Trauma-informed Discipleship
A year ago, we knew nothing about trauma. At least, not in the academic or scientific sense. Last August, MetroHealth Hospital provided a training at Youth for Christ titled,
“Trauma/Toxic Stress and Child Development: Implications for Community Members.”
Trauma and toxic stress rewire the brain. Cognitive, emotional, and physical development are potentially impaired by high levels of childhood trauma. Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) are traumatic, childhood events which have a detrimental impact on future health outcomes. Today, physicians and researchers recognize that the higher a child’s ACE score, the more likely they are to exhibit trauma-related behavioral issues, participate in risky behaviors, and experience poor health outcomes throughout life.1 The science is rich and well above my ability to understand fully and communicate clearly. Nadine Burke Harris, a physician and leading researcher in this field, explains ACEs and their consequent health impacts in her TED Talk, “How Childhood Trauma Affects Health Across A Lifetime”. I encourage you to watch it. It is important to note that ACEs are not merely an urban phenomenon, though later studies not referenced by Dr. Harris reveal that there is an inverse correlation between income level and ACE scores. Meaning, the lower a child’s income level, the greater likelihood they are to have experienced more ACEs.2
Leaving the training that night, I felt like my brain had just run a marathon. Words like neuroplasticity, adverse childhood experiences, and resilience swirled in my head creating a muddy picture of a seemingly hopeless situation. For the first time I was realizing that “the impact of sin is not just a spiritual reality but a deeply embodied one.”3
How did I go this long and not know this?” I lamented.
Since that time, God in His providence has opened up opportunities to learn more about trauma, especially within the urban community. This knowledge is crucial because so much of our time is spent building interpersonal relationships with and discipling teens who have likely experienced trauma. To follow our call to raise up Jesus-following leaders within our community, we must be trauma-informed.
Studies show that approximately 70% of all children living in urban areas have been exposed to trauma. Often, this is not simple or short-term trauma but rather complex and ongoing trauma. As a result, “children growing up in urban poverty often display symptoms of complex PTSD.”4 In 2017, Cleveland had the second highest percentage of students attempting suicide in the nation.5 Suicide, depression, and feelings of hopelessness and despair are all linked to having higher ACE scores. This is a grim reality, especially for the church. Imagine a room full of 30-40 youth and teens willingly sitting (or at-time aimlessly roaming) in a church service on a Thursday night. Each child has likely experienced significant trauma and their own resulting emotional and behavioral problems that have gone untreated. Hardened by the brokenness they have always known, yet week after week they choose to enter in and attend church. This picture summarizes our Shoreway services. While challenging, there is great joy in knowing that such this only made possible by the work of the Holy Spirit. Still, the pervasiveness of trauma is a grim reality that grieves my soul.
Is there hope? Yes. First and foremost, there is hope in knowing that Jesus, God who took on flesh, came to this earth as the answer to our sin and brokenness. The gospel gives us hope that all things can be made new through Christ. God Himself did not shy away from trauma. Instead, He walked the streets of an oppressed city calling traumatized, broken people as disciples renewing them through the power of the Holy Spirit. He experienced physical and emotional trauma so that He can be the High Priest that sympathizes with our pain and weakness.6 This is good news.
Neuroplasticity, the brain’s ability to change and grow throughout one’s lifetime, is another reason why ACEs are not a death sentence (even if they are found to shorten one’s lifespan by up to 20 years). Children who experience ACEs can develop resilience, the ability to adapt, through several key factors: “having power over one’s own life, having a sense of self and self-worth, having external support, being affiliated with a group, and having positive experiences with safe adults, especially adults in positions of authority.”7 In learning this, I remarked to Caleb, “It is amazing. God provides the way for the brain to heal, and the mechanisms for that healing are found in His church.” There are no coincidences in this design. The church is called to a mighty work - will we respond?
