Spiritual trauma can be so difficult to define, but if you clicked on this page there is something that peaked your interest. Spiritual trauma does not have to be a direct violation or abuse from another person in order to be trauma. It can even be the shaking of one’s faith.

In The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse: Recognizing and Escaping Spiritual Manipulation and False Spiritual Authority Within the Church, David Johnson and Jeff Van Vonderen define spiritual trauma as “The mistreatment of a person who is in need of help, support, or greater spiritual empowerment, with the result of weakening, undermining, or decreasing that person’s spiritual empowerment.” They note that spiritual abuse usually occurs when leaders use their “spiritual position to control or dominate another person” and when “power is used to bolster the position or needs of a leader.”

Spiritual Trauma group is not a “give me the answers” group. There will be no reading, teaching, or preaching from any religious texts. There will not be any religious, political ideologies or agendas promoted or encouraged for participants to align with or come to as a “landing point.” The intention of this group is to provide psychoeducation and offer a safe space for personal reflection while engaging in the weekly activities and discussions. This group is NOT for facilitating trauma processing or sharing of detailed narratives of individual trauma during group. The interactive components among members of this group focus on exploration of present-moment experiences relating to educational content presented by the group therapists.

Objectives

1. Define ‘Spiritual Trauma’.
2. Connect with and reflect on your Spiritual Trauma narrative in a safe space.
3. Gain awareness of Spiritual Trauma’s impact on the mind and body.
4. Gain an understanding of the stages of faith.
5. Develop tools and resources to promote personal empowerment.

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Leaders of Spiritual Trauma: 

Brock Anderson, LAMFT is a graduate of Fuller Theological Seminary. Brock has a tremendous passion for creating this safe space for spiritual process, which seems to not exist in other venues without a specific agenda. Brock also leads courses on mindfulness at Thrive and is trained in EMDR.

Lauren Mokarry, LPC is that trauma guru at Thrive. Her passion is for helping others understand how their nervous system responds to disruptive stimuli. Lauren sees spiritual trauma come up so often in her client’s trauma work which is what lead her to hop on board for this group.

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