of college students (Robitschek & Kashubeck, 1999; Robitschek

& Anderson, 2011) has found PGI to be negatively correlated with depression and other forms of distress. Specifically among college students with a range of depression symptoms, PGI accounted for significantly more variance in several aspects of well-being and academic functioning than did level of depression symptoms (Robitschek & Anderson, 2011).

In a sample of adult depressed patients in a partial hospital program, patients with more well developed PGI skills entered treatment with lower depressive symptoms and had better treatment outcomes, after controlling for admission levels of depressive symptoms (Robitschek et al., 2019). Additionally, when controlling for depression symptoms at admission, patients’ change in PGI over the course of treatment, significantly predicted level of depression at discharge (Robitschek et al., 2019). Although the mechanisms through which PGI affects

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depression are not yet clear, one theory is that because PGI is a skill-set (e.g., ability to identify a problem area, planning how to make a small behavioral change), people who have developed these skills are more likely to employ them, thus warding off or reducing symptoms of depression.

Increasing PGI SkillsIn research involving adults going through a recent vocational or other major life change,

or seeking renewal in their lives, PGI was found to be increased indirectly (Robitschek, 1997). PGI was not intentionally targeted for this study, however there were increases in participants’ PGI as a byproduct of completing an 8-15 day Outward Bound course called Life/Career Renewal. The course helped people learn about themselves and their perceived limits through wilderness activities like canoeing, rock climbing, etc. The goal of Life/Career Renewal was to take the personal growth learned through the outdoor activities and apply it to all aspects of one’s life (Kimball & Bacon, 1993). PGI increased significantly from before the Life/Career Renewal course to after with a large effect (.75; Cohen’s d) and the effect was still present three months after the course. However, this study did have two important drawbacks: there was no control group and participants had actively sought out this form of adventure-based program perhaps making them a non-representative sample of the general population. Even with these concerns, this research demonstrates that PGI can be increased, albeit, indirectly.

Direct increase of PGI was first demonstrated through an early version of IGT (Martinez et al., 2010). Follow-up studies indicated which components of the intervention were most effective at significantly increasing level of PGI (Martinez, Robitschek, Ponder, Mirkalai, & Roumiantseva, 2011; Martinez & Robitschek, 2011).

Intentional Growth TrainingThe early version of IGT (Martinez et al., 2010) was based on an activity in a college

positive psychology course. This course activity incorporated self-actualization and stepping outside of one’s comfort zone (Compton, personal communication, June 13, 2007). The PGI intervention (Martinez et al., 2010) expanded on Compton’s exercise and incorporated some of the key parts of Life/Career Renewal (Robitschek, 1997), specifically: understanding the process of change (through psychoeducation about PGI), gaining insight into current life circumstances and emotional states (through guided thinking about a recent attempt to change oneself), exploring issues of stress and risk taking (through discussions about stepping outside of one’s comfort zone), and setting goals and developing action plans for the future (through planning a personal growth activity to complete within one week). The PGI Intervention was renamed Intentional Growth Training (IGT) in 2012.

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Administration of Intentional Growth Training (IGT)

How to use this manualFamiliarity with the procedures and materials is essential. Although this manual presents IGT as a fully scripted intervention (pgs. 10-18), IGT should be delivered as extemporaneously as possible to establish rapport with workshop participants (or clients). Although the script is highly detailed, IGT administrators are encouraged to deviate from the script to fit the needs of their participants (e.g., in selecting relevant examples) and to fit their own personal presentation style. The scripts are designed to be flexible to fit the environment and group dynamic. They do not need to be read word for word and can be adapted as needed. It is the content, rather than specific wording of the scripts that is most important in IGT.

Who can administer IGT?IGT is designed to be administered by someone who is knowledgeable about PGI and the purpose of the intervention. IGT administrators can be trained research assistants, counselors, instructors, etc.

Where should IGT be conducted?IGT can be administered in a classroom, therapy room, or another suitable location with tables and chairs. For consistency across the two sessions of IGT, the same location should be utilized for both sessions. IGT takes place in two one-hour sessions, one week apart. Previous studies using the PGI Intervention stipulated exactly a one-week time period, and the exact same location and time of day for methodological reasons, though in clinical settings this exact time frame is less important.

What are the components of IGT?The psychoeducation component includes defining PGI and the four skills, how we can utilize PGI in our daily lives, and explaining how PGI skills can be developed. Throughout this educational component, participants are asked to reflect on their own efforts at personal growth using the Session: Reflections on Past Growth Attempts Worksheet (see pg. 21).

