The Spiritual Impact of Trauma: Acknowledging Spiritual Wounding as Part of Holistic Care
Vincent Starnino, PhD, Indiana University Indianapolis, Indianapolis, IN
PTSD affects approximately 3.5 percent of U.S. adults every year and one in 11 will be diagnosed with PTSD in their lifetime. Aside from a PTSD diagnosis, most of the population will experience some sort of trauma in their lifetime. This can range from childhood maltreatment and abuse, violence, rape or sexual assault, natural disasters, learning about a life-threatening life condition, unexpected death of a loved one, war, etc. First responders and health practitioners, meanwhile, are at risk of experiencing secondary trauma resulting from repeated indirect trauma exposure. Mainstream trauma treatments often emphasize a bio-psycho-social approach to treating trauma. Treating injury and illness of the body is an essential part of holistic care, as is caring for psychological symptoms such depression and trauma related triggers, and a person’s social needs including environmental supports. Yet, it can be argued that a truly holistic approach requires consideration of the spiritual and/or religious component. While it is known that spirituality and religion can be helpful resources for dealing with challenging life experiences, some scholars point to spiritual crises that can arise from trauma. This paper addresses spiritual wounding that can result from trauma and explores strategies for recovering from trauma-related challenges, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), using patients’ own understanding of religion and/or spirituality.
Spiritual wounding can occur when, following a trauma event, a person experiences dissonance between their pre-trauma belief system and the trauma event. What they experienced cannot easily be reconciled with the spiritual or religious worldview they held prior. This sense of dissonance can cause a person to struggle with meaning-making, lack of trust, feelings of disconnection and alienation, guilt and shame, crisis of self-identity, and loss of faith. When a person experiences trauma, they may begin to ask fundamental questions such as "Why did this happen to me?", "Is this a test from God?", and "Am I being punished?". However, these questions can seem unanswerable, leaving a person in a state of incongruence and confusion. As a result, they may distance themselves from their faith (e.g., no longer believe in God or struggle with their belief) and experience a lack of connection to one's deeper self and other people. This deep level of wounding can be referred to as spiritual wounding.
The idea is that traumatized individuals are sometimes impacted at a level beyond cognitions and emotions. It can be argued that their personhood, core, essence, foundation, or very being, is impacted. Unresolved spiritual wounding may lead to a person refraining from seeking treatment (due to distancing), being treatment noncompliant, and/or engaging in negative coping behaviors such as suicide attempts, substance abuse, relationship problems, unemployment etc.
According to posttraumatic growth theory, it is possible to experience positive change and growth stemming from traumatic experiences, including spiritual growth. But how do we open a space for nurturing spiritual growth and healing? There are times that spiritual wounding needs to be explicitly acknowledged to be able to move on to healing. The 23rd Psalm mentions “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil…” Going through something means confronting it, as opposed to going around it. This paper will discuss the conditions needed for spiritual growth to occur (e.g., spiritual quest, openness to change, etc.). Several strategies for addressing spiritual wounding will be presented. An illustrative example of a manualized treatment approach co-led by a spiritual care and behavioral health professional designed to treat military veterans with PTSD will be provided.
Spiritual wounding can occur when, following a trauma event, a person experiences dissonance between their pre-trauma belief system and the trauma event. What they experienced cannot easily be reconciled with the spiritual or religious worldview they held prior. This sense of dissonance can cause a person to struggle with meaning-making, lack of trust, feelings of disconnection and alienation, guilt and shame, crisis of self-identity, and loss of faith. When a person experiences trauma, they may begin to ask fundamental questions such as "Why did this happen to me?", "Is this a test from God?", and "Am I being punished?". However, these questions can seem unanswerable, leaving a person in a state of incongruence and confusion. As a result, they may distance themselves from their faith (e.g., no longer believe in God or struggle with their belief) and experience a lack of connection to one's deeper self and other people. This deep level of wounding can be referred to as spiritual wounding.
The idea is that traumatized individuals are sometimes impacted at a level beyond cognitions and emotions. It can be argued that their personhood, core, essence, foundation, or very being, is impacted. Unresolved spiritual wounding may lead to a person refraining from seeking treatment (due to distancing), being treatment noncompliant, and/or engaging in negative coping behaviors such as suicide attempts, substance abuse, relationship problems, unemployment etc.
According to posttraumatic growth theory, it is possible to experience positive change and growth stemming from traumatic experiences, including spiritual growth. But how do we open a space for nurturing spiritual growth and healing? There are times that spiritual wounding needs to be explicitly acknowledged to be able to move on to healing. The 23rd Psalm mentions “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil…” Going through something means confronting it, as opposed to going around it. This paper will discuss the conditions needed for spiritual growth to occur (e.g., spiritual quest, openness to change, etc.). Several strategies for addressing spiritual wounding will be presented. An illustrative example of a manualized treatment approach co-led by a spiritual care and behavioral health professional designed to treat military veterans with PTSD will be provided.