Within the Christian faith, the concept of spiritual growth emerges as a pivotal term along the journey of anyone seeking to deepen their relationship with the Lord. This transformative process propels us to ascend to the next level of our faith, aiming to foster a more intimate and mature connection with Christ. Ultimately, this journey leads us toward Christlikeness.
For those yearning for spiritual growth, trauma recovery often becomes the next crucial step. The lingering effects of trauma significantly influence our interactions with God and others. Just as community and connection are essential for spiritual growth, they are equally vital for trauma recovery. When these two elements converge, a beautiful and supernatural experience unfolds—one that brings healing and deepens relationships with both others and God. However, it’s worth noting that many endeavor to attain spiritual maturity while inadvertently bypassing the emotional healing they themselves desperately need.
The healing that is needed comes from a past trauma that has never been processed, which then affects every relationship and circumstance the individual is in, whether that person is aware of it or not. Robert Stolorow, a psychoanalyst, and philosopher, best defines trauma as, “an experience of unendurable emotional pain”. In the article “Trauma Recovery and Spiritual Recovery,” Berry Bishop explains Stolorow’s idea this way: “emotionally painful events become unbearable when a person does not find what Stolorow calls a relational home, where the pain is known, understood, and held” (Bishop, 5). In other words, each person has limits on the amount of pain they can handle. Once they have experienced a pain beyond their ability to understand or process, it would be considered a trauma. For some, this could be a more palpable situation that brought about a trauma. For instance, a car wreck, sudden loss of a loved one, sexual or physical abuse, etc. However, there are many not so obvious traumas that can occur in a person’s lifetime as well. Some examples of these are loss of career or relationship, parental neglect, emotional abuse, spiritual abuse, and even witnessing violence within your community or environment.
While trauma can have a lasting impact on a person’s mind and body, there are many ways to recover and heal. Stolorow believes that the best way for an individual to heal is in the context of a relational home. Bessel van der Kolk, a psychiatrist, author, researcher, and educator, is widely known for his New York Times best-seller, The Body Keeps the Score. Van der Kolk agrees that healing and recovery from trauma best takes place within relationships and connection with others. As he explains, “The role of these relationships is to provide physical and emotional safety, including safety from feeling shamed, admonished, or judged, and to bolster the courage to tolerate, face, and process the reality of what has happened” (Van der Kolk, 212).
Yet, when trauma remains unprocessed and becomes unbearable, an individual might not feel secure in a group setting. In such critical circumstances, seeking professional assistance becomes imperative.
Ashleigh Lane
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