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Benchmark Essay: Trauma, Development and Spirituality
Department of Behavioral Science
September 12,2021
Children are often faced with many challenges beyond their control, from family barriers like alcoholism, abuse, divorce, and poverty to unpredicted difficulties such as natural disasters, medical illness, death, and traumatic events. Children who can manage their emotions despite these disturbing experiences have often endured misfortune and are viewed as stress-resistant or resilient (Wong et al.,2020). Personally speaking, from my experience as a behavioral technician, it is not unusual for children to display the effects of trauma behaviorally by disagreement with peers, personality regression, or withdrawal, academically through lower grades, disinterest in school, or truancy. Some of my patients who exhibited symptoms while working at a mental hospital were self-harm, weight fluctuation, and hygienic regression. Emotionally, my patients show anger or frustration. Therefore, counselors in training like myself need to be aware of environmental factors that put children at risk and protective factors that can be encouraged to reinforce resilience.
According to the American Psychological Association, “resilience is the process of adapting well when confronted by adversity, tragedy, significant stressors, and trauma (APA,2019). This definition implies that life is far from perfect. Everyone will experience twists and turns from everyday obstacles to traumatic effects such as losing a loved one, a life-changing event, or a severe illness. Each change affects everyone differently in which brings a feeling of strong emotions and uncertainty. Despite all these life-changing situations, people are generally able to transition in part due to resilience.
Protective factors can adjust a person’s response to an environmental threat (Wong et al.,2020). They can start internally within the child, such as their intelligence, and control their behavior. At the same time, others are based on external influences such as competent parents, successful schooling, and access to support networks. In other words, while some cognitive factors may serve as protective factors, some children may be too young developmentally to use them (Wong et al.,2020). Additionally, depending on the culture, it is not uncommon for some children to see resilience in faith and spirituality as a vital protective factor. For some, it may not be of great value (Wong et al.,2020). Children can learn protective factors such as resiliency, so counselors need to know which factors promote resiliency. Alvord and Grados(2005) identified six factors: proactive orientation, self-regulation, proactive parenting, connections and attachments, school achievement and involvement, IQ, unique talents, and community. The main characteristic of resiliency is a proactive orientation or the capacity to take the initiative in life and believe in your effectiveness.
Protective factors such as positive self-efficacy and self-esteem, joyous expectation of the future, good coping strategies, self-discipline, critical thinking abilities, initiative, positive thinking, and internal motivation contribute to a child’s resilience (Wong et al.,2020). Preschool children who display determination and a positive outlook on life typically have a proactive orientation. Self-control, for instance, having control over behavior and emotions, is also one of the most crucial protective factors for developing resilience (Wong et al.,2020). Eventually, resilient preschool children should have a better grasp of self-control. Furthermore, children with parents that practice authoritative parenting exemplify more resilience. Authoritative parents are nurturing, responsive and supportive but still have clear expectations for their children (Wong et al.,2020). They provide caring and loving support, opportunities for thinking/ questioning, and logical, stable rules and expectations of their children’s behavior. In other words, authoritative parents strive to manage their child’s behavior by explaining rules, considering the child’s point of view, and reasoning. Outside of family dynamics, forming relationships and getting along with peers is a clear indication for forming connections. Although this may be true, children still need to be active in creating and sustaining supportive relationships (Wong et al.,2020).
To put it another way, children need to learn the skills necessary to sustain these relationships. Counselors and parents can encourage children to learn positive communication skills and then observe their play collectively to determine if they can apply what they have learned.
Active participation in school and after-school activities and problem-solving abilities is also in connection with resiliency in children. Children who share and are cooperative with social norms and have positive interactions with peers are more than likely to do this task. Another critical point is that parents and teachers should highlight children’s competence areas to reinforce a sense of achievement (Wong et al.,2020). For example, parents and teachers should praise when a preschooler successfully learns their letters and numbers. Moreover, parents should encourage and support when a child has learned how to climb the jungle gym at the playground.
