Trauma and a View of God

            When a person is exposed to a traumatic event that is beyond their normal coping skills, it may create a “spiritual emergency” (Harris, Erbes, & Engdahl, 2008).  Within the spiritual domain, people undergo a process of learning, re-evaluation, and personal transformation that alters their human existence.  Their worldview may disintegrate, which can create an alienation from self and from God.  They are unprotected from internal reminders that challenge their method of existence, their old beliefs, bring discomfort with a world that was once familiar, and they suffer from problems of awareness between their inner and outer world (Harris et. al, 2008).  Many people, when faced with a traumatic event may use their religious beliefs to cope, while others find it difficult because of the morality involved in the trauma (Harris, et al, 2008).

            Trauma affects one’s religious beliefs because it challenges their view of themselves and of the world around them.  It affects their beliefs about power, safety, and control.  Suffering from a spiritual crisis challenges their belief about a loving, caring, and omnipotent God.  Many who find it troubling may abandon their faith or decrease their religious involvement; there is no clear distinction between trauma survivors (Harris, et al, 2008).  For the ones who continue with their spiritual involvement, the power of prayer serves four functions for coping: it seeks to increase acceptance of the trauma, it causes them to actively seek help, it seeks help to focus their efforts to cope, and it helps to defer or avoid the stressor.  While the last normally produces increased anxiety, the first three help to lessen anxiety (Harris et. al, 2008).

Having spiritual support fosters a closer relationship with God when seeking guidance, gives a sense of being personally connected, and provides emotional comfort to help the individual better adjust to the traumatic event.  Church members can offer reassurance, provide a sense of belonging, and remind survivors there is a divine God who is all powerful, in spite of the pain they are suffering (Doucet & Rovers, 2010).  Parents who are spiritually active often pass on positive attachment styles to their children.  This does not exclude those who have not had a positive attachment influence, as these individuals may actually be driven to seek divine guidance (Doucet & Rovers, 2010).  Opportunities for post-traumatic growth occur when the survivor is able to view the trauma in light of the healing outcome of acceptance and journey involved in the gradual nature of the recovery process (Harris et. al, 2008).

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References

Doucet, M., & Rovers, M. (2010). Generational trauma, attachment, and spiritual/religious interventions. Journal of Loss & Trauma, 15(2), 93-105. doi:10.1080/15325020903373078

Harris, J., Erbes, C., Engdahl, B. (2008).  Christian religious functioning and trauma outcomes.  Journal of Clinical Psychology, 64(1), 17-29.  doi: 10.1002/jclp.20427