Following this psychoeducation component, the activity component is introduced. This component begins with a description of the task participants are asked to complete over a 1-week period. The task is engaging in a self-selected personal growth activity that will get participants outside of their comfort zone. The activity can be as large or small as the participant wants. Specific examples of activities are not given to participants so they can have the freedom to make their own choices and not be influenced by the suggested activities. Participants are walked through the preparation and planning process for the activity using the Session 1: Brainstorming Worksheet (see pgs. 22-23).

Participants are asked to create a list of things they would like to change about themselves. They then rate each item on the list in terms of importance, difficulty, and extent to which the goal is realistic at this time. Participants then select one of the goals they feel confident they will actually work on. This helps to set up the participant to pursue goals that fit well. The presentation describes how to identify some first steps one can take to accomplish this change. Finally, participants identify which of those steps they can realistically and successfully

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complete within the next week. Participants are not asked at this time to disclose their choice of activity for the following week. Participants are reminded of the next week’s task of planning and carrying-out their choice of activity before leaving the session.

One week later, the participants return for Session 2. They are given a packet of questionnaires that includes the PGIS-II. This questionnaire packet includes several additional items and a 15-minute free write (see PGIS-II and Session 2 Questionnaire, pgs. 24-29). When the questionnaires have been completed, a group discussion of the personal growth activity takes place. The presenter has several scripted questions to ask of the participants to encourage further reflection on the experience, included in the Session 2 Script. The group is free to continue the discussion beyond these questions if they wish. With the conclusion of this discussion, IGT is then completed.

Requirements for participantsParticipants must be able to write and read the worksheets (unless adaptive formats for the worksheets and questionnaires are developed and provided). Also, as IGT is designed to be completed over a one-week time period, participants must be able to attend Session 1 and Session 2. Session 1 lasts approximately one hour, including administration of the PGIS-II. Session 2 lasts approximately 45 minutes, also including administration of the Session 2 measures (PGIS-II and Session 2 questionnaire).

PowerPoint SlidesPowerPoint slides have been developed to accompany administration of IGT. Slides are available at https://pgilab.wordpress.com/intentional-growth-training-igt/ Similar to adapting IGT wording, anyone using the IGT slides is free to adapt the slides to fit their participants and personal presentation style.

Using the worksheetsWorksheets are typically used in conjunction with carbon paper or other method of duplication. Participants can then leave the workshop with a copy of their work and the researcher (or therapist) can keep a copy for their records. Two copies of the blank worksheets are usually created, with a piece of carbon paper in between.

Using the Personal Growth Initiative Scale – II (PGIS-II)The PGIS-II (Robitschek et al., 2012) has 16 items with 6-point Likert scale responses of 0 (Disagree Strongly) to 5 (Agree Strongly). There are four subscales: Using Resources (three items, e.g., “I ask for help when I try to change myself.”), Intentional Behavior (four items, e.g., “I take every opportunity to grow as it comes up”), Planfulness (five items, e.g., “I set realistic goals for what I want to change about myself”), and Readiness for Change (four items, e.g., “I can tell when I am ready to make specific changes in myself”). Subscale scores are calculated by averaging item scores for that subscale. A mean total scale score is calculated by averaging scores on the four subscales. Higher scores represent more well-developed PGI skills. See the PGIS-II Scoring Information (pg. 20) for more detailed information.

Scoring the Session 2 measures

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Comfort Zone. Martinez et al. (2010) first used the Comfort Zone measure to assess how far outside the participants’ comfort zones they felt their activity brought them. One page of the questionnaire booklet contains instructions for this measure (see Session 2: Questionnaires, pgs. 24-29) and on the next page, in the top left-hand corner, there is a circle with the words “comfort zone,” representing the participants’ own comfort zone. The rest of this page is blank. To measure comfort zone, the distance from the center of the circle (indicated with a dot, for consistency) representing the participant’s comfort zone to the closest point of the sticker will be measured in centimeters.

0-10 point graphical measures (questions 3, 11-13). These should be scored by measuring from the far left point of the line to center of the marked X, in centimeters. If participants do not make an X or use another marking, measure to the center of the marking.

Writing prompt. Following the completion of the Session Two questionnaire, participants are provided with a piece of lined paper and given 15 minutes to write about their experience of the intervention (Martinez et al., 2010). The 15-minute free write period is a prompt following Pennebaker’s (1994) instructions for writing. Anything the participants feel is relevant to write is acceptable. See Martinez et al. (2011) for more information on how the data from the writing prompt can be analyzed.

Note: Any or all worksheets or assessments can be administered by paper-and-pencil means or online, to fit the workshop participants and available resources.