On the other hand, when a child is not successful in climbing the jungle gym, they should not be discouraged by their family. Ultimately, having a positive role model outside of the family and recreational activities/ programs, safe neighborhoods have also related to having a positive influence on the child (Wong et al.,2020). Enrolling a child in a healthy preschool environment or placing the child in a swim team with a good, supportive coach can increase resiliency.
Growing up is problematic in and of itself, but it is especially challenging for those who have experienced childhood trauma due to abuse or neglect. One may ask how these children cope with the hardships that life has dealt them, could it be their perception of life, support system, or spirituality, or is it denial. Regardless of the method, one chooses to cope with, navigating through life’s misfortunes is a challenging endeavor. Becoming an adult through these obstacles is not an easy task. This article touches on resilience, spirituality, and adult childhood trauma survivors. Rodriquez and Henderson (2010) investigate the connection between parent religion and child abuse risk. They Believed that parents’ excessive devotion to religion was directly associated with notions of authority, which better identified as child abuse. Rodriquez and Henderson studied 207 Christians who went to church regularly to discover the link between discipline and abuse and how it impacts behavior.
Prior research affirms religious beliefs that recommend corporal punishment, highlighting spiritual support and beliefs that place the child’s responsibility to obey parental authority found to affect parental child abuse. Rodriquez and Henderson (2010, p 90) concluded that the more extensive the church attendance predicted to relate abuse potential based on the Child Abuse Potential Inventory. Additionally, contributors who explained the bible word for word scored at high risk of child abuse potential. The elevated scores could be related to interpretations of bible scripture deemed to motivate a disciplinary stance regarding sinners and bring about more authoritative parenting styles that highlight child compliance and the use of corporal punishment (2010, p 90). While Rodriquez and Henderson point to a correlation between religious believers, their research limited how religion contributed to parental attitudes. The assessments used to link religion to social conformity and child abuse their study does not aid in religious differences within religious backgrounds that notably influence the believer’s behavior. Their work did not begin from a theological standpoint. It ignores theological contributions in its data. Nevertheless, their work helps interpret the complications of the child abuse problem and theological counselors.
Spiritual beliefs play an essential role in making sense of life events and coping with difficult situations. Connecting positive associations with suffering helps childhood survivors get through reoccurring stressors. Werner and Smith’s (1982) research focused on people born in at-risk environments from birth to adulthood. Their study indicated that the people who became adjusted intellectually and interpersonally identified religiously as a significant protector factor in their resilience. While not declared a pivotal factor in resilience, religion is designated as a protective factor in positive adjustment following unpleasant adolescent events. Additionally, the participants believed that their faith was a proceeding factor when the odds were against them and that it could be overcome (Werner & Smith, 1992, p. 177). Since their work, resilience research has moved to shed light on the roles of protective factors.
Pargament’s research (1997) has been extensively influential in interpreting how certain sacred factors such as religious coping skills have been found to foretell adaptation more so than non-religious coping skills. His work focuses on the connection between coping and acute stress reaction. Pargament’s claimed that religion could play a part in each domain of coping plus contribute to the coping process and exists because of the coping process (Pargament et al., 1990). Pargament (1997) discussed two forms of religious coping, helpful and harmful. He believed that helpful and harmful religious coping connected to positive and negative stress adjustment outcomes. From Pargament point of view, spiritual coping included emotional comfort, a good spiritual connection, guidance in critical thinking, support from the church, and being by kindhearted religious reframing. Consequently, positive religious coping is seen here as having a secure relationship with God, having a relationship with God and others, and having an individualized sense of meaning.
