Is Church Trauma Real?
If the above mentioned question was asked 30 Years ago the answer would of been No! The reason for this is that Churches have hidden behind confidentiality clauses and court gagging orders for decades. Huge financial settlements were kept out of the media. Today this is almost impossible even if a gagging order is in place.
Trauma Across Generations
Pyschologists are currently looking into how church trauma has been passed on from generation to generation. Parents who share their negative experiences with the church have caused their children to mistrust all religious institutions. Some adults who were impacted negatively through their parents trauma will not attend a wedding or a funeral in a church unless it is a small non-denominational church.
Current stats show that non-denominational churches are the fastest growing churches. Some mega churches have attempted to attract the younger generation by openly declaring they are supportive of same sex marriages and the LGBT community. This move has actually backfired and caused a split in the church resulting in more trauma and anxiety for its members. Many younger LGBT members see this move as being too little to late as the prior damage and stigmatising of this minority group in the past has caused deep emotional scarring.
Church Trauma Symptoms
Therapists in the past mainly dealt with trauma, patients experienced from living in war torn areas or having recently lost a child or a ugly divorce due to domestic violence. Today the definition of trauma has been expanded as well as the list of physical symptoms. The list of symptoms could include viz:
- Anxiousness.
- Depression.
- Panic Attacks.
- Nervousness and contsantly on edge.
- Feelings of Shame and Guilt.
- Lack of self confidence.
- Nightmares.
- Avoidance behaviour.
- Chronic insomnia.
When seeking help for church trauma it is advisable to talk to somebody who has some knowledge about church doctrines. It is no use talking to a therapist who is not aware of a fear based doctrine which you were constantly exposed to as a child through to your adult years. An example of such a doctrine is the teaching on Armageddon. Most therapists are not even aware that Armageddon is not an event in the future. Armageddon is an actual place. Therefore when preachers preach that Armageddon is here or we are shortly going to see the fulfillment of this event this is far from the truth. In addition most of the writings of the book of Revelation are apocolyptic in nature and is confined to the generation that was living in that time and a future prophecy of the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem.
If you are suffering from any of the symptoms listed above and you would like to chat to somebody about your concerns please click on the banner above or below.