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Hello, everyone. Welcome to cultivating ideas. Uh My name is Shawn Watkins and I serve as Associate Dean for lifelong Learning. Uh Excited to have you back for another edition uh and another lecture by one

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of our professors. Uh Very excited to have Patricia boil with us. Uh This afternoon, Reverend Patricia Benia is the instructor in Christian education here at Austin Seminary and has served in several roles with the Hispanic

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Youth Leadership Academy. Currently as the National program director . He's a native of Illinois and is an ordained United Methodist deacon and has served in churches throughout Illinois since 2005. Uh primarily in the area of Christian

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education and youth and family ministries. Her topic today which is very helpful and impactful, quite relevant uh trauma informed faith formation and the importance of being trauma informed religious leaders to help congregations enact hope filled practices

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for healing and for transformation. She is in the process of writing her dissertation as we speak. And so probably the next time that she speaks of cultivating ideas, she will be Doctor Patricia Bonilla. So

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super excited for her, that being said, we'll turn it over to you have a wonderful time. Thank you so much, Sean. I am um very grateful to be a part of the series and

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glad to be invited to speak on this topic that um, has been, um, something that I um have recently been interested in. So I come to the, um the study of, of trauma

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um informed ministry really as an educator. So, um I'll be, I'll be looking at um uh how education um connects with uh trauma studies. Um So, uh I, I, I'm interested to

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hear from you all. Um what brought you to this space and um and, and why you're why you're interested in um a trauma informed um ministry practice . So you could drop uh that in the chat

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and um we could, we could start that way as I get my slides together so we can start a conversation. Ok. So I wanted to start um first with a breathing exercise. Um This is

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something that I use in my classes. It's called like square breathing or box breathing. Um And so I'm going to go ahead and um play the video but it's really um trying to connect with your body

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. Um And uh the, the, the method is that you breathe. Um So you inhale and you exhale um at the same pace. Um So the, the video will help us um kind of

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keep pace with our, with our breathing. Let's take one more breath together. So, one of the important um one of the important things that trauma um informed ministry um raises is the need to reconnect

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people with their bodies because trauma um often disconnects us from our bodies. So creating um spaces where um we take the time to do that to be present in our bodies. Um I wanted to also set

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the agenda um for you all. Uh so that , you know where we're, where we're going. Um So I'm using um um Imad May's article on Our Brains, emotions and learning eight principles of trauma

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informed teaching. I'm going to begin with talking about trauma informed pedagogies. Um Then I'm going to go into um uh the question of what is trauma defining trauma. And I'm going to use some of the

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work that um Doctor Van Der um Basil Van Der Kolk um has published in his book, the book Keeps The Score, Brain Mind and Body in the healing of trauma. And then I'm going to move

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into um thinking about trauma theologically. So, what is trauma sensitive theology? And I'm gonna be using um the work of Jennifer Baldwin um from her book Trauma Sensitive Theology, thinking theologically in the era of

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trauma. Um And then we're gonna work on developing trauma informed practices um together in community. So that's my agenda for us today. Um And so I wanted to start um with this um this image because

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um I'm gonna be uh using an educational framework and bringing into dialogue, um trauma studies uh and faith formation. And so I disclose that I'm, I'm not a clinician or a therapist. And so coming

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at the engaging this topic from an educational perspective um is uh um where, where I intersect with these , these studies. Um And so most religious educators are not um you know, trained um in,

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in um psychology. Um but we do engage um some of the uh uh some of the theories of psychology that informs education. So this webinar highlights trauma informed pedagogies and offers strategies to help congregations. Um

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And those who are in ministry uh to implement trauma informed practices um in their faith communities. Um In , in his book entitled Descartes Error, Neurologist, Antonio de Mazzio argues that humans do not make deci

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decisions by relying exclusively on the rational or reason oriented part of their brain. Um The brain is composed of 86 million neurons which is comparable to the number of stars in the milky way. Um neurons receive

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process and transmit or communicate information to other neurons. And that connection um that is made is called uh a synapse. Um So, every thought emotion and action that we engage in is enacted through these connections

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between neurons. And so, um an important thing that Maya Imad um addresses in her article um on brains, emotions and learning. Um She says that there are um reminds us that there are three three

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distinct regions. Um that are, that the brain is made up of. Um And they are divided into a hierarchy. Um There's the brain stem which uh this is our non rational brain and it's concerned

