Beyond Survival: Application of a Complex Trauma Treatment Model in the Christian Context

Disrupted systems of meaning are a core domain in which adults with a complex trauma history are impacted, often leading to adversely affected belief systems. For adult survivors of childhood trauma, experiences related to shame, betrayal, meaning-making, and mourning often complicate their spiritual and/or religious beliefs. This article uses a clinical case example to introduce and illustrate the relevance of a particular complex trauma intervention framework in the context of spiritually-informed treatment with adult Christian clients. Component-Based Psychotherapy (CBP; Hopper, Grossman, Spinazzola, & Zucker, in press) consists of four principal components: (a) relationship, (b) regulation, (c) parts work, and (d) narrative, and is predicated upon the importance of client-therapist parallel process to therapeutic movement and client change. Each treatment component is summarized and practically applied to case material, with particular focus on the ways in which client's faith beliefs and practices can serve as a potential resource and/or barrier in treatment. Particular integrative focus is given to the final treatment component (narrative), where issues of a client's lament, spiritual meaning making, and the therapist's potential vulnerabilities in working with this population are addressed. ********** There is a growing body of literature that addresses trauma, spirituality, religious coping, and posttraumatic growth, with helpful delineation between adaptive and maladaptive religious coping practices (Ahrens, Abeling, Ahmad, & Hinman, 2010; Chan & Rhodes, 2013; Exline, 2002; Gerber, Boals, & Schuettler, 2011; Harris et al., 2008; ter Kuile & Ehring, 2014; Pargament, Smith, Koenig, & Perez, 1998; Park, 2005). However, there is a more complicated relationship in the literature between complex trauma, spirituality, religiosity, and meaning-making (Bryant-Davis & Wong, 2013; Connor, Davidson, & Lee, 2003; Krejci et al., 2004; Pargament, 2008; Walker, Reid, O'Neill, & Brown, 2009). Some studies have found that complex trauma significantly disrupts the spiritual well-being of individuals, in a way that is distinct from acute/situational trauma (Fallot & Heckman, 2005; Harris et al., 2008; Lemoncelli & Carey, 1996; Maltby & Hall, 2012; Weber & Cummings, 2003). Some of the experiences noted in these studies include lower existential well-being, difficulty with trust/belief in a benevolent God or a caring community, projection of a negative parental image onto the image of God, feelings of shame and unworthiness, and religious strain. These findings lend support to the contention that "adversely affected belief systems" are one of the six core areas of functional disturbance occasioned by exposure to complex trauma (Cloitre et al., 2012; Herman, 1992). Given the complexities of addressing trauma within a religious context, Walker and Aten (2012) have encouraged the academic community to participate in collaborative scholarship combining best practice trauma-informed treatment with the psychology of religion in order to enhance clinical care that is culturally relevant for the religious community. Further, Bryant-Davis & Wong (2013) highlight the need for the professional literature to address issues of spirituality in clinical practice with survivors of developmental trauma. The purpose of this article is to introduce and illustrate, through clinical case illustration, the relevance of a particular complex trauma intervention framework (i.e., Component-Based Psychotherapy [CBP]; Hopper, Grossman, Spinazzola & Zucker, in press) in spiritually-informed treatment with adult Christian clients. Understanding Complex Trauma The chronic and interpersonal context of the trauma exposure differentiates complex trauma from a more general understanding of traumatic stress. In The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th ed. …