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MATERIALS

PGI Intervention Script OutlineSession 1:

Complete session one measures Definition of PGI PGI skills

o Using resourceso Intentionalityo Planfulnesso Readiness for change

How do the skills work together? How does PGI grow (or shrink) over time? Benefits of high PGI Questions? Introduce personal growth planning experience

o Explain worksheet to participants and walk them through it (See Appendix J for the worksheet), offering help where needed

o Explain that participants will have one week to carry out steps they have planned Caution participants about choices they might make – shouldn’t be psychologically

damaging if it fails Questions/wrap-up

o Reminding them of the next meeting time and place, and what they need to do during the week

Session 2: Complete Session 2 measures, including writing prompt Group discussion about growth experience

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Intentional Growth Training(Script updated 2019)

Session 1 Script(Bold indicates speaking parts)

SLIDE 1 “Thank you all for coming. My name is _____________. Everyone’s going to need something to write with. Does anyone need a pencil?”

(Make sure everyone has something to write with, if not, hand out some pencils.)

“I’m going to give you a lot of information today. At any point, if you have questions, please feel free to ask them.”

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Psychoeducation Component

“As we talk today, there will be several places where I’ll ask you to write down answers to some of my questions. Your answers in this first half of our meeting today will be just for you. I won’t collect them; they’ll help you think more about the material we’re discussing.

SLIDE 2Today we’re going to learn about Personal Growth Initiative. It’s also sometimes called PGI for short.

Personal Growth Initiative is a set of skills we use to make changes in ourselves, to make ourselves better people.

Personal growth helps us to get closer to our full potential – closer to being the best person we can be.

Personal Growth Initiative is a process that includes our values, beliefs, attitudes, and intentional behaviors related to personal growth.

It’s not just that we believe we can change ourselves, but also it’s how we put all those values, beliefs, and attitudes into action.

If you have a particularly high level of Personal Growth Initiative this is about how you put your values, beliefs, and attitudes about personal growth into action and work to improve yourself in your daily life.

SLIDE 3Here’s your first question. (for worksheet) Do you have a low, medium, or high level of PGI?

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SLIDE 4Personal Growth Initiative can help lead you toward personal fulfillment. What I mean by this is that your PGI skills can help you become more like the person you want to be.

SLIDE 5Think about something that you may have tried to change about yourself in the last year, even something small. This is your second question. Write down whatever it is that you tried to change about yourself in that last year. Does everybody have one?

SLIDE 6Your third question is how did you plan for this change? Write down how you decided on what you wanted to change. Did you try to change something about yourself all at once, or did you try to take baby steps towards that change? Write down the plans you made, if any, for that change.

SLIDE 7For your fourth question, what were the outcomes of your efforts? Write down if you were successful in changing yourself in this way, partially successful, or unsuccessful.

SLIDE 8The fifth question is, what kinds of reactions did your family or friends have to your trying to change? Write these down. How did you feel about it after you tried to change this? Write this down, as well.

SLIDE 9All of these outcomes can influence the likelihood that you might try to change something about yourself again. For example, if you became frustrated because you tried to change yourself all at once and quickly gave up, you’re more likely to be hesitant to try to change yourself again.

SLIDE 10Now think about how the outcomes in your situation may have affected how much you’ve tried to change things about yourself since then. Please answer this sixth question: Have you made more efforts to improve yourself since then? Or less? Make a note about why you have or have not tried to improve yourself again.

SLIDE 11Here we’ve talked about a single attempt at trying to change or improve something about yourself, and the outcomes of that effort. You can think about that single attempt as a page in your “Personal Growth Initiative Book.” Now think about how the pages in your PGI Book will accumulate over the course of your lifetime. Each time you try to improve yourself, even if it’s in some small way, you will add another page to your PGI Book.

For some people, their PGI Books will be pretty thin. They may learn from the outcomes of their efforts to improve themselves that they’ll be punished by other people if they try to

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change and grow. Or they simply may not have anyone encouraging them to keep growing and improving themselves. So it may not occur to them to add pages to their PGI Books, by trying again.

On the other hand, there are people with thick PGI Books. They have lots of pages, each one representing one of the ways they’ve tried to change themselves. Some pages show successes and others show failures.

There are also people with medium-sized books, as PGI Books vary in size just as we all vary as individuals.

SLIDE 12Now imagine flipping through someone’s PGI Book. You might be able to watch their intentional efforts at personal growth occur across their lifespan. You could watch how the person changed and developed through his or her own planning and efforts. It’s kind of like one of those cartoon flipbooks many of us learned to make when we were kids.

Take a few moments to think about what your PGI Flipbook looks like for the past year or so. Maybe you haven’t added any pages to your flipbook recently. Or maybe you’ve added several pages and you can watch the changes in yourself unfold as you flip through the pages.

Regardless of the number of pages in your Flipbook, the book is the result of your efforts and your own actions and has helped shape who you are as a person.

So far, we’ve been talking about PGI as if it’s a single entity, rather than something complex. PGI is more than just actively improving yourself; it has multiple skills. Now I’m going to tell you about PGI’s multiple skills and complexities.