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with our survival state. It asks questions like um am I safe? Am I breathing? And then the, the second system is the limbic system. And this is our irrational brain which is concerned with

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social processing and our emotional state. And it asks questions like, am I loved and do I matter ? And the neuro cortex is our rational brain which is concerned with our reflective um state. So asking

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questions like what can I learn from this experience? And I engaged the concern of trauma in ministry as an educator. And this is why uh understanding how the brain works is important for understanding how we learn

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. Our, there is a misconception often in education um that our emotions um are irrational and unruly and they hinder our learning. Um And so recent studies indicate that actually emotions and memory play a vital role

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in learning. And so I think that this is a significant consideration uh in the area of religious education and faith formation because um learning and faith formation cannot happen in the absence of emotions. And so we

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know that um our, our um whole system um uh has a way of engaging uh various emotions. Um So, emotions are a reaction of the body um to stimulus. So when we perceive threat,

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for example, um we feel fear and our body goes into, into gear. Um And our heart rate begins to increase. Um And so we have um the first image which is right, we were

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familiar with this uh reaction that our body has. We, uh we fight, um we um take flight or we freeze. Um But more recent studies now show that there's actually 1/4 mode that we can

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go into and that is fawn. Um So f is about keeping the threat appeased um when there is no other option. So this response is, for example, a, a, a AAA constant superficial

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engagement or a performative um engagement with the threat. So I want to take a moment to read some of the um some of the, the uh things that you've left in the chat. Um I had

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asked what brings you to this uh space. Um And why are you interested in trauma informed practices as leaders? Um And some of the responses are um uh the, the U MC just, just voted

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to end the ban on gay clergy. And this has been stressful for us in the United Methodist churches . Yes, I agree. Um uh There's been a heightened level of uncertainty and so um very,

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very stressful. Um uh Rachel uh says my background is in education where I worked with kids that needed a trauma informed education. I worked as a leader with social emotional learning now in the churches with the

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things our kids are facing in the world. I see the same need in Christian formation. And so there's a, there is uh there's a cross the the lifespan. This is very, very true.

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So I'd love to hear from you um on how we can make that, that connection. Um My church has a lot of immigrants who have been rec recently arrived from Texas and we know that that um

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that journey is can be very, very traumatic. Um And so uh thank you for, for uh putting all this in the chat. I'm an English professor with um Austin Community College and have completed the

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C I M at A P T S. My , my students uh Gen Z have experienced trauma in a variety of ways and come from many faith backgrounds including um none because I teach writing. I am

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often also uh teaching being human. Yes. Thank you for um putting all that in the chat. I think there's uh some very important connections um across disciplines um that we can engage um a little bit

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later in the presentation. But I, I uh I really appreciate you all um sharing um what brought you to this, this workshop. Um So just , just to share um here's an image that shows

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um this the the the trauma response, right? Flight. Um Is we run away uh in this example that there's a bear, right? The threat is a bear. So we remove ourselves from the

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situation, we fight the bear, um uh verbally or uh when we're verbally or physically attacked, it's a way uh we, we fight, right? Um, freeze, we play dead and then fawn

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is we keep the bear happy. Um When there's no other option, right, we do whatever it takes to avoid or diffuse danger. And so, um the Amygdala uh in these situations, um receives

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the initial input from the exterior world and does a cost benefit analysis to determine whether it is safe to engage the rational part. Or if the Amygdala senses that, that it there's a threat, it will

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engage the rational part of the brain sending information to the brain stem um to activate the fight flight response like we saw. Um and so when the brain senses pressure from a particular situation, um or if

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it perceives a constant threat, like COVID um economic insecurity, um threat of violence, um constant surveillance . Um This causes a disconnect um or a disharmony between our rational and irrational states and so disrupting.

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Um this is, is a disruption to the balance between emotions and thinking and it prevents us from thinking rationally uh really. Um And so trauma studies um or or trauma informed uh lens, what it offers

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is um it's about providing an environment that can help relax the brain to begin to shift back to um homos stasis. And so uh homeostasis is our body's ability to maintain a stable internal environment in the face

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of changing external conditions. Uh So, the, what, what we, what we do in trauma informed care or trauma informed uh ministry is try to create an environment where um homos stasis uh uh can

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happen. So there's uh a harmony between the prefrontal cortex and the limbic system that balances um and, and creates a balance between the rational and emotional brain . Let me go back real quick. Um One

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of the things that the uh author um writes in , in this article um is that we cannot give what we do not have. Ministry leader, leaders need to also recognize not only trauma in their congregations

