Rebecca Bates explores trauma-informed care through a Christian lens, promoting healing, empathy and safe spaces within church communities.
Jim, a 50-year-old man, decides to join a local church community. Jim feels nervous to go to the Sunday services as he feels he will be judged. Jim struggles with substance use and has ever since he was young. Jim started using substances when he was a teenager to cope with the abuse he experienced and witnessed when he was a child. Jim was never taught how to manage emotions in a healthy way and now feels shame for the ways he copes today.
When Christians see Jim and his struggles, will they just see the substance use? Or will they see underneath and ask why the substance use is happening? How will they respond?
Psalm 34:18: “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”
Trauma is everywhere, including in the church. Both those who attend and those who lead the church have histories of trauma. Some church communities also experience collective trauma – when groups of people experience trauma together.
Yet, trauma-informed care isn’t everywhere. Part of the problem is trauma isn’t seen, so it’s hard to tell when a person has experienced it and how it’s impacting them. This is why it’s even more important to always be supporting and interacting with everyone from a trauma-informed lens.
Trauma-informed care is a mindset that reflects the values of Christianity and Christ to all people. This call to compassion and care is found throughout the Word. 2 Corinthians 1:3–5 says, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ.”
So, why is trauma-informed care important in the Church and for Christians?
Trauma impacts a person’s mind, body and behavior. It can change one’s neurobiology, thought processes and feelings of safety. Trauma is a personalized experience. This means that what is perceived as traumatic for one person might not be traumatic for another. As Christians, we need to try to understand people’s experiences and how those experiences impact how they think, feel and behave.
Trauma-informed care creates a compassionate approach to the experiences of a church’s community. It offers transparent, trustworthy supportive relationships for members to build resilience. It also reduces the likelihood of re-traumatization (meaning, the feelings and experiences of trauma come back to the surface). Think about what it might be like to have experienced neglect, abuse, instability or trauma as a child, then to grow up and struggle with feelings of insecurity, mistrust or low self-worth. What might it be like for that person to engage in ministry, attend church or feel accepted?
So, how do we as Christians begin to practice trauma-informed care?
- First, we need to understand the impact trauma has on individuals, leaders and the Church as a collective. This can be done by reflecting on signs or symptoms of trauma. For example, some people might struggle to connect in relationships, engage in unhealthy coping strategies, feel anxious or experience flashbacks. Furthermore, this means looking beyond challenging behaviours to understand what may be causing them – asking what has happened to the person, not what is wrong with the person.
- Second, we can create safe spaces where individuals can feel understood, heard, valued and free from judgement. This can be done by breaking any stigma around mental health, allowing for people’s voices to be heard and highlighting that needing help is not a weakness. This creates a nurturing environment where people can feel safe to share and grow.
- Third, we can adopt new language. Putting people first before their trauma helps reduce stigma, promotes dignity and respect and avoids language that assigns blame. It also respects the individual’s boundaries, provides options rather than telling them what to do and doesn’t label or judge them.
- Fourth, we can have emotional, grief and social supports available. Some people who have experienced trauma have never had the opportunity to learn healthy emotional management strategies or social skills. They might not know what it’s like to have healthy relationships. The church can be their first point of contact for developing healthy support resources and systems.
- Fifth, we can be culturally safe and responsive by incorporating trauma-informed principles into our mission and vision statements and polices. For example, Christians can clearly state their intentions of being trustworthy, collaborative, safe and empowering to everyone.
- Finally, we can put into practice the four R’s – realize, recognize, resist and respond – and the three E’s – event, experience and effects. This looks like realizing each individual’s or group’s traumatic events, and noticing how these experiences have impacted them. It means understanding how the events have affected the person’s culture, beliefs, coping abilities and sense of self-determination. It also means responding in a non-judgmental way and resisting re-traumatizing.
Trauma-informed practice parallels the values of the church in many ways. It’s about creating safe spaces for people to come and be themselves, and this involves reflecting on how different spaces and language might be hard for people who have experienced trauma. It’s about empowerment and building resilience through prayer for guidance and strength that only God can give us.
Rebecca Bates, MSW, RSW, is a clinical social worker and professor of social service work at Loyalist College in Belleville, Ont. Cover photo by Rosie Sun on Unsplash.