Spiritually Oriented Psychotherapy for Trauma

Trauma can impact people not only psychologically, socially, and physically, but spiritually as well. Recent clinical research has shown that psychotherapists working with traumatized clients can foster better outcomes if they exercise sensitivity to their clients' spiritual needs.

This book addresses a wide range of different client presenting problems, with a specific focus on relational forms of trauma, such as sexual abuse, partner violence, and other familial forms of trauma. It includes case studies that highlight how to assess and help clients process these and other types of trauma, including war and natural disasters. The case studies illustrate multiple facets of spirituality rather than explaining it as merely a source of anxiety reduction, social connectedness, or control.

Readers will learn how to differentiate between healthy and unhealthy forms of spirituality, and how to apply spiritually-oriented practices within their own setting, theoretical framework, and unique client populations. They will also learn how to work with the ethical challenges and dilemmas trauma treatment can pose to the therapist's competence and world view.

Recent years have brought broader awareness and openness to talking about child abuse and other traumatic life events. Survivors of these events often experience spiritual struggles in the course of healing; likewise, in helping clients process trauma, therapists too may come to question why evil exists or why so many people suffer. This book offers practical and reassuring guidance for performing therapy in these situations.

Contributors

Introduction
Donald F. Walker, Christine A. Courtois, and Jamie D. Aten

1. Basics of Working on Spiritual Matters With Traumatized Individuals
   Donald F. Walker, Christine A. Courtois, and Jamie D. Aten
2. Spirituality, Religion, and Complex Developmental Trauma
   Stephanie Van Deusen and Christine A. Courtois
3. First, Do No More Harm: Ethics of Attending to Spiritual Issues in Trauma Treatment
   Christine A. Courtois
4. Religious and Spiritual Assessment of Trauma Survivors
   P. Scott Richards, Randy K. Hardman, Troy Lea, and Michael E. Berrett
5. Religion, Spirituality, and the Working Alliance With Trauma Survivors
   E. Grace Verbeck, Meline A. Arzoumanian, Jan E. Estrellado, Jillian DeLorme, Kristen Dahlin, Emily Hennrich, Heather E. Rodriguez, Jessica M. Stevens, and Constance Dalenberg
6. Spirituality and Making Meaning: Implications for Therapy With Trauma Survivors
   Jeanne M. Slattery and Crystal L. Park
7. Understanding and Responding to Changes in Spirituality and Religion After Traumatic Events
   Donald F. Walker, Kerry L. McGregor, David Quagliana, Rachel L. Stephens, and Katlin R. Knodel
8. God Images in Clinical Work With Sexual Abuse Survivors: A Relational Psychodynamic Paradigm
   Mary Gail Frawley-O'Dea
9. Providing Spiritual and Emotional Care in Response to Disaster
   Jamie D. Aten, Kari A. O'Grady, Glen Milstein, David Boan, Melissa A. Smigelsky, Alice Schruba, and Isaac Weaver
10. Addressing Intimate Partner Violence Within a Religious Context
    Heidi M. Levitt, Sharon G. Horne, Emily E. Wheeler, and Mei-Chuan Wang
11. Faith and Honor in Trauma Treatment for Military Personnel and Their Families
    David W. Foy and Kent D. Drescher
12. Responding to the Problem of Evil and Suffering
    Sue Grand

Afterword: Reflections and Future Directions
Donald F. Walker, Christine A. Courtois, and Jamie D. Aten

Index

About the Editors

Donald F. Walker, PhD, directs the Child Trauma Institute, an interdisciplinary research center devoted to understanding the role of religious faith in recovery from childhood abuse, treating survivors of child abuse, and training professionals in addressing spiritual issues in treatment.

Dr. Walker also teaches in the PsyD program in clinical psychology at Regent University. As a professor, he teaches courses on trauma and clinical child psychology and supervises students at all levels of the program.

He is a member of the APA Division 36 (Society for the Psychology of Religion and Spirituality) and 56 (Trauma Psychology).

He is also the founder and executive director of Tidewater Child and Family Behavioral Health Center, PLLC, in Virginia Beach, Virginia. He is a clinical child psychologist and treats children, teens, and families.

Christine A. Courtois, PhD, ABPP, is a board certified counseling psychologist in independent practice in Washington, DC, and national clinical trauma consultant at Elements Behavioral Health/Promises.

Dr. Courtois has published three books in conjunction with Dr. Julian Ford on the topic of complex trauma and its treatment. She lectures widely and is currently chairing a committee on developing treatment guidelines for posttraumatic stress disorder for APA.

She is the recipient of a number of professional awards, among them the APA Award for Distinguished Contributions to Psychology as a Professional Practice and the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies Sarah Haley Award for Clinical Excellence.

Jamie D. Aten, PhD, is the founder and codirector of the Humanitarian Disaster Institute and Dr. Arthur P. Rech and Mrs. Jean May Rech Associate Professor of Psychology at Wheaton College, Wheaton, Illinois.

Dr. Aten's interests include the psychology of religion and disasters, disaster spiritual and emotional care, and faith-based relief and development. He has received more than $2 million in external funding to study disasters, trauma, and faith issues around the globe and has been recognized with APA's Division 36 (Society for the Psychology of Religion and Spirituality) Margaret Gorman Early Career Award and Mutual of America Merit Finalist Award. He is also the coeditor or author of seven books.

I recommend this book without hesitation. Readers will find it a helpful reference as they seek to help clients explore ways their spirituality helps them cope with trauma.
—Journal of Psychology and Christianity