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, but also in themselves. So, if we are experiencing trauma um and are not aware of it , we bring that to our ministry. Um and then our faith communities pick up on it as well

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. And so we need to find ways to regulate our own emotions, right, our own nervous system to find ways to um to, to um engage with our own uh trauma because we cannot give what

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we do not have. And that is we cannot give um a sense of uh safety. Uh uh When we ourselves do not feel that sense of safety . These are the eight principles that the author um

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discusses uh Maya Iman. Um in her article, she writes uh these, these are the eight principles of a trauma informed pedagogy. Um And So the first one is work to ensure your faith community's uh

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emotional, cognitive, physical and interpersonal safety. Um So think about uh every uh your, your faith community and where you have um signs of, you know, what your, your safety policies are.

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For example, I, I've um I've worked with um with Children in the church, I've worked with youth, youth groups, vulnerable adults. And um in the Methodist church, we have um uh policies

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on safe sanctuary. And um I'm always surprised that uh not more churches do this but posting um what those policies are so that people are aware that there is um there, there is a policy in place

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. Um So that you, you, you give off a sense that, that there, there's uh that you're, you're creating a safe space. Um So reminding congregations that we will not be um um

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uh that, that we operate within these safe sanctuary um models. Um Another thing uh that I find interesting of trauma studies is that um offering people choice and letting people know that they have choice. So

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, uh think about like in your um sanctuaries if you have um activities for Children to do, but are there also activities for adults who might need to uh refocus at times? Um Are there doodling paths

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? Um uh is there uh a culture of um you know, letting people um get up and, and, and leave the, the sanctuary? Um if they have to um and, and letting them

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know that um those actions um if they need to get up and leave, maybe there's a difficult um topic that is being engaged um or a triggering event um that uh that their actions are not being negatively

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um uh interpreted or judged by others, right? That they are able to freely get up, um take a moment and, and come back when they feel ready to engage again. Um So, the

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goal of addressing safe space guidelines is to be able to set our intentions um so that we create a safe space. Um And we can be more present and create spaces of learning and thriving for all.

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And so, being intentional, letting people know that , that this is our culture, right? That this is, this is how we create a safe space. Um Even though no one safe space,

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there's no one safe space for all um practices like this can help um help us create safer spaces or move us in that, in that direction. So what does uh safety look like um for your,

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your community? Right, asking them um include your congregation in the conversation of creating safe spaces. Um The second principle is to foster uh trustworthiness and transparency through connection and communicating uh communication among members. Um

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And so this is again, to be uh to , to, to point to being transparent um fostering trust and um uh it, it, it helps increase predictability uh which in turn helps mitigate the impact

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of uh ongoing uncertainty. So, um I'm thinking about this, the, the uh various um maybe leadership processes that our churches have, right? Um How are we um creating a new task force um

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uh you know, being transparent about how those processes work so that our congregations feel a sense of um trust, trust. Um The, the third um point is uh intentionally facilitating peer support and mutual self

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help um in your um uh lessons in your sermons . Um So, again, this is from an educational perspective, but like, how do we facilitate peer support, mutual help um within the life of

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the, of the church um or faith community? Um And so, asking your congregation what matters to them, um you know, at the, at the heart of um trauma is this idea that um

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relationships have been broken. And so how can the church be a place of um uh creating um uh meaningful relationships and creating spaces for healing uh from trauma ? And this involves uh fostering healing and meaningful relationships

00:23:52.800 - 00:24:07.710

. Um So think about just the, the, the hospitality uh ministry of the church, right? How are we uh facilitating peer support, mutual help um being intentional with this. Um And the fourth

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principle is to promote collaboration and mutual mutuality for sharing power and decision making um in your congregation. So , again, going back to all the points I have already made that uh involving your congregation in,

00:24:23.440 - 00:24:38.940

in the process being transparent. Um creating a sense of trust that they know what the, what the process is um asking your congregation uh um uh what matters to them. Um And then the fifth point

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is um e e empowering uh empower, voice and choice by identifying and helping um build on student strengths . Um So, think about how this would translate into like a church community. Um How do we

00:24:56.890 - 00:25:10.760

create empowering uh helping people empower, having an empowering voice? Um So, from an educational perspective, right, students who have experienced or are experiencing traumatic stress also experience losing their sense of control and agency

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. This is true of um you know, any uh congregant, right? Um Trauma creates a loss of control, a loss of agency. So, empowering um students are empowering your, your congregation to

