Journey Thr ough Trauma (original) (raw)
Related papers
The Process of Transcending a Traumatic Childhood
Contemporary Family Therapy, 2007
This study used a qualitative, exploratory approach to develop a conceptual framework that illustrated the process by which spirituality emerged as one of the processes that helped people transcend a traumatic childhood. Ninety people described how they survived and transcended the difficult time. This article outlines the stages of the developmental process that culminated for many in a deeper spiritual awareness and how this helped them in their process of transcending. These findings have implications for marriage and family therapists, clergy, and others in the helping professions in providing therapy, resources, and support for those who have experienced difficult childhoods.
2023
People who are not able to overcome the effects of childhood trauma often waste their human potential on substance abuse and illegal and illicit lifestyles; they end up in prison, uneducated, or develop self-destructive behavior. They often struggle with poor learning and social skills and are not able to be successful in life. However, some individuals do succeed. This study interviewed eight individuals who suffered childhood trauma and developed ways of overcoming that trauma to live prosperous, productive, and, in many regards, full lives. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS
An Exploration of Resilience, Spirituality and Post Traumatic Growth in the Face of Trauma
2018
Traumatic events acquire both negative and positive qualities that reflect a person’s life. The negative side includes psychopathologies and the positive side includes transformation in lifestyle. The focus of the present research is to explore the positive transformation of females experiencing trauma as a result of Breast Cancer, Sexual Abuse and Spousal Bereavement. It was hypothesised that there would be significant group differences among the three traumas on the measure of Post traumatic growth, Resilience, Spirituality and also to examine their relationship. The data was collected using purposive sampling method and the size of the total sample was 90 (i.e. 30 females in each group). A three group design was followed where Post traumatic growth inventory by Tedeschi and Calhoun (1996) and Spirituality and Resilience Assessment Packet by Kass and Kass (2000) was administered on the three groups of trauma to meet the objectives. The results revealed significant differences betw...
Trauma and Spirituality: Healing the Wounded Soul
2013
Though in its infant stages, PTSD research has accomplished much in understanding the nature, cause, and effects of trauma in general; but largely disregards the spiritual aspect of this debilitating disorder. Achieving a greater understanding of the multifaceted relationship between spirituality and PTSD may be a key factor in prevention, enhanced treatment protocols, and symptom management, with the ultimate goal of facilitating healing. In attempt to gain a greater understanding of PTSD and its spiritual implications, this discussion will explore the spiritual aspects of coping, coherence, perspective, and resilience in the face of trauma. The emphasis of this discussion will be on establishing the positive effects of spirituality in fostering resiliency.
Resilient Despite Childhood Trauma Experience
In Canada, the Committee on Sexual Offences Against Children & Youths report that, among adult Canadians, 53% of women and 31% of men are sexually abused as children. Studies suggest that exposure to childhood sexual abuse (CSA) is associated with a wide range of adverse consequences including depression, anxiety, substance abuse, attempted suicide and deliberate self-harm and a range of other adverse psychological outcomes. There is research, however, that has examined the factors that distinguish individuals exposed to childhood sexual abuse who develop adjustment issues from those children exposed to CSA who do not. A range of factors, including personality traits, family characteristics and community influences, has been identified as important determinants of resiliency following exposure to CSA. The purpose of my own MSW qualitative research was to uncover what participants believed fostered their resiliency. Self-identified resilient volunteers were interviewed, data were analyzed using grounded theory and the chosen central phenomenon was the perception that the participants' childhood sexual abuse was traumatic. Strategies used by the research participants to address this phenomenon included enlisting important individuals/pets, spirituality and regulating the traumatic experience. Participants regulated their trauma through strategies including humour, self-preservation, imagination, and "unhealthy" behaviours. The results indicate that there are degrees of resiliency, resiliency is a process and each participant moved beyond periods of using unhealthy strategies in regulating their experience. If clinicians consider that their client's behaviour is a detour towards resiliency, they may assess, diagnose and treat differently those who have experienced childhood trauma. Practice implications are addressed and findings from my PhD research (on the process of resiliency) thus far, are discussed.