SLIDE 13There are actually four skills in this thing called Personal Growth Initiative. They include: Readiness for Change, Planfulness, Using Resources, and Intentional Behavior.

SLIDE 14So let’s talk about Readiness for Change. This PGI skill asks these questions: Do I know what I want to change about myself? Am I really ready to change? Do I want to make that first step? This part is about thinking about what you want to change, why you want to change, and if you’re really ready to take that first step towards change and personal growth. All of these things make up Readiness for Change.

SLIDE 15The second skill that I mentioned is Planfulness. Planfulness is… being planful. Do I know the steps I need to take to make changes in myself? In general, do I know how to lay out a strategy for making an improvement in myself? Or am I more random in my efforts to change? Or do I just start without a plan and see what happens? Or perhaps my lack of

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planning keeps me from ever starting in the first place? Each of these questions addresses a part of Planfulness.

SLIDE 16The next skill is Using Resources, which includes actively seeking out things or people to help you grow as a person. This could include talking to a family member, a friend, or a mental health professional, reading a self-help book, or searching for information on the internet. Anything that you use to grow that is not already within yourself is considered Using Resources.

SLIDE 17And finally, Intentional Behavior is the PGI skill that says not only did the ideas about changing exist in your head, but you followed through in your behavior. You thought about it AND you did it. Whether you took big steps or little steps, these steps were intentional. You were following through on your ideas about improving yourself and you were engaging in Intentional Behaviors.

So there are the four PGI skills: Readiness for Change, Planfulness, Using Resources, and Intentional Behavior. Are there any questions so far? (Pause)

SLIDE 18All four of these skills interact and make up your Personal Growth Initiative. You don’t need all of them to be operating all of the time to grow as a person. But if all four skills are being used, we think you’ll grow more and faster, and also adding more pages to your PGI Book that reflect success.

SLIDE 19One of the underlying ideas in Personal Growth Initiative theory is that personal growth never needs to end for a person. Personal Growth can keep happening over our entire lives! So what this means is that personal growth is not an outcome. It’s a process that moves us towards personal fulfillment and becoming better people.

Now so far this might be sounding like I’m painting a rosy picture where everything is simple and easy and always has the wonderful outcome we want. And if exercising our PGI is this straightforward, why doesn’t everyone have a very thick PGI flipbook? Well, there’s the issue of your “comfort zone.”

SLIDE 20Your comfort zone can be described as the set of behaviors and ways of being that have become comfortable for you and that don’t seem to have any risk associated with them. It’s just a comfortable way of being; you’re used to it.

SLIDE 21For intentional personal growth to occur, a person usually needs to step outside their comfort zone and take some risks. For example, you might get embarrassed the first time you try to sing in public. Or you might risk losing a romantic relationship if you start being

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more assertive when your partner expresses anger toward you by hitting you. Stepping outside of our comfort zone also might threaten our sense of self. For example, we might ask ourselves “How am I doing?” or “How is my life going?” The answers to those questions aren’t always pretty and can be threatening to our confidence in ourselves and confidence in our ability to manage our lives. So the risks associated with stepping outside your comfort zone can be emotional, physical, interpersonal, financial, psychological, or in some other area that we haven’t even thought about yet.

Taking risks and stepping outside your comfort zone can be uncomfortable but the benefits sometimes do outweigh the discomfort we may feel. The discomfort is temporary but the change you make may stay for a lifetime.

SLIDE 22Now think again about what it was that you tried to change about yourself recently – what I asked you to write about earlier. For the seventh question, I want you to write down and answer this: What part of that process of trying to change yourself made you uncomfortable? What was the part in which you found yourself outside of your comfort zone?

Being outside our comfort zones and outside of that comfortableness can cause us feelings of insecurity and can be just plain uncomfortable. The greater the risk of what we are trying to change about ourselves, or the farther we step outside of our comfort zone, or even think about stepping, the more uncomfortable and insecure we can be about that risk or step.

But on the flip side, stepping outside of our comfort zone can actually teach us new things. For example, we can learn to use or discover new resources within ourselves, or maybe how other people can be resources for us. And we can learn how to integrate this new knowledge into the thoughts, attitudes, and behaviors of our daily lives.

SLIDE 23Stepping outside of your comfort zone frequently goes along with the four PGI skills. Again, think about what you tried to change about yourselves. Could you have tried to change this thing about yourself without being uncomfortable? Perhaps some of you could. I’m guessing most of you couldn’t. When our steps outside of our comfort zone are part of our intentional efforts to improve ourselves, they can then be added to our PGI flipbook.