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have a voice and to advocate for themselves. Um is, is, is, is an important part of um being a trauma informed and creating spaces for healing. Um A part of self advocacy is self

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awareness and self acceptance. So we can help validate and normalize um uh people's concerns by talking with them about their fears, about their stress or anxiety and trauma. And I think about how many churches actually

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um avoid these conversations, they don't want to, they don't want to stir the waters. Um This is uh this is necessary for creating a trauma informed ministry is to engage um the um the topic rather

00:26:07.790 - 00:26:23.020

than um brushing it under, under the rug. Um The sixth uh principle is empowering your students to self regulate um by teaching them about the biology of learning. So, this is true for your congregation

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. Um uh If, if you uh create an , an educational space where you, where you talk about how trauma affects the body. Um, and then, uh people are aware of, you know

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, they, they can, they can make the connection. Oh, I've been feeling very um um unfocused and now I know that it's not, it's not like it's not a problem. Like I'm like

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, I'm uh you know, there's something wrong with me, but I'm experiencing some kind of a uh uh a response to trauma. Um So when we help people understand the relationship between stress, emotions and

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cognition, we enable them to have self compassion when they struggle to connect with um their, the uh when we, they struggle to connect in their daily life. Uh So the seventh principle, the author

00:27:21.070 - 00:27:32.100

talks about is um in part to your students, the importance of having a sense of purpose so often with trauma, we lose our sense of purpose. And so um what would it look like to help

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your, your, your congregants uh reconnect with their purpose, maybe um envisioning, helping them envision short term uh purposes um rather than um uh when they've lost a connection to maybe their long term life plan

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, right? What does it look like to, to be a congregation that helps um that helps people do that. And then the eighth uh principle is paying attention to cultural historical and gender issues. And

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I think this is, this is really important each individual experiences trauma differently. Um So, uh we cannot make assumptions about how people are experiencing their trauma , right? Um And we also need to be

00:28:12.450 - 00:28:29.570

mindful about how um um racialized communities may experience trauma differently. Um This is true also of how intergenerational trauma is experienced. And so being mindful of, of, of these things as you're um thinking about

00:28:29.650 - 00:28:42.440

the, the various ways that you can implement um trauma informed um educational practices. But also um how , how that translates into um ministry practices. So what are some ways that you can integrate these pedagogical

00:28:42.450 - 00:29:04.700

priorities in your ministry? Think about that. I don't want to go first in kind of modeling. I think um kind of communication things I think for me. Um Number eight is always most impactful paying

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attention to the cultural historical and gender issues. Uh Prior to stepping in my role here at Austin Seminary , I spent the last 20 years doing diversity, equity and inclusion training uh with organizations really around the

00:29:17.100 - 00:29:29.650

country. And to when I have been in spaces that are multi ethnic and multicultural, meaning that uh white people are not the dominant modality or the dominant group that's present people of color tend to be very

00:29:29.660 - 00:29:41.550

apprehensive because they assume that I am going to offer a training that um either re traumatizes them or kind of minimizes the diversity that's in the room. The reverse is also true. Um If it's a predominantly

00:29:41.560 - 00:29:52.580

white organization and I'm stepping into a diversity training, there's an automatic assumption that I am going to say things that are only anti white or that are racist towards white people. And so in both situations and

00:29:52.590 - 00:30:06.540

context, I think there people have experienced so many types of trainings that do not take into account the trauma or the culture or the gender or the location of people. And so I think even naming that

00:30:06.550 - 00:30:17.970

reality of saying people are coming with their own trauma , whether that's professional trauma, personal, cultural, geographic, historical, all of those things is just very similar. So I really appreciated that. Yeah

00:30:21.090 - 00:30:41.380

, anybody else? Thank you for sharing. OK , we, yeah. Um um I'm the, the one the comment about the United Methodist Church. Uh It was just today that the uh the conference

00:30:41.460 - 00:31:00.600

, uh the Methodist conference in um voted or yesterday voted to end the ban on gay clergy. And uh that um you know, the conservative churches have left about 20% or more in Texas. Uh The

00:31:00.610 - 00:31:17.140

Methodist churches have left the United Methodist church. Um And uh I elected to stay United Methodist, but it, it dawned on me when I was talking to the people in my old church, you know

00:31:17.150 - 00:31:32.920

, the Conservative church that they are feeling the stress and the pain just as much as the people who left. And uh that was a new thought for me. I thought that um the uh the people

00:31:32.930 - 00:31:49.650

who were, you know, who believed in, um uh the conservatives were against gay clergy and the progressives were thought gay clergy. You know, the rule should, against gay clergy should be lifted.

