Contributing to a Healing Landscape
Traumatic Experiences Leave Traces
Psychiatrist, Bessel van Der Kolk, in his book, The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma, writes that in order to successfully treat psychological trauma, clinicians must consider the bodily symptoms experienced by the traumatized person.[1] Van der Kolk notes that though human beings are resilient, traumatic experiences leave traces on our families, minds and emotions, on our capacity for joy and intimacy, and even on our biology and immune systems.[2] Drawing upon the discoveries of Abram Kardiner, a psychiatrist writing in 1941 regarding his observations of World War I veterans, van der Kolk states, “post-traumatic stress isn’t ‘all in one’s head,’ as some people supposed, but has a physiological basis. Kardiner understood even then that the symptoms have their origin in the entire body’s response to the original trauma.”[3]
Regarding specific treatments, Van der Kolk says, “We can now develop methods and experiences that utilize the brain’s own natural neuroplasticity to help survivors feel fully alive in the present and move on with their lives.” [4] He uses a broad range of case studies to show that individuals respond differently to trauma and require different modes of treatment for healing.[5] He also highly values the input of his patients to teach him how to best treat their trauma.[6] He spends a significant portion of his book discussing alternative treatment methods that have proven successful.[7]
An Invitation
Van der Kolk believes that trauma is now our “most urgent public health issue and we have the knowledge necessary to respond effectively.”[8] In his own words, he wrote his book to be a guide and an invitation – “an invitation to dedicate ourselves to facing the reality of trauma, to explore how best to treat it, and to commit ourselves, as a society, to using every means we have to prevent it.”[9]
Truly, We Experience Life with our Whole Being
In reading van der Kolk’s book, I am struck anew by the complexity of human beings. Truly, we experience life with our whole being. Body, mind, and spirit, we soak up the joys of life. Body, mind, and spirit, we take in the horrors of life.
Relevancy in the Workspace, the Worship Space, and the Broader World
I think of the students with whom I work. They have all experienced homelessness and abandonment. Many of them have experienced multiple traumas. My team is continually trying to improve on the ways to offer opportunities for healing. Professional therapy is our first recommendation. We also know that healthy relationships, physical exercise, time outside, and stable housing where basic needs are met can contribute to a healing landscape.
I wonder, how can the church offer healing for those who have experienced trauma? It would seem wise for leaders in the church to be familiar with the ramifications of trauma, so that they can engage in healing for themselves and for the people in their congregations. A somatic approach seems smart, since it is through somatic inroads that trauma harms us.
James K. A. Smith, author of Imagining the Kingdom, talks about engaging the world with our whole bodies, for good and for harm. He says we don’t primarily navigate the world cognitively, but “we have a bodily attunement and perception that underwrites objective knowledge and intellectual reflection.”[10] It is through body, mind, and movement that we create meaning. Smith also believes that praying enacts a body-learning process that forms and changes us and is an act that educates our body, heart, and imagination.[11] Could the church strategically partner with professional therapists to engage the body in healing practices, specifically when it comes to trauma?
Jason Clark, in his thesis addressing the commodification of religious practices, asks what kind of worship is able to affectively order Christians around the body of Christ? He suggests that “only a form of worship with a whole-of-life social imaginary can begin to compete affectively with the social imaginary of the market.”[12] Could a form of worship with a “whole-of-life social imaginary” also be part of trauma recovery, gathering us around the body of Christ in real, present, and healing ways? I wonder. Could we in the church do more to educate ourselves and seek healing for ourselves for the many traumas represented among us? As van der Kolk challenges, could we even be part of reducing the traumas of the world in the first place? As leaders, are we aware of the ramifications of trauma in our own lives and in the lives of the people around us?
Conclusion
Understanding is key to healing. May we take the steps necessary to continue educating ourselves and mindfully and prayerfully provide avenues for healing to our community. And though this process is complex and the roots of trauma run deep, may we remember that Christ, whom we follow and who grants wisdom, understands trauma and offers healing to all.
[1] Nelia Viveiros (2017) “Review of The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma, by Bessel van der Kolk,” Journal of Loss and Trauma, 22:2, 167-169, DOI: 10.1080/15325024.2016.1173454, 167.
[2] Bessel van der Kolk, The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma (New York, NY: Penguin Books, 2014), 1.
[3] Van der Kolk, 11.
[4] Van der Kolk, 3.
[5] Van der Kolk mentions three approaches to treating trauma. They include 1) top-down, through talking and connecting to others to increase understanding; 2) taking medications; and 3) bottom-up methods, that allow the body to have experiences that “deeply and viscerally contradict the helplessness, rage or collapse that result from trauma,” van der Kolk, 3.