It doesn’t matter how small the intentional effort to grow is or how little you have moved outside your comfort zone. This process of using your Personal Growth Initiative to intentionally improve yourself, that often has you stepping outside your comfort zone, can move you closer toward becoming the person you want to be.

SLIDE 24Does anyone have questions about Personal Growth Initiative or what I’ve discussed here today?”

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Personal Growth Activity

SLIDE 25“What we’re going to do in the next part of today’s session is plan out a small change you want to make in yourself because over the course of the next week you are actually going to make this change.

I’m going to help you start making an improvement or change in yourself by walking you through some steps that can be part of any personal growth process. I’ll ask you to identify something about yourself that you’d like to improve or change. Then I’ll help you identify some first steps you can take to accomplish this change in yourself. And we’ll end by identifying which of these steps you can realistically and successfully complete within the next week.

Are there any questions before we get started? (pass out Session 1: Brainstorming Worksheet)

We’re going to keep a copy of your worksheet, but we’ll keep it confidential, and you can take a copy with you today.

SLIDE 26As you can see on your worksheet, the first step is to identify several things about yourself that you might want to change. Think about the ways in which you could be a better person. Think about how you would like to grow as a person. These can be things that you’ve been aware of for quite a while or things that other people have told you would make you a better person, or things that you are just now becoming aware of. But they need to be things that YOU think will make you a better person. They can be thoughts, feelings, or behaviors – maybe something about how you are with other people – or how you feel, in general – or a specific behavior that you wish you did less of or more of – or something else. Anything that YOU think will help you to grow as a person or make you a better person is OK to include. Write down the changes that you think you could make to be a better person at this point in your life.

(IGT administrators can help participants generate and evaluate ideas as needed.)

SLIDE 27The second step is to consider each of these areas for personal growth and evaluate them in several ways. - First, in the Column marked “I” rate each area on how “Important” it is for you to grow in this area at this point in your life. 0 = not at all important and 10 = Extremely important; It’s OK if you give the same rating to more than one area for growth.- Second, in the Column marked “D” rate each area on how “Difficult” it will be for you to grow in this area if you try to make the change at this point in your life. 0 = not at all difficult and 10 = extremely difficult

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- Third, in the Column marked “R” rate each area on how “Realistic” it will be for you to try to make this change at this point in your life. 0 = not at all realistic and 10 = completely realistic

SLIDE 28 (blank slide)Now take a look at your ratings and consider anything else about these areas for personal growth that may be important to consider and choose which one of these areas you’re going to work on during the next week. I want you to choose just one, remember that I’m going to help you plan steps to take to achieve your goal.

SLIDE 29Take a minute to choose which area you want to work on and copy your description of that personal growth area in the spot labeled “Step 3.” Then where it says “Why?” on Step 3, describe your reasons for choosing this area to work on instead of the other areas you listed.

Please be careful about the activity you choose to do. It shouldn’t be psychologically damaging if it fails or doesn’t work out the way you planned.

SLIDE 30Step 4 is about identifying steps you can take to grow and change in the way you’ve chosen. Personal growth involves Planfulness, which in part, is about understanding that personal growth is a process of change – we can’t just snap our fingers and make the change happen. So we need to lay out a plan, in other words, a series of steps to use to make the change happen. For each of you the steps are going to be different. So the person sitting at the next desk may or may not be able to be helpful in identifying steps you can take. For example, if I would like to keep my house cleaner a first step would not be to say I’ll always keep my house perfectly clean. A good first step might be to make a list of all the housecleaning tasks, or it might be to clean the kitchen today.

Remember that change is best made in small steps, not all at one time. This activity is not intended to be making a drastic change, but instead it’s about doing something small. That small step can be very small, but it’s still a step. What’s important is the challenge of the activity that you feel, not how others would perceive your choice of activity.

So go ahead and write down realistic steps you can take to grow and change in the way you’ve chosen. Write out all the possible steps, then you can order the steps if you’d like. If anyone would like help laying out their plan, please feel free to ask me. (IGT administrators can help people individually with their planning, helping participants to focus on realistic goals for change and small, manageable steps to maximize the chances of success.)

Now from this plan, choose which step or steps you can realistically complete during the next week before we meet again. Put a check mark next to the step or steps that you expect to complete within the next week.

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Remember, you will have one week to carry out these steps toward your personal growth.

Are there any questions about the activity? Does everyone know what their personal growth goals and plans are for this week?

SLIDE 31At this point, please answer the question at the bottom of your worksheet.

Please take the top copy of the worksheet, but please leave the other page at your seat.

Are there any other questions before we go?

Remember that before next session your goal is to complete your personal growth steps.

SLIDE 32Thanks for coming! I’ll see you next week.”