00:31:51.020 - 00:32:02.030

But it didn't really matter which side you were on . You still felt the pain of your, your church members. Yes, there's a lot. Thank you for hearing. There's a lot there in that

00:32:02.040 - 00:32:16.770

um that decision, right? And um the many years of the uncertainty um and the, the, the hurt, right? The, the hurt that was inflicted on um on um both those who were

00:32:16.780 - 00:32:31.090

excluded and um those who felt that um um that , that, you know, the, the um the church was changing and that was painful for them , right? So there's a lot there, but

00:32:31.100 - 00:32:49.240

also just the loss of relationships, the loss of community can be very traumatic. And so, um thank you for engaging that, that topic. Yes . Thank you. I wanted to let me share

00:32:49.250 - 00:33:12.410

again um my presentation um because I wanted to move on to um defining what trauma is. And um I'm gonna be using the uh work of uh his name is um Basil Vander KK and he wrote this

00:33:12.420 - 00:33:25.720

book, The Body Keeps The Score. Um And he, he talks about um the, the pervasiveness of trauma in our society. He says it's, it's, it's so widespread. It occurs in alarmingly

00:33:25.730 - 00:33:44.260

high numbers everywhere in urban and rural settings, suburban settings, it happens, there's not one place where it doesn't happen, it happens in developing nations, in developed nations. Uh It happens in families in

00:33:44.270 - 00:34:00.650

neighborhoods in every single country around the world. In his book, the Body keeps the score. He argues, um or he cites the statistical information derived from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Um

00:34:00.660 - 00:34:15.950

which finds that one in five Americans is molested as a child, one in four is beaten by a parent and this isn't um a a spanking or um this is uh uh these are um this is,

00:34:15.960 - 00:34:37.470

this is physical violence that um um that one in four Americans experience. This is only one of many experiences of trauma that um uh Van Der Kolk highlights . And so I'm gonna bring up a um another

00:34:37.480 - 00:34:59.600

document that I'd like to share. Uh And this is the um uh trauma informed care implementation resource center . Um This is how they define trauma. Uh Trauma is a pervasive problem. It results from exposure

00:34:59.610 - 00:35:14.770

to an incident or series of events that are emotionally disturbing or life threatening with lasting adverse effects on the individual's functioning and mental, physical, social, emotional and, or spiritual well being. Um And some

00:35:14.780 - 00:35:30.410

examples um that they offer of trauma that could cause trauma are physical sexual emotional abuse, childhood neglect, living with a family member with mental health or substance use disorder. Um, sudden unexpected separation from a

00:35:30.420 - 00:35:49.590

loved one. Poverty can be um, a cause for trauma, racism and discrimination as Sean uh pointed out um uh violence in the community, uh, war terrorism. Um And I would add that,

00:35:49.600 - 00:36:00.020

you know, uh, also, um, the violence that we see in the media, in our social feeds just, just knowing, uh, uh , and, and, and watching, um,

00:36:00.030 - 00:36:12.920

the violence, you know, around the world, even if we're not, um, uh, you know, in, we're not in a war torn country. Uh, uh, it affects us as

00:36:12.930 - 00:36:22.580

well, um, to, to see, to constantly be seeing that. Right? And so, um, trauma is much more pervasive than, than , um, than we think, although trauma can

00:36:22.590 - 00:36:37.610

occur at any age, it is particularly, um , debilitating long term, um, for, uh , Children who experience trauma because their brains are developing . And so, uh when a child experiences uh

00:36:37.620 - 00:36:54.550

trauma, um, it is referred to as an adverse childhood experience. Um, and so, uh , this, I thought was just a staggering number . 62% of us adults, um, experience at

00:36:54.560 - 00:37:19.980

least one adverse childhood experience in their lifetime and 25% of us adults will experience three or more adverse childhood experiences. Um, so it is likely that, um, people in our congregation will have experienced trauma

00:37:19.990 - 00:37:34.060

, right? And I think that, um, so many of our faith communities are not engaging the topic, right? And so, um just beginning the conversation of how do we, um how can

00:37:34.070 - 00:37:52.800

we learn about trauma? Um How can we engage the topic? Um I, I, I think is the first step in um becoming trauma informed um uh religious leaders. So let me share just a

00:37:52.810 - 00:38:07.220

few more slides so that we can have a conversation . Um One of the things that helps um in the healing process and has, we've seen it in many, many studies is reconnecting with our bodies.

