Pastoral Care For Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

Provide effective care for the members of your congregation suffering with PTSD! This vital book is an overview of the nature of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It examines the causes, manifestations, and problems of PTSD as they relate to a person socially, spiritually, emotionally, physically, and psychologically. Stressing hope, healing, and compassion, Pastoral Care for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: Healing the Shattered Soul includes specific suggestions for the prevention of traumatic events and for using peacemaking techniques to stop violence in your clients’lives. Pastoral Care for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is a practical, understandable, professionally presented and researched working guide for clergy in parishes, for chaplains, and for seminarians who have little or no knowledge of how to pastor to people who are suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. It is also for lay people who minister to those who have been traumatized. Survivors will also benefit from its affirmation for the spiritual component of healing. This unique volume provides the practical means to support people through the healing process while maintaining their spiritual grounding, with: case studies that will help develop your skills a thoughtful discussion of the theological dimensions of trauma and suffering a practical methodology for crisis intervention an examination of the specific needs of veterans a look at the potential for caregiver burnout and how to prevent it ways that churches can contribute to the prevention of the trauma that leads to PTSD methods for using scripture as a source of healing for PTSD survivors Pastoral Care for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder also defines PTSD from a mental health perspective and gives examples of the kinds of trauma that may lead to it. No one working with PTSD survivors in a spiritual setting should be without this book!

This handbook is for leaders who are faced with leading an individual or a church community through a traumatic event and its aftermath. It arises out of the Tragedy and Congregations Project which helps churches to respond in a healthy way to the impact of tragedies through training in good practice, careful reflection, and drawing on faith resources. *Part One examines the physical and mental impact of trauma, and offers a rapid response pastoral toolkit and guidance on appropriate continuing care. *Part Two offers pastoral and liturgical strategies for collective trauma, suggesting ‘habits of the heart’ that will build resilience. *Part Three reflects on the changing story of life and faith as meaning is made from traumatising events, and reflects on recovery.

Horrific Traumata shares the stories of persons whose meaning, hope, and faith were ripped from them by others or traumatic events and who live with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Since the Vietnam War, therapists have come to understand victims of severe emotional trauma with new understanding and, with better ability, have come to learn how to heal the awful effects of their traumas. Now the ranks of traumatized Vietnam veterans are joined by others who have also experienced horrific traumata and need help to rebuild their lives from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)--victims and survivors of incest and rape, hostage situations, and other events outside the range of ordinary human suffering. Duncan Sinclair provides direct insight into the clinical and psychological aspects of PTSD. He presents a clear and workable understanding of the nature of PTSD which gives clergy and other involved persons direct insight into the causes of many behaviors. Horrific Traumata focuses on the church’s readiness and obligation to incorporate traumatized victims into the center of grace and healing. Clergy of all specialities now have a means of seeing behind the masks of hurt and isolation to the long-standing and disabling trauma. Sinclair shows how to promote the healing process through a range of parish activities as well as in clinical settings. Guidelines for promoting healing include the key concepts of how to listen compassionately and how to create safe places in which victims may heal during the rebuilding of hope and faith. Scriptures used throughout develop a hopefulness that must be maintained for healing. Based on the quintessential understanding that current life stressors open past wounds in ways that leave them open, Sinclair guides professionals and clergy in treating the whole traumatized person. Clergy of all specialities, pastors, chaplains, pastoral counselors, seminary students, clinical pastoral educators, and students will find healing words for hurting people in this book. Clinical specialists in all disciplines who wish to view clients’lives from a clinical and faith position will find the stories and clinical suggestions in this book to be a modern goldmine.

Horrific Traumata shares the stories of persons whose meaning, hope, and faith were ripped from them by others or traumatic events and who live with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Since the Vietnam War, therapists have come to understand victims of severe emotional trauma with new understanding and, with better ability, have come to learn how to heal the awful effects of their traumas. Now the ranks of traumatized Vietnam veterans are joined by others who have also experienced horrific traumata and need help to rebuild their lives from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)--victims and survivors of incest and rape, hostage situations, and other events outside the range of ordinary human suffering. Duncan Sinclair provides direct insight into the clinical and psychological aspects of PTSD. He presents a clear and workable understanding of the nature of PTSD which gives clergy and other involved persons direct insight into the causes of many behaviors. Horrific Traumata focuses on the church's readiness and obligation to incorporate traumatized victims into the center of grace and healing. Clergy of all specialities now have a means of seeing behind the masks of hurt and isolation to the long-standing and disabling trauma. Sinclair shows how to promote the healing process through a range of parish activities as well as in clinical settings. Guidelines for promoting healing include the key concepts of how to listen compassionately and how to create safe places in which victims may heal during the rebuilding of hope and faith. Scriptures used throughout develop a hopefulness that must be maintained for healing. Based on the quintessential understanding that current life stressors open past wounds in ways that leave them open, Sinclair guides professionals and clergy in treating the whole traumatized person. Clergy of all specialities, pastors, chaplains, pastoral counselors, seminary students, clinical pastoral educators, and students will find healing words for hurting people in this book. Clinical specialists in all disciplines who wish to view clients’lives from a clinical and faith position will find the stories and clinical suggestions in this book to be a modern goldmine.

It’s no revelation that in today’s world many people suffer from some form of spiritual crisis. But, fortunately, there is hope. In Spiritual Crisis: Surviving Trauma to the Soul, you’ll discover how you can reverse the impact of spiritual crisis and apply healing balm to the traumatized soul. A comprehensive, real-life approach to spiritual care, it gives you the understanding necessary to put a lid on the daily chaos that seeks to destroy those whose lives have been shattered by tragedy, terror, and disillusionment. Written from the perspective of a compassionate professional who has navigated the dark and turbulent waters of his own spiritual crises, Spiritual Crisis represents a loving cross-section of aid from the fields of pastoral theology, psychology, and health care. Christians and non-Christians alike will benefit from its frank approach to aiding troubled souls through the tough times of belief transition, loss of faith, and potentially damaging extremes in living and thinking. Specifically, you’ll read about: understanding the effects and roots of spiritual crisis and trauma coping with loss counteracting disillusionment with the church negotiating belief transitions dealing with religious burnout intervening in denominational identity crises Oftentimes, it’s hard to know what will make a loved one survive or succumb to the impact of seemingly insurmountable personal emergencies. However, this book is a “call to care” that will enable you to help others turn back the tide of debilitating hardship in their lives and restore the tempering unity of mind and body. Whether you’re a beginning pastoral counselor, a marriage and family therapist, or friend of a troubled loved one, Spiritual Crisis will show you and those you work with how to turn crisis into care.

Building on the groundbreaking original work with the same title, these articles focus on current issues, such as certain life stages, special populations, the devalued and abused, the addicted and special issues of the 1990's.

The event occurred in the past, possibly many years ago, but you still carry it with you wherever you go. Some days the memory keeps replaying over and over again in your mind. You feel angry, jumpy, maybe even guilty or ashamed. You want to move on with your life and wonder why you can't just "get over it." With wisdom and compassion ...