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Session 2 Script(Bold indicates speaking parts)(Note that there are no slides for this session)

“Thank you all for returning. Today we’re going to give you a chance to tell us about your experience. But first we need to have you fill out a few questionnaires.”

“I’m going to hand each of you a booklet that includes some questionnaires and some lined paper. Work through your booklet page by page and when you get to the stop sign in your booklet, PLEASE STOP and put your pencils down, until I tell you that you can proceed.

Any questions?”

(When everyone gets to the STOP sign in the booklet…)

“Please continue to the part of your booklet right after the Stop Sign, using the lined paper for your response.”

(Time for exactly 15-minutes from the time you finish reading the sentence above. When the 15 minutes have passed…)

“Please put down your pencils and pens, even if you’re in the middle of a sentence. Close your booklets. And I’ll collect them.”

“Let’s take some time to talk about your growth activities. Would any one like to share what the most difficult part of the activity was for you?” (group discussion)

“What was surprising about the task?” (group discussion)

“What did you learn about yourself?” (group discussion)

“What would you do differently next time?” (group discussion)

“Any other thoughts on the task?” (group discussion)

(Note: Participants may continue their discussion beyond these structured questions if they wish to do so.)

“Thank you for coming. I encourage you to keep using your PGI skills.”

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Personal Growth Initiative Scale – II ©Christine Robitschek, Matthew W. Ashton, Cynthia C. Spering, Nathaniel Geiger, Danielle

Byers, G. Christian Schotts, & Megan Thoen (2012)

For each statement, please mark how much you agree or disagree with that statement. Use the following scale:

0 = Disagree Strongly1 = Disagree Somewhat2 = Disagree a Little3 = Agree a Little4 = Agree Somewhat5 = Agree Strongly

1. I set realistic goals for what I want to change about myself.

0 1 2 3 4 5

2. I can tell when I am ready to make specific changes in myself.

0 1 2 3 4 5

3. I know how to make a realistic plan in order to change myself.

0 1 2 3 4 5

4. I take every opportunity to grow as it comes up. 0 1 2 3 4 5

5. When I try to change myself, I make a realistic plan for my personal growth.

0 1 2 3 4 5

6. I ask for help when I try to change myself. 0 1 2 3 4 57. I actively work to improve myself. 0 1 2 3 4 58. I figure out what I need to change about myself. 0 1 2 3 4 5

9. I am constantly trying to grow as a person. 0 1 2 3 4 510. I know how to set realistic goals to make changes

in myself. 0 1 2 3 4 5

11. I know when I need to make a specific change in myself.

0 1 2 3 4 5

12. I use resources when I try to grow. 0 1 2 3 4 5

13. I know steps I can take to make intentional changes in myself.

0 1 2 3 4 5

14. I actively seek out help when I try to change myself.

0 1 2 3 4 5

15. I look for opportunities to grow as a person. 0 1 2 3 4 516. I know when it’s time to change specific things

about myself.0 1 2 3 4 5

WARNING. This work is protected by copyright and is intended for free use in research, educational, and clinical purposes. This work may not be used for commercial purposes.

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Personal Growth Initiative Scale – II ©Christine Robitschek, Matthew W. Ashton, Cynthia C. Spering, Nathaniel Geiger, Danielle

Byers, G. Christian Schotts, & Megan Thoen (2012)Scoring Information

There are four subscales on the PGIS-II: Readiness for Change, Planfulness, Using Resources, and Intentional Behavior. A Total Mean Score also can be calculated.

General information: All items are positively worded. To calculate the subscale scores, sum the item responses for that subscale and divide by

the number of items in the subscale.o Thus, a subscale score is the mean response value for items on that subscale.

The Total Score is calculated by summing the subscale scores and then dividing by 4 (i.e., the number of subscales).

o This provides a mean subscale score and reduces weighted effects of the different number of items on the subscales.

Subscales and their items (numbers in parentheses are item numbers from the PGIS-II as it is administered):

Readiness for Change(2) I can tell when I am ready to make specific changes in myself.(8) I figure out what I need to change about myself.(11) I know when I need to make a specific change in myself.(16) I know when it’s time to change specific things about myself.

Planfulness(1) I set realistic goals for what I want to change about myself.(3) I know how to make a realistic plan in order to change myself.(5) When I try to change myself, I make a realistic plan for my personal growth.(10) I know how to set realistic goals to make changes in myself.(13) I know steps I can take to make intentional changes in myself.

Using Resources(6) I ask for help when I try to change myself.(12) I use resources when I try to grow.(14) I actively seek out help when I try to change myself.

Intentional Behavior(4) I take every opportunity to grow as it comes up.(7) I actively work to improve myself.(9) I am constantly trying to grow as a person.(15) I look for opportunities to grow as a person.

WARNING. This work is protected by copyright and is intended for free use in research, educational, and clinical purposes. This work may not be used for commercial purposes.