00:38:07.230 - 00:38:22.470

Um And so uh play is an important part of um uh the healing process and in trauma um play or body attunement exercises. Um One of the uh I, I, I won't show the video because

00:38:22.480 - 00:38:37.090

we, we won't have time. But um one organization um that I share with my class is um life is good playmakers. And um what they share is um you know, how to engage Children,

00:38:37.100 - 00:38:50.490

especially uh in reconnecting with their bodies. So they play this game as body shakes. But it's um it's in a very intentional way. So inviting um the Children to, to offer up how they want

00:38:50.490 - 00:39:07.490

to shake their body. Um Also asking them how they're feeling about um their uh reconnecting with their bodies , um inviting them to, to model um uh how they want to reconnect with their bodies. Um

00:39:07.820 - 00:39:21.370

AAA and, and so, uh again, play is an important part of reconnecting with, with um with our bodies as a, as a trauma healing um um uh practice. Um So, the,

00:39:21.380 - 00:39:38.370

the next thing I wanted to talk about is um how do we become a trauma, how do we engage a trauma sensitive theology? Um In her book , Jennifer, uh Baldwin asks this question, um

00:39:39.980 - 00:39:58.010

How do we begin to think about trauma theologically? Right? Do we uh we do not deny that the church has been a place of um of harm ? Um And uh places of higher learning um have

00:39:58.020 - 00:40:10.040

also been a place of, of harm, but they could also be places of healing and support. So how do we learn to communicate and, and interpret trauma? How do we reduce the stigma of

00:40:10.050 - 00:40:22.500

trauma in our faith communities? Um And in order to do that, we need to make use of the best knowledge of our time in multiple disciplines, psychology, philosophy, sociology, politics, um and

00:40:22.510 - 00:40:37.630

education without abandoning the narratives, she says of our faith that support our meaning making and I, and our identity. So she identifies a framework of trauma sensitive theology that sets forth four primary commitments. Um

00:40:37.640 - 00:40:50.060

And the four are on the screen. I'll um I'll go through each one real briefly. She talks about um the priority of body experience. So, um as I've said, uh trauma is experienced in

00:40:50.070 - 00:41:06.600

the body um uh most of theological traditions, uh especially after the enlightenment place, an emphasis on human rationality um at the expense of our embodied spiritual practices . And often the body has been seen as sinful

00:41:06.610 - 00:41:20.200

, especially uh the female body. Um So how do we restore and honor the physical body in um uh thinking theologically about um uh engaging trauma, right ? How do we, how do we honor the

00:41:20.210 - 00:41:35.600

physical body? Um uh And, and talk about the body uh as uh not in a, in a sinful way. Um The second point is full acceptance of trauma narratives. So, uh what is

00:41:35.610 - 00:41:49.980

the role of religious care and mental health professionals? Um And, and she argues that it's not to adjudicate the facts of trauma. Um um It's to advocate for safety, to support and to facilitate the

00:41:49.990 - 00:42:05.190

repair of traumatic injury and to promote recovery and resiliency . Um These aims can only happen if we accept narratives of traumatic experience as they are understood by the survivors of trauma. Um Now, I remember offering

00:42:05.200 - 00:42:20.110

a, a workshop um to uh a group of pastors um a few years ago and um somebody shared their experience of trauma and um and right away the , the, the, the, the response by

00:42:20.120 - 00:42:31.770

one of the pastors was, did that really happen ? Did it did, what is, did it really happen like that? And so questioning um people's experience of trauma um is, is, is,

00:42:31.780 - 00:42:45.830

is so hurtful and so, um as you know , religious leaders, um it is not our job to uh to, to adjudicate if, if, if this experience is real or not. Um But

00:42:45.840 - 00:43:02.670

to fully accept um the narrative, the trauma, narrative of um of people who have, who have survived trauma. Um And uh the third point that she makes or the third priority is um uh natural

00:43:02.680 - 00:43:17.430

, the natural givens of human psychological multiplicity. So , um we have a multiplicity of thought of emotion , of social roles. Um Survivors utilize a multiplicity of fragmented forms of resiliency. So you may,

00:43:17.530 - 00:43:30.340

you may see somebody who has experienced trauma. Um And, and you may think that person doesn't seem like they have been through trauma, but they are , they, they, we use all uh a

