The Shattered Soul

1
The Shattered Soul

• Life in the Balance

2
Spiritual Reactions to Trauma

• Confusion about God
• Altered sense of meaning in/of life
• Grief and loss issues
• Questions of Theodicy
• Feelings of ineffectiveness, shame, despair,
  hopelessness
• Feeling permanently damaged
• Loss of previously sustained beliefs
• Feelings of guilt
• Confusion about core ethical beliefs.

3
Spirituality Rebuilding a Life

• Spirituality is that which gives a person meaning
  and purpose.
• It is found in relationships with self, others,
  ideas, nature, and, possibly, a higher power.
• Spiritual distress arises when one of these
  relationships that provide meaning is threatened
  or broken the individual becomes disconnected
  from their system of beliefs .
• Spiritual recovery is a journey of establishing,
  rethinking, and redefining ones sense of self
  and relationship to life.
• .

4
Spiritual Consequence of War
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Weakened Faith

• Research showed that a Veterans' war zone
  experiences (killing, losing friend, etc.)
  weakened their religious faith, both directly and
  as mediated by feelings of guilt.
• Weakened religious faith and guilt each
  contributed independently to more extensive
  current use of VA mental health services.
• Fontana, A., Rosenheck, R. (2004). Trauma,
  change in strength of religious faith, and mental
  health service use among veterans treated for
  PTSD. J Nerv Ment Dis, 192 (9), 579-584.

6
Veterans Use of Clergy

• Veterans may feel more comfortable approaching
  their pastor than they do a mental health
  professional.
• Research shows that 4 of 10 individuals with
  mental health challenges seek counseling from
  clergy.
• Individuals seek counsel from ministers more than
  all other mental health providers combined.
• Often seeing a member of the clergy is less
  threatening and has less stigma attached. Is
  viewed as engaging a known community resource.
• Negative reasons. . . Magical thinking, avoiding
  truth of diagnosis, etc.

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Spiritual Care Approaches

• Providing a Safe Place
• Listening
• Grounding
• Accepting
• Referring

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Spiritual Leader as a Safe Haven

• Offer a calm, safe and non-judgmental,
  non-anxious presence.
• Provide clear, reliable boundaries of communion
  and respect.
• Be present with veterans and families during the
  storms of reintegration.
• Provide a compassionate space wide enough to
  encompass the awfulness of war trauma.

9
Spiritual Leader as Listener

• Avoid advising or offering platitudes
• Listen without interruption or comment
• Hearing content and emotion with respect
• Convey warmth and acceptance of the person, their
  journey and their struggles
• Avoid asking questions
• Notice what is in a caring and genuine way.

10
Spiritual Leader Role in Grounding

• Provide roadmap for reintegration into church
  community and community at large.
• Provide roadmap of opportunities for appropriate
  outlets regarding frustration, pain, fear, guilt
  and trauma.
• Provide avenues of dialogue for spiritual and
  religious growth and engagement.
• Provide honest and realistic reflection of
  recovery process.
• Provide spiritual, religious and community
  resources for veterans and their families.

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Spiritual Leader Role in Accepting

• Understand the both/and nature of good and
  evil. Then and now.
• Not trying to fix the unfixable.
• To offer deep reflection on what is goodness
  and how to help others find goodness within
  themselves.
• Understanding and accepting the dark side of
  human nature.

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Spiritual Approaches by Symptom
Developed by Kent D. Drescher, Ph.D