{"id":32373,"date":"2023-04-17T12:51:43","date_gmt":"2023-04-17T19:51:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=32373"},"modified":"2023-04-17T12:51:43","modified_gmt":"2023-04-17T19:51:43","slug":"contributing-to-a-healing-landscape","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/contributing-to-a-healing-landscape\/","title":{"rendered":"Contributing to a Healing Landscape"},"content":{"rendered":"

Traumatic Experiences Leave Traces<\/strong><\/p>\n

Psychiatrist, Bessel van Der Kolk, in his book, The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma<\/em>, writes that in order to successfully treat psychological trauma, clinicians must consider the bodily symptoms experienced by the traumatized person.[1]<\/a> 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]<\/a> Drawing upon the discoveries of Abram Kardiner, a psychiatrist writing in 1941 regarding his observations of World War I veterans, van der Kolk states, \u201cpost-traumatic stress\u00a0 isn\u2019t \u2018all in one\u2019s head,\u2019 as some people supposed, but has a physiological basis. Kardiner understood even then that the symptoms have their origin in the entire body\u2019s response to the original trauma.\u201d[3]<\/a><\/p>\n

Regarding specific treatments, Van der Kolk says, \u201cWe can now develop methods and experiences that utilize the brain\u2019s own natural neuroplasticity to help survivors feel fully alive in the present and move on with their lives.\u201d\u00a0 [4]<\/a> 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]<\/a> He also highly values the input of his patients to teach him how to best treat their trauma.[6]<\/a> He spends a significant portion of his book discussing alternative treatment methods that have proven successful.[7]<\/a><\/p>\n

An Invitation<\/strong><\/p>\n

Van der Kolk believes that trauma is now our \u201cmost urgent public health issue and we have the knowledge necessary to respond effectively.\u201d[8]<\/a> In his own words, he wrote his book to be a guide and an invitation \u2013 \u201can 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.\u201d[9]<\/a><\/p>\n

Truly, We Experience Life with our Whole Being<\/strong><\/p>\n

In reading van der Kolk\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

Relevancy in the Workspace, the Worship Space, and the Broader World<\/strong><\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

James K. A. Smith, author of Imagining the Kingdom,<\/em> talks about engaging the world with our whole bodies, for good and for harm. He says we don\u2019t primarily navigate the world cognitively, but \u201cwe have a bodily attunement and perception that underwrites objective knowledge and intellectual reflection.\u201d[10]<\/a> 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]<\/a> Could the church strategically partner with professional therapists to engage the body in healing practices, specifically when it comes to trauma?<\/p>\n

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 \u201conly a form of worship with a whole-of-life social imaginary can begin to compete affectively with the social imaginary of the market.\u201d[12]<\/a> Could a form of worship with a \u201cwhole-of-life social imaginary\u201d 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?<\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/strong><\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> Nelia Viveiros\u00a0(2017)\u00a0\u201cReview of\u00a0The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma<\/em>, by Bessel van der Kolk,\u201d\u00a0Journal of Loss and Trauma<\/em>,\u00a022:2,\u00a0167-169,\u00a0DOI:\u00a010.1080\/15325024.2016.1173454<\/a>, 167.<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> Bessel van der Kolk, The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma<\/em> (New York, NY: Penguin Books, 2014), 1.<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> Van der Kolk, 11.<\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> Van der Kolk, 3.<\/p>\n

[5]<\/a> 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 \u201cdeeply and viscerally contradict the helplessness, rage or collapse that result from trauma,\u201d van der Kolk, 3.<\/p>\n

[6]<\/a> Margaret Wilkinson (2016) \u201cBook Reviews: Van der Kolk, Bessel, The Body Keeps the Score: Mind, Brain and Body in the Transformation of Trauma,\u201d The Journal of Analytical Psychology<\/em>, 61:2, 239-254, DOI: 10.1111\/1468-5922.12213<\/u>, 239.<\/p>\n

[7]<\/a> Viveiros, 168.<\/p>\n

[8]<\/a> Van der Kolk, 358.<\/p>\n

[9]<\/a> Van der Kolk, 4.<\/p>\n

[10]<\/a> James K. A. Smith in Jason P. Clark, “Evangelicalism and Capitalism: A Reparative Account and Diagnosis of Pathogeneses in the Relationship\u201d (2018). Faculty Publications – Portland Seminary. 132. https:\/\/digitalcommons.georgefox.edu\/gfes\/132<\/a>, 219.<\/p>\n

[11]<\/a> Smith in Clark, 217.<\/p>\n

[12]<\/a> Clark, 223.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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