The use of spiritual resources to cope with trauma in daily existence
In die Skriflig / In Luce Verbi, 2016
The article explores the link between trauma and spirituality, and investigates whether and how spirituality can be used as a resource to address the needs of people in traumatic situations. The authors address the following questions: Why is it that spirituality and God himself may seem to make little or no sense to people who are experiencing trauma? Is spirituality an abstract concept that lacks practical relevance in crisis situations? Do peoples’ understanding of God and what they believe about his nature and power affect their spirituality and determine how they understand God’s intervention in coping with trauma? To answer these questions, the authors make use of the life history research method to analyse the case of Nokwazi Chiya, a Zulu woman who abandoned God and all spiritual support systems after the traumatic death of her fiancé. The findings demonstrate how traumatic events destroy not only the psychosocial aspects, but also the survivor’s faith in a natural or divine...
A Compassionate Approach to the Spirituality of Adult Christian Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse
Survivors of childhood sexual abuse often suffer from the psychological effects of chronic shame and trauma. Many adult survivors turn to psychotherapy and spirituality for healing. Psychotherapies such as Compassion Focused Therapy and Eye Movement Desensitization (EMDR) can help to heal trauma. This paper presents a psycho-spiritual model of treating trauma that integrates the insights of psychotherapy and spirituality. It offers a concept of grace working through psychotherapy in healing trauma. This paper also documents some of the compassionate work of adult survivors who have undergone a transformative journey of psychological and spiritual healing. These transformations have been despite, not because of, Christian faith communities. Some faith communities, rather than being compassionate, have vilified survivors. This has often been the case when the perpetrator has been a member of the clergy. The theology of mercy, advocated by Pope Francis, invites faith communities to examine themselves as recipients of God's mercy, as a measure of humble, compassionate and authentic mission. In this study, compassionate professionals and clergy, working with survivors, provide insights into how faith communities can extend compassionate support to survivors. They describe how, when ministers and pastoral workers provide an emotionally supportive space for adult survivors, this can be a sacramental encounter with Christ. They also describe how ministering to survivors with the Eucharist can be a source of healing and inclusion. This paper also acknowledges diocesan work undertaken with survivors in the form of Eucharistic liturgies with survivor participation in the experience. These liturgies aim to confer both a sense of healing and inclusion in the life of the faith community. Survivors bring gifts to faith communities and the wider world, borne of healing and transformation. Faith communities through recognising the gifts survivors bring, honour them as equals.
A New Opportunity: Transforming Trauma
Journal of Adventist Youth and Young Adult Ministries
Researchers and church administrators have a long-term interest in the stresses experienced by clergy and how these stressors relate to the ability of the clergy to minister effectively. Many of these stressors occur in pastors’ families of origin prior to ministry. Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) are forms of trauma that have long-term negative effects on one’s physical, mental/emotional, spiritual/relational, and behavioral health. This article describes research on the effects of ACEs and reports the preliminary results of the first three years of a longitudinal study of ACEs on Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) seminary students. It makes recommendations designed to positively affect the state of pastoral ministry in the SDA Church. Trauma-informed pastors discover how to overcome the negative effects of trauma on themselves, which enables them to create trauma-informed congregations.
Spirituality and Resilience in Trauma Victims (pdf)
The way people process stressors is critical in determining whether or not trauma will be experienced. Some clinical and neuroimaging findings suggest that posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) patients experience difficulty in synthesizing the traumatic experience in a comprehensive narrative. Religiousness and spirituality are strongly based on a personal quest for understanding of questions about life and meaning.
Spirituality and Resilience in Trauma Victims
Journal of Religion and Health, 2007
The way people process stressors is critical in determining whether or not trauma will be experienced. Some clinical and neuroimaging findings suggest that posttraumatic stress disorder patients experience difficulty in synthesizing the traumatic experience in a comprehensive narrative. Religiousness and spirituality are strongly based on a personal quest for understanding of questions about life and meaning. Building narratives based on healthy perspectives may facilitate the integration of traumatic sensorial fragments in a new cognitive synthesis, thus working to decrease post-traumatic symptoms. Given the potential effects of spiritual and religious beliefs on coping with traumatic events, the study of the role of spirituality in fostering resilience in trauma survivors may advance our understanding of human adaptation to trauma.