[6] Margaret Wilkinson (2016) “Book Reviews: Van der Kolk, Bessel, The Body Keeps the Score: Mind, Brain and Body in the Transformation of Trauma,” The Journal of Analytical Psychology, 61:2, 239-254, DOI: 10.1111/1468-5922.12213, 239.
[7] Viveiros, 168.
[8] Van der Kolk, 358.
[9] Van der Kolk, 4.
[10] James K. A. Smith in Jason P. Clark, “Evangelicalism and Capitalism: A Reparative Account and Diagnosis of Pathogeneses in the Relationship” (2018). Faculty Publications – Portland Seminary. 132. https://digitalcommons.georgefox.edu/gfes/132, 219.
[11] Smith in Clark, 217.
[12] Clark, 223.
About the Author
Jenny Steinbrenner Hale
15 responses to “Contributing to a Healing Landscape”
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Jenny, great post! Thank you for asking these important questions. We as the church need to think about trauma and the way it affects our world, especially in the wake of the pandemic. We have a world going through post traumatic stress and the Church needs to be on the front lines of helping people! In your context, how do you help students to seek professional therapy? Do you help them find a therapist or stop at recommending therapy? Do you find that there is a negative stigma surrounding therapy in your context?
Hi Becca, Thanks for your comments and questions. We partners with the local schools and the staff there are great in actually connecting students with therapists. Some students come into our program already seeing a therapist and they almost all want to continue. Some start while they’re in our program. Some students aren’t interested, but not because of a negative stigma. It seems to be more related to the fact that they just have too much on their plate to manage at the moment and can’t fathom adding one more thing. We’re seeing almost everyone on our team and in our partnerships valuing therapy. It’s encouraging!
Jenny,
I loved your conclusion on your post. This is really a great post. What I believe makes this a great post is your care and love for people to truly experience healing. Well done!
Thanks so much, Greg, for your comments. I so appreciate your encouragement! Hope this week is going smoothly for you as you wind up the semester.
Jenny,
I really appreciate your wondering at the end of your post when you ask how the church can play a role. I think this is an important conversation and question. Do you think churches could do more to partner with non profits and counselors to offer resources to their membership and those who seek help from the church?
Hi Sara, Thanks for your comments and question. Yes, what do you think about churches having a therapist onsite and paying that person a salary. Then, maybe people could access therapy for free or low cost? Maybe a church would need an entire team of therapists!
Jenny – As I read your post I couldn’t help but wonder if your NPO might be a way to help people heal from church-related trauma. There are so many Christians who have been wounded by churches and experience physical symptoms at even the thought of entering another church, but they desperately want to stay connected to God. In this way, your NPO could offer them an alternative to traditional worship at a physical church.
Hi Laura, Thanks so much for your comments! Yes, I think you’re right. It’s so interesting, because I was thinking of that last week. One person who tried my prototype actually hinted that he might like to do something outdoors rather than go to a traditional worship service . I need to think on this.
Hope your week goes smoothly as you wrap up the semester!
That’s amazing! Let me know what you come up with!
OK 🙂
Jenny, what great and rich questions to ask! Lately I’ve been thinking about the paths set for humans in Genesis. From the fall up until Abraham there seems to be this idea that mankind could only spread wickedness, violence, and death. With God’s calling of Abram’s family, there was the promise and hope that blessing, goodness, and life might spread through humans, ultimately fulfilled in the life we find in Jesus.
I recently heard a talk given by Russell Jeung, founder of Stop AAPI-Hate. His core point was the common phrase “hurt people, hurt people”. Even as I think about what it means to spread life, understanding trauma, those that others experience and the trauma we carry, seems to be an absolutely crucial first step in bringing healing and reducing trauma.
Hi Caleb, Thanks so much for your comments and thoughts on this! I agree. Addressing trauma seems crucial in reducing trauma. The phrase “hurt people, hurt people” is powerful and telling as to where we need to put our energy when trying to strengthen communities. Thanks for bringing that up. I’m so grateful for the opportunities to think deeply on this issue with everyone in our cohort.
What would be one initial step for the church to offer for healing of trauma?
Hi Alana, Thanks for your question! I’m wondering if churches might consider having a therapist onsite as part of their ministry. If the church paid that person a salary, maybe people could access therapy for free of low cost. That’s just one idea. I’m thinking there might be so many ways the church could tangibly address trauma! I wonder what worship services that involved more movement of our whole body, mind, and soul might look like.
Great post! What do you think it will take to educate the church that therapy is relevant and does not cancel out religion?