Today, Jesus calls His church to follow His example – to enter in to dark and broken places, preach the gospel, and make disciples. Understanding trauma and toxic stress has led us to reevaluate our discipleship practices. We are continually learning from trauma-informed counseling techniques and seeking to implement trust-based relationship practices into our regular interactions. I still have more questions than answers, but I am hopeful. Hopeful that solid, discipleship relationships can help facilitate the physical and spiritual renewing of the mind that many need. Hopeful that the church can surround traumatized children and show them love and belonging. Hopeful that image bearers will begin to understand their divine imprint: that they are made in the image of a perfect and loving God, that they have innate value and purpose that no one can take away, and that they are made for relationship with their Designer through Christ. This is the goal of discipleship.
“Who Gives A Black Man Permission to Feel? [An Ode to Uncle Stan]” written and performed by Preston Perry provides a personalized look at how trauma impacts individuals and communities. We got to see it performed live in Cleveland and have referenced the poem countless times since.
1. Lisa Ramirez, “Trauma/Toxic Stress and Childhood Development: Implications for Community Members,” Slide 8, Presentation at Greater Cleveland Youth for Christ on August 27, 2019.
2. Ibid.
3. José Humphreys and Adam L Gustine. “An Ecclesiology of Shalom.” The Covenant Quarterly (Online) 77, no. 1 (February 2019): 36, http://search.ebscohost.com/ login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip,shib&db=rfh&AN=ATLAiACO191129001433&site=eds-live&scope=site.
4. K. Collins, K. Connors, S. Davis, A. Donohue, S. Gardner, E. Goldblatt, A. Hayward, L. Kiser, F Strieder, and E Thompson, “Understanding the Impact of Trauma and Urban Poverty on Family Systems: Risks, Resilience, and Interventions.
5. Lisa Ramirez, “Trauma/Toxic Stress and Childhood Development: Implications for Community Members,” Slides 19-20.
6. Heb. 4:15, NLT.
7. Lisa Ramirez, “Trauma/Toxic Stress and Childhood Development: Implications for Community Members,” Slide 25.
“Trauma/Toxic Stress and Child Development: Implications for Community Members.”
Trauma and toxic stress rewire the brain. Cognitive, emotional, and physical development are potentially impaired by high levels of childhood trauma. Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) are traumatic, childhood events which have a detrimental impact on future health outcomes. Today, physicians and researchers recognize that the higher a child’s ACE score, the more likely they are to exhibit trauma-related behavioral issues, participate in risky behaviors, and experience poor health outcomes throughout life.1 The science is rich and well above my ability to understand fully and communicate clearly. Nadine Burke Harris, a physician and leading researcher in this field, explains ACEs and their consequent health impacts in her TED Talk, “How Childhood Trauma Affects Health Across A Lifetime”. I encourage you to watch it. It is important to note that ACEs are not merely an urban phenomenon, though later studies not referenced by Dr. Harris reveal that there is an inverse correlation between income level and ACE scores. Meaning, the lower a child’s income level, the greater likelihood they are to have experienced more ACEs.2
Leaving the training that night, I felt like my brain had just run a marathon. Words like neuroplasticity, adverse childhood experiences, and resilience swirled in my head creating a muddy picture of a seemingly hopeless situation. For the first time I was realizing that “the impact of sin is not just a spiritual reality but a deeply embodied one.”3
How did I go this long and not know this?” I lamented.
Since that time, God in His providence has opened up opportunities to learn more about trauma, especially within the urban community. This knowledge is crucial because so much of our time is spent building interpersonal relationships with and discipling teens who have likely experienced trauma. To follow our call to raise up Jesus-following leaders within our community, we must be trauma-informed.