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Session 1: Reflections on Past Growth Attempts Worksheet

Please use this sheet to respond to the questions. You will not turn in this sheet. This is for your own use only.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7. © 2012, Megan A. Thoen & Christine Robitschek

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Pg.1Session 1: Brainstorming Worksheet

Think about the things you would like to change about yourself. List a few of them here in the boxes provided. If you need more space for things to change, you can add some more boxes:

I D R Ways you can grow; Things you might want to change about yourself

© 2012, Megan A. Thoen & Christine Robitschek

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Pg. 2Step 3:Copy your goal you selected from steps 1 and 2 here:

Why did you select this goal over the others?

Step 4:What are the steps that you will need to take to make this change? Lay out a series of steps to use to make the change happen.

How committed are you to taking these steps over the next week? (circle one)

a) Extremely committed

b) Fairly committed

c) Somewhat committed

d) Somewhat non-committed

e) Fairly non-committed

f) Extremely non-committed

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Session 2: Questionnaire

Please answer the following questions regarding your participation in this workshop.

1. Did you learn anything about yourself?

Circle: Yes or No

Please explain your answer:

2. Did you change in any way because of this workshop (even if the change was very small)? If

so, please explain.

3. How much effort have you put into this workshop? On a scale of 0-10, where 0 is no effort and 10 is an extreme amount of effort, place an X on the line that represents your effort.

Please indicate your response on the following questions by circling the response that best fits your experience in this workshop.

4. For this workshop, during the last week, you:

a) Completed an activity; it was a one-time activity

b) Completed an activity; I did it on multiple days

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c) Did not complete an activity because my activity is ongoing

d) Did not complete an activity

5. If you did an activity , what did you do: ___________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

6. If you did an activity , how much time did you put into doing your activity over the course of the week? (If it took place on multiple days or if it’s still going, include all of that time here.)

_____ Hours _____ Minutes

7. If you did an activity, during our session last week, how much did you think about what you might do for your activity?

0. No thought

1. Minimal thought

2. Some thought

3. Quite a bit of thought

4. A lot of thought

8. If you did an activity , how long ago did you finish your activity?0. The day it was assigned1. 6 days ago

2. 5 days ago

3. 4 days ago

4. 3 days ago

5. 2 days ago

6. Yesterday

7. Today

8. My experience is ongoing

9. I did not do the activity

9. During the last 7 days , how often did you think about your experience in this workshop?

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0. More than once each day

1. Every day

2. 6 of the last 7 days

3. 5 of the last 7 days

4. 4 of the last 7 days

5. 3 of the last 7 days

6. 2 of the last 7 days

7. 1 of the last 7 days8. Never

10. During the last 7 days how committed were you to making a change (any change) in yourself? (circle one)

0. Extremely committed

1. Fairly committed

2. Somewhat committed

3. Somewhat non-committed

4. Fairly non-committed

5. Extremely non-committed

11. How intentional were you about your experience in this workshop? Place an X on the line that represents your intentionality.

12. How much did you plan your experience in this workshop? Place an X on the line that represents how much you planned.

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13. How much did you intentionally use outside help (e.g., friends, family, internet, etc.) as part of your experience in this workshop? Place an X on the line that represents how much you used outside help.

14. Think about your experience in this workshop. Would you participant in this same type of experience again or was it a one-time experience for you?

0. I would do it again1. It was a one-time experience2. I did not do the experience

15. Think about the experience you have had in this workshop. How likely are you to try another experience like this on your own in the next three months?

0. Extremely likely

1. Fairly likely

2. Somewhat likely

3. Somewhat unlikely

4. Fairly unlikely

5. Extremely unlikely

On the next page is a circle that represents your Comfort Zone. Your “Comfort Zone” includes all the things you do that you feel comfortable doing. The sticker on this page represents your experience in this experiment. Using this sticker, please place it anywhere on the back of this page that best represents the distance between your experience and your comfort zone. That is, how far or close was your experience from your Comfort Zone?

(RESEARCHER PLACE STICKER HERE)

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© 2012, Megan A. Thoen & Christine Robitschek

Free Recall Prompt(Adapted from Pennebaker, 1994)

For the next 15 minutes, I would like for you to write about your very deepest thoughts and feelings about your experience in this experiment. In your writing, I’d like you to really let go and explore your very deepest emotions and thoughts. All of your writing will be completely confidential. Don’t worry about spelling, sentence structure, or grammar. The only rule is that once you begin writing, continue to do so until time is up. If you run out of things to say, just repeat what you have already written. Please write on the lined paper provided and put your 8 digit ID # in the top right corner.

