The Psychology of Trauma by Shanti Farrington and Alison Woodward is a short book (only 78 pages) that provides a comprehensive summary of the impacts of trauma and how people can find healing. In these few pages, the authors provide important knowledge for those seeking to build a trauma-informed ministry.
This book does get somewhat woke in its examples, and in the chapter on identity, so it’s important to read with a critical eye. However, I recommend it for its comprehensiveness and brevity, which are helpful for busy people working or volunteering in ministry who still want this important knowledge.
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In this article, I will touch on some helpful points for ministry found in this book. For more information, I recommend picking up your own copy.
Defining Trauma
Farrington and Woodward begin the book by defining trauma. They begin by looking at two definitions.
First, they provide the American Psychological Association’s definition, which states, “Trauma is a response to a terrible event like an accident, rape, or natural disaster.” In this definition, the writers state, the APA demonstrates how individual responses to the same event can vary significantly.
They then provide the UK Government’s definition, which states that trauma “results from an event, series of events, or set of circumstances experienced as harmful of life-threatening.” Later in their definition, the UK Government emphasizes that people can be affected in many areas of life, as the book elaborates.
Finally, the authors end the first chapter with a discussion of PTSD and vicarious trauma. You can find more comprehensive treatments of these topics in this article and this article.
The Neuroscience of Trauma
In the second chapter of the book, Farrington and Woodward move into a discussion of the brain and trauma.
Researchers have discovered that when a person experiences trauma, their midbrain, which governs emotions, becomes activated. This activation overrides parts of the brain involved in thinking, action control, planning, and higher cognitive functions such as language. It also triggers one of the following reactions, which are attempts to try to protect oneself against the threat:
- Flight
- Fight
- Freeze
- Flop (or playing dead)
- Friend (trying to make the perpetrator happy, so they don’t cause as much pain).
If these traumatic events happen regularly, especially in childhood, the survival response we use in these situations can become our default response to stress. This phenomenon helps to explain some of the impacts of trauma, such as aggressive behavior, feeling disconnected from the body, and more.
The Role of Attachments
Our attachment style, or the style of relating with others we learn in our early relationships with our parents, can be helpful or harmful in the midst of trauma.
If, in these early relationships, we learned that people are safe and will take care of us, in the face of trauma, we will be more likely to seek social support, which is necessary for healing and can even prevent trauma’s negative impacts.
If, on the other hand, our early relationships did not teach us to trust others, we will not seek out social support, which can lead to trauma significantly impacting us.
This finding demonstrates the importance of the Church helping parents form strong attachments with their children, and of promoting other protective factors that can prevent trauma’s impacts and promote healing. You can learn more in this article.
The Step of Trauma Recovery
In the final chapter of the book, Farrington and Woodward describe a general model for trauma therapy, grounded in the work of Judith Herman, a famous researcher.
Farrington and Woodward describe three steps that survivors typically go through to find healing after trauma. They are:
- Grounding and stabilization: Fostering safety and emotion regulation
- Remembrance and mourning: Processing trauma with that foundation
- Reconnection: Reconnecting with the world, viewing oneself as stronger because of what they have gone through, and maybe even discovering a new mission to help others who have faced similar things.
Knowing the steps of recovery is helpful, especially if you are walking with someone and wish to introduce the Church’s teaching on redemptive suffering, as people may be receptive to this teaching only after they have gone through the first and second steps. You can learn more about integrating this knowledge about trauma recovery into your catechesis and accompaniment here.
Conclusion
The Psychology of Trauma by Shanti Farrington and Alison Woodward is a helpful book for understanding the impacts of trauma and healing. While not everything in this book aligns with Catholic teaching, particularly in its examples, it is a helpful book for those working to build a trauma-informed ministry. You can pick up your copy here