00:43:30.350 - 00:43:50.180

variety of, of ways to um to hold ourselves together um in various different spaces. And so, um we, we cannot question um how uh survivors of trauma um have pieced themselves together to um to

00:43:50.190 - 00:44:04.130

uh to, to, to be resilient. Um The, the, the fourth point is that faith in the robust resiliency of trauma survivors, right? This is, this is so important that survivors do

00:44:04.140 - 00:44:21.610

not just identify as broken, shattered and ruined. Um that there is so much more uh to their um to their, to their story. And so , um story linking is one thing that we use

00:44:21.620 - 00:44:37.130

in um in religious education and thinking about how we can uh connect story linking with the biblical narratives of resiliency as a source of strength and healing um for uh for people who have experienced trauma. So Baldwin

00:44:37.140 - 00:44:52.020

argues that the church has the potential to be a place that helps to cultivate practices of resiliency and to create spaces of restoration after trauma is experienced. Um What resonates with you about the four commitments or uh

00:44:52.030 - 00:45:23.880

priorities in a trauma sensitive theology? I'm gonna pause there. What resonates with you? Any questions? I, I think what resonates with me is, I believe it was the second one, the full

00:45:23.890 - 00:45:46.410

acceptance of the trauma because we, we've not experienced what that person has experienced, even if we have ex experienced something similar, we're still individual, unique uh creations. And um and each one of us

00:45:46.420 - 00:46:01.040

responds to a situation uh in um in, in , in our own unique way and, and, and, and I, and I like what you said, I mean, it, it is not

00:46:01.050 - 00:46:28.870

our place to validate or invalidate, but it's our place to, to provide comfort and a safe place for the person to express their um your pain. Yes. Thank you, Rick. Exactly. Mhm

00:46:29.270 - 00:46:43.980

. Any other thoughts? Yes. Elizabeth. Um Yes. So the second one also resonated with me and I was thinking about um how even with just um you know, the loss of a loved one

00:46:43.990 - 00:46:59.240

, just family member passes away. Our society is . So, um you know, I've came across a quote recently uh morning avoidant that um that we , we, we tend to sort of, you

00:46:59.250 - 00:47:16.280

know, our society tends to limit other people's time for mourning and grieving by either non response or a response that sort of implies that it's time to move on, move past. And I think that that

00:47:16.290 - 00:47:30.560

may also be a reason for, you know, that contributes to this idea of not accepting someone's trauma narrative. It's like, I think that's essentially where it starts, it starts from this already sort of

00:47:30.570 - 00:47:52.380

prescriptive way of grieving. Yeah, I don't know , just a thought and thinking about how we engage um you know, healing practices, right? Um We know that we cannot, we cannot rational,

00:47:52.390 - 00:48:06.910

let tell people to snap out of, you know , trauma, snap out of grief. Um It's not a rational, um there's no rational steps, right? Um And so, um the, the

00:48:06.920 - 00:48:20.270

, the trauma studies tell us that what people need is a way to, to reconnect with their bodies because grief disconnects us, right? Trauma disconnects us . And um in the Christian tradition has so many

00:48:20.280 - 00:48:35.760

spiritual practices that are embodied practices, right? And um and, and we, we tend to forget them, right? We want to go straight to um to uh to uh telling people here are the

00:48:35.770 - 00:48:50.020

rational steps for um for um you know, moving from, from pain to, to, to health , from moving from um from sorrow to joy and , and there's no, so there's no steps,

00:48:50.430 - 00:49:02.100

right? But we can enact um places where we can reconnect with community, where we can reconnect with our bodies where we can reconnect with our emotions, right? Think about all of the um the,

00:49:02.110 - 00:49:20.330

the, the prayer meditations, right? Um And different ways that we can, we can, we can enact those, those practices in the church. Mhm So let me uh we have just a few

00:49:20.340 - 00:49:39.660

more minutes. Um Let me do one last slide here. So, strategies for creating a trauma informed ministry. Some um uh uh folks talk about um um having a first creating a safe sanctuary uh policy

00:49:39.670 - 00:49:52.940

, uh creating a safe space, right? Having it clearly defined um having all of the leadership in the church um know what the policy is. Um The the safe sanctuary policy can also include an explanation

00:49:52.950 - 00:50:07.510

about why safe environments are crucial for everyone. Um But especially persons who are um healing from traumatic experiences . Um It, it, it also helps reduce stigma associated with trauma and it's an educational uh uh