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Previous IGT Research Information

IGT was deconstructed to determine which parts of the intervention were effective (Thoen & Robitschek, 2013). Findings indicated that only participants in the growth activity-only condition and the complete intervention condition (i.e., including PGI education and the growth activity) had significant increases in their scores on the PGIS-II from pre- to post-intervention during a 1-week period (Thoen & Robitschek, 2013).

Table 1. Sample Size, Means and Standard Deviations by Condition (N = 220)PGIS-II

Pretest Posttest Comfort ZoneCondition M SD M SD M SD

1. Complete condition (n = 61)a,* 3.42 .84 3.64 .75 2.68 3.202. PGI Education only (n = 39) 3.48 .74 3.62 .76 1.86 2.573. Growth Activity only (n = 43)* 3.52 .79 3.80 .61 2.51 3.194. Hail Education only (n = 43) 3.73 .66 3.78 .63 1.24 1.995. Familiar Activity (n = 34) 3.48 .87 3.63 .83 1.38 1.82

Note. PGIS-II = Personal Growth Initiative Scale-II. aComplete condition = PGI Education and Growth Activity. *Significant difference from pretest scale measurement, p < .05.

In contrast, an analysis of writing samples from the intervention studies indicated that those participants in the conditions that included education about PGI (either only PGI education, or both PGI education and participation in the growth activity) used more growth-related words (Martinez et al., 2011) than participants in other conditions. That is, when participants receive education about PGI (with or without the growth activity), they tend to write about that experience using terminology more reflective of personal growth. The use of more personal growth terminology is likely an indication that personal growth is taking place. Therefore, it is possible that the intervention with the greatest likelihood of enhancing PGI skills would include both the PGI education and growth activity components given the findings from the writing samples (Martinez et al., 2011) and deconstruction (Thoen & Robitschek, 2013) of the intervention.

Table 2. Correlations, Means and Standard Deviations for All Variables (N = 237) Variable 1 2 3 4 5 6

1. PGIS-II Pretest2. PGIS-II Posttest .65*3. Comfort Zone (cm) -.03 .014. Positive Emotion Percentage .21* .12 -.035. Negative Emotion Percentage -.14 -.08 .27* -.066. Growth Word Percentage .07 .05 -.08 .17 -.24*M 3.50 3.68 2.57 4.08 1.69 4.03SD .78 .72 3.66 1.90 1.33 2.37

Note. PGIS-II = Personal Growth Initiative Scale-II. * Using a Bonferroni correction, p < 0.002. Figure 1. PGIS-II Scores at Pretest and Posttest by Condition. (N = 220)

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PGI Education GROWTH ACTIVITY*

Hail Education Familiar Activity COMPLETE CONDITION*

3.2

3.3

3.4

3.5

3.6

3.7

3.8

3.9

3.483.52

3.73

3.48

3.42

3.62

3.8 3.78

3.63 3.64

Pretest Posttest

PGIS

-II M

ean

Scor

es

|Note. PGIS-II = Personal Growth Initiative Scale-II. Complete Condition = Both PGI Education and Growth Activity. *p = 0.02.

Figure 2. Mean Percentage of Words Used By Singular Condition, N = 237

Note. Complete Condition = Both PGI Education and Growth Activity.

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Martinez, M. A., Robitschek, C., Mirkalai, S. M., & Vazquez, J. M. (2010, August). Increasing personal growth initiative through education and growth activity. Poster presented at the annual convention of the American Psychological Association, San Diego, CA.

Martinez, M. A., Robitschek, C., Ponder, R. M., Mirkalai, S. M., & Roumiantseva, D (2011, August). Increasing personal growth initiative through education and growth activity: A narrative analysis. Poster presented at the annual convention of the American Psychological Association, Washington, DC.

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Robitschek, C. (1999). Further validation of the Personal Growth Initiative Scale. Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and Development, 31, 197–210.

Robitschek, C., & Anderson, L. (2011, August). Personal growth initiative: Predicting depression, well-being, and functioning in college students. Poster presented at the annual convention of the American Psychological Association, Washington, DC.

Robitschek, C., Ashton, M. W., Spering, C. C., Geiger, N., Byers, D., Schotts, G. C., & Thoen, M. A. (2012). Development and psychometric evaluation of the Personal Growth Initiative Scale – II. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 59, 274-287. doi: 10.1037/a0027310

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Robitschek, C., Yang, A., Villalba II, R., & Shigemoto, Y. (2019). Personal growth initiative: A robust and malleable predictor of treatment outcomes for depressed partial hospital patients. Journal of Affective Disorders, 246, 548-555. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2018.12.121

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Thoen, M. A., & Robitschek, C. (2013). Intentional Growth Training: Developing an intervention to increase Personal Growth Initiative. Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being, 5, 149–170. doi:10.1111/aphw.12001

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