However, his work observed harmful spiritual relationships as having anger or disappointment with God or God involvement in traumatic experiences. Pargament indicated that disappointment with one religious community or negative reevaluations about God’s punishment is signs of negative coping. From his point of view, when having an insecure relationship with God through the experiences of anger, discontent, and doubt (Gall,2006). Overall, the Pargaments study is limited because it only highlights positive or negative views of God. Some could argue that it ignores the other aspects of a healthy spirituality following trauma (suffering). As previously mentioned, childhood abuse often leads children broken due to unpleasant events. A child’s spiritual relationship becomes broken after the abuse or neglect. An individual spiritual identity revolves around having a sense of purpose in the world, and their imagination and creativity emerge from within their spirit (Lyon,2010). Childhood abuse leaves the child feeling wounded and vulnerable abuse damages a child’s ability to trust and depend on others (Lyon,2010).
The loss of free will changes their spiritual relationship between surviving and God (Lyon,2010). These survivors often have internalized feelings of being unworthy, unloved, and unprotected and being judged by others, which creates a disconnection between survivors and God (Lyon,2010). A relationship with God provides a spiritual outlet to explore the process of reconnecting for survivors. Pastoral counseling gives children the ability to explore the meaning of theological constructs in ways that challenge their negative thought patterns and supports the connectedness with God and others (Lyon,2010). Lyon mentions three valuable theological contributions with childhood abuse survivors first, repair the survivors inner feeling of shame and injustice, second replace the conceptional and creative capacities of the self and third bring to life the imaginative qualities of the soul that can guide the survivor to spiritual,
Pastoral counseling allows survivors to express their sorrows without being ashamed of their suffering (Glenn,2014). Grief reminds us that the deepest despair is part of life and part of the life of our Lord, whom we turn to for help (Glenn,2014). Survivors of abuse and neglect could rebuild their relationship with the community and with God through reparative pastoral counseling (Glenn,2014). Theology also gives survivors spiritual experience as they try to understand their world and come to terms with who they are as individuals. This article touched on various topics such as spirituality, trauma, and resilience related to the counseling profession. The adults with a history of childhood trauma identify their resilience, understand their spirituality and resilience, and how the interpretation of that resilience will influence their caregiving. This study also laid down the groundwork for future research to build knowledge in clinical practice and education. In counseling, having a deep relationship with God or a belief in a higher purpose is essential because it gives those individuals who have endured abuse or neglect a sense of belongingness.
Counseling can help children to recognize how valuable it’s to have a sense of self and a relationship with the Lord. Counselors can also advocate for awareness of spiritual identity, which entails reflecting on the role spirituality has in his or her life. This self-reflection may or may not include a religious identity, but the process of trying to find meaning could have some religious beliefs, behaviors, and values. Helping childhood trauma survivors connect to find meaningfulness in their lives through spiritual identity can enhance lifelong resilience.
References
American Psychological Association. (2019). The road to resilience. Retrieved from https://www.apa.org/helpcenter/road-resilience
Alvord, M. K., & Grados, J. J. (2005). Enhancing resilience in children: A proactive approach. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 36(3), 238–245. https://doi.org/10.1037/0735-7028.36.3.238
Glenn, C. T. B. (2014). A bridge over troubled waters: Spirituality and resilience with emerging adult childhood trauma survivors. Journal of Spirituality in Mental Health, 16(1), 37–50. https://doi.org/10.1080/19349637.2014.864543
Kathleen Brewer-Smyth & Harold G. Koenig (2014) Could Spirituality and Religion Promote Stress Resilience in Survivors of Childhood Trauma?, Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 35:4, 251-256, DOI: 10.3109/01612840.2013.873101
Lyon, E. (2010). Spiritual implications of interpersonal abuse: Speaking of the soul. Pastoral Psychology, 59, 233–247. doi:10.1007/s11089-009-0238-2
Wong D. W., Hall K. R., & Hernandez L. W. (2020). Counseling Individuals Through the Lifespan. [MBS Direct]. Retrieved from https://mbsdirect.vitalsource.com/#/books/9781544343235/
(Wong et al.,2020)
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