Studies show that approximately 70% of all children living in urban areas have been exposed to trauma. Often, this is not simple or short-term trauma but rather complex and ongoing trauma. As a result, “children growing up in urban poverty often display symptoms of complex PTSD.”4 In 2017, Cleveland had the second highest percentage of students attempting suicide in the nation.5 Suicide, depression, and feelings of hopelessness and despair are all linked to having higher ACE scores. This is a grim reality, especially for the church. Imagine a room full of 30-40 youth and teens willingly sitting (or at-time aimlessly roaming) in a church service on a Thursday night. Each child has likely experienced significant trauma and their own resulting emotional and behavioral problems that have gone untreated. Hardened by the brokenness they have always known, yet week after week they choose to enter in and attend church. This picture summarizes our Shoreway services. While challenging, there is great joy in knowing that such this only made possible by the work of the Holy Spirit. Still, the pervasiveness of trauma is a grim reality that grieves my soul.
Is there hope? Yes. First and foremost, there is hope in knowing that Jesus, God who took on flesh, came to this earth as the answer to our sin and brokenness. The gospel gives us hope that all things can be made new through Christ. God Himself did not shy away from trauma. Instead, He walked the streets of an oppressed city calling traumatized, broken people as disciples renewing them through the power of the Holy Spirit. He experienced physical and emotional trauma so that He can be the High Priest that sympathizes with our pain and weakness.6 This is good news.
Neuroplasticity, the brain’s ability to change and grow throughout one’s lifetime, is another reason why ACEs are not a death sentence (even if they are found to shorten one’s lifespan by up to 20 years). Children who experience ACEs can develop resilience, the ability to adapt, through several key factors: “having power over one’s own life, having a sense of self and self-worth, having external support, being affiliated with a group, and having positive experiences with safe adults, especially adults in positions of authority.”7 In learning this, I remarked to Caleb, “It is amazing. God provides the way for the brain to heal, and the mechanisms for that healing are found in His church.” There are no coincidences in this design. The church is called to a mighty work - will we respond?
Today, Jesus calls His church to follow His example – to enter in to dark and broken places, preach the gospel, and make disciples. Understanding trauma and toxic stress has led us to reevaluate our discipleship practices. We are continually learning from trauma-informed counseling techniques and seeking to implement trust-based relationship practices into our regular interactions. I still have more questions than answers, but I am hopeful. Hopeful that solid, discipleship relationships can help facilitate the physical and spiritual renewing of the mind that many need. Hopeful that the church can surround traumatized children and show them love and belonging. Hopeful that image bearers will begin to understand their divine imprint: that they are made in the image of a perfect and loving God, that they have innate value and purpose that no one can take away, and that they are made for relationship with their Designer through Christ. This is the goal of discipleship.
 |
| List of ACEs taken from https://www.rwjf.org/en/library/infographics/the-truth-about-aces.html |
-Julia
1. Lisa Ramirez, “Trauma/Toxic Stress and Childhood Development: Implications for Community Members,” Slide 8, Presentation at Greater Cleveland Youth for Christ on August 27, 2019.
2. Ibid.
3. José Humphreys and Adam L Gustine. “An Ecclesiology of Shalom.” The Covenant Quarterly (Online) 77, no. 1 (February 2019): 36, http://search.ebscohost.com/ login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip,shib&db=rfh&AN=ATLAiACO191129001433&site=eds-live&scope=site.
4. K. Collins, K. Connors, S. Davis, A. Donohue, S. Gardner, E. Goldblatt, A. Hayward, L. Kiser, F Strieder, and E Thompson, “Understanding the Impact of Trauma and Urban Poverty on Family Systems: Risks, Resilience, and Interventions.
5. Lisa Ramirez, “Trauma/Toxic Stress and Childhood Development: Implications for Community Members,” Slides 19-20.
6. Heb. 4:15, NLT.
7. Lisa Ramirez, “Trauma/Toxic Stress and Childhood Development: Implications for Community Members,” Slide 25.
Very useful info. Hope to see more posts soon! international certificate of good health (form 77-043) Top post. I look forward to reading more. Cheers
ReplyDelete