00:50:07.720 - 00:50:22.620

uh way of, of, of, of teaching people about the importance of being trauma informed. Um fostering a sense of, of connection, re-establish, helping people re-establish social networks. We know that,

00:50:22.630 - 00:50:37.100

that people who have experienced trauma will go into withdrawal . Um Right, they withdraw themselves from their social networks, they feel um um uh a sense of disconnection. Um They, they, they don't want

00:50:37.110 - 00:50:52.800

to be um you know, uh present and so finding ways to, to, to help um slowly ease them into uh uh reestablished those social connections um church and community opportunities for um remembrance, reflection,

00:50:52.810 - 00:51:09.860

and lament um consider offering memorial services, prayer vigils , um uh offering uh any other forms of gathering this can help communities process the impact of trauma and begin to heal together. Um I'm, I'm thinking

00:51:09.870 - 00:51:23.320

about uh the, the, the students right that have been um uh protesting on university campuses and how they've, they've um enacted. Um you know, this, this uh connection with the, with,

00:51:23.330 - 00:51:37.580

with, with their faith. And so many of them have created um spaces to pray together um and have created spaces to, to pray together from various traditions um learning from each other uh uh uh how

00:51:37.590 - 00:51:49.590

those spaces are created. So, um I, that's the one thing that, that, that comes to mind. Um Comfort can also be brought through uh creative expressions such as art installations, murals,

00:51:49.600 - 00:52:00.210

music, poetry, dance, and movement. Um So this comes from a book that I use in one of my classes um from a lament to advocacy . Uh That's the title of the book and then

00:52:00.220 - 00:52:17.130

developing sermons and teaching series that incorporate coping uh practices . Um Finally refer uh and resource externally to trusted community resources. Uh trauma informed churches know the limit and scope of the spiritual and emotional care services that

00:52:17.140 - 00:52:30.010

they can provide, especially when someone needs specialized, professional trauma, clinical care. Um So, uh knowing who to refer them out to and then prioritizing self care um burn out, burnout is so common

00:52:30.020 - 00:52:43.010

. Um, in the helping professions. So, um, knowing that, uh, where your limits are and when you need to, to take a step back and care for yourself because, um,

00:52:43.120 - 00:53:00.570

we cannot offer what we do not have. So that's, um, yes, that's my presentation. Any, any thoughts from, from the group here ? Yeah, Cheryl, the, um, the

00:53:00.580 - 00:53:16.070

protests over the Palestinian, um, and Israel issue , it kicked up a kind of, uh, Vietnam, uh, protest war, war protest trauma in me. I did find myself thinking about the

00:53:16.080 - 00:53:32.050

days that uh that uh my friends and I participated in Vietnam war protest and it's kind of brings it brings it back, you know, so I'm not sure where I'm going with that thought. Well,

00:53:32.060 - 00:53:49.350

memory is a, is an important component of uh trauma. So, um you know, it just like our emotions are connected to um to trauma. Um trauma is not experienced just now in the present

00:53:49.420 - 00:53:59.580

, right? Trauma uh that can be triggered. And um you know, what you have experienced in the past, um You, you, you, you, you it again and it's not just a

00:53:59.590 - 00:54:12.470

memory. I mean, you live it in your body because you've experienced that trauma in your body. And so being mindful of um uh that, that it is a full embodied experience. Um And so

00:54:12.470 - 00:54:24.450

what you need, right? Knowing what you need um uh to take care of yourself is important. It's a wonderful place for us to be able to pause. Uh And yeah, the body does indeed

00:54:24.460 - 00:54:35.310

keep score and there are many things that are happening in our society right now. There are bodies are reminding us of traumas from the past. And so uh reverend soon to be Doctor Patricia Ben, thank

00:54:35.320 - 00:54:45.800

you so much for a wonderful presentation and an excellent addition to cultivating ideas. Super grateful for your voice and the wisdom and insight that you've given to us . Thank you immensely. Um And so next week

00:54:45.810 - 00:54:58.410

, join us uh as Doctor Gregory Cuellar, who serves as Associate Professor of the Old Testament will be sharing insights uh on decentralizing the other at the US Mexico border. So once again, a very relevant

00:54:58.410 - 00:55:07.240

, relevant uh topic for us. So thank you all so much for attending cultivating ideas. I hope you have a fantastic day. Thank you everyone. Thank you so much. Have a wonderful day.