Positive Approaches Journal, Volume 10, Issue 2

Volume 10 ► Issue 2 ► August 2021

A Win/Win: Using Both Personal Spiritual Strength to Heal and Experiencing Post-Traumatic Growth to Heal with a Transition and Reintegration in Sight

Fr. Mark Swindle

Abstract

As human beings, we have the capability that allows us to positively rise to a higher level of functioning because of challenges we face in life. This higher level of functioning can be thought of as a positive psychological change and is not considered a new concept. Early writings and arguments of different faiths and beliefs hold true to the teaching that the general understanding is that suffering, and distress can actually be associated with positive changes in one’s life.¹ Post-traumatic growth is often a part of mental health recovery. It is one area that can be identified in supporting mental health recovery and directly associated with spirituality. When an individual, (a patient in this case,) is taking the next step and moving towards transitioning and reintegrating back into the community, their spiritual well-being is integral in the recovery process and just as important at the time of their discharge.

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Challenges

We all experience both physical and mental challenges throughout time and for most of us, we call this “going through life.” Some of us are faced with more physical aches and pains in our bodies than others. For some of us, we seek the consultation and treatment from a medical physician when we suffer from intense and/or prolonged physical pain. If physical therapy is prescribed, we are told to perform certain exercises to help our muscles grow stronger. This is because the breakdown of muscles invariably leads to their buildup, allowing them to grow stronger. Where/who does one turn to when their soul aches? How does one deal with an “aching” soul? When an individual is challenged with a spiritual related issue, they seek a person who can best relate to their issue at hand. In a hospital, this person is most likely the chaplain. Chaplains can also be considered a physician – a physician of the soul.

We all experience mental challenges time to time and for some, these mental challenges are greater than others and there can be multiple factors that lead to mental illness. As we “go through life,” we know that breakdowns often hurt and the grief that remains is real. There are times in life when we experience great sadness and undoubtedly, mourning is part of life which everyone will undergo. A job of the chaplain is to simply “meet” the patient in whatever place they are at any given time. A chaplain does not always need to provide advice or counseling in every matter. Chaplains are not able to make any sort of judgment calls or sway the patient to any sort of personal beliefs. Chaplains are comprised of all types of individuals and individual beliefs should not become a factor when ministering to patients.

As a Christian chaplain working in a state mental hospital, I can speak for myself that when I provide pastoral care to a patient in the worst trouble, I remind the patient of a few things: that God’s work is secure, God’s will is good, and God’s strength is ours. Those who are suffering with mental illness and who also turn to a “Higher Being” can experience post-traumatic growth as a divine discipline whereby God is producing a deeper faith. I have found that in patients with severe mental illness, the ones who possess some sort of spirituality and have God in their daily lives, have a different, more positive outlook of life. It is as if God draws the individual into a deeper faith-based belief system. It is a patient’s personal faith-based belief system that defies all sense of hopelessness for them and thereby, allows for growth. As a chaplain, I reassure the individual that grief and suffering is a signal of hope, and mourning is just the beginning of growth to come. Chaplains convey the message that an individual needs to focus on the good and those new possibilities are possible and await them upon their transition and reintegration into a new life after the mental hospital. These possibilities are the very result of their lives being turned upside down. When providing spiritual support to an individual, chaplains will often talk about the spirituality of suffering. Within the realm of spiritual suffering, a chaplain assures the patient that we are not called as human beings to seek or desire pain in our lives.² We further talk about how having a positive spirituality of suffering in place can help when the opportunity comes their way to face the difficult challenges of life and, in confronting them, they will be able to find what God is saying to them in ways they may not have understood or valued previously.

Mr. C. is a patient in the hospital that I met a little over a year ago. One duty I perform as a chaplain is to perform an initial spiritual assessment on a patient when they are admitted. Upon speaking and assessing Mr. C., I sensed immediately that he had strong and healthy spiritual strengths within him. Mr. C. currently attends every one of the spiritual group sessions I offer as well as Sunday Worship Services. He loves to sit and talk one-on-one about spirituality and God. One day while I was talking with Mr. C., he began to share with me about how he enjoys reading anything he can get his hands on about any religious topic. As I got to know Mr. C., he began to share more and more with me about his mental illness. He understood and knew exactly why he was in the hospital and the plan he needed to follow to be discharged. Mr. C. told me that he was not proud of what he had done previously in his life that resulted in him being admitted to the hospital. He shared with me that of all things that accounted for his mental illness, one of them was a wrong done by the church. I did not completely understand what he meant until he elaborated more. Come to find out, it was through the teachings of Mr. C.’s faith denomination within his local church that he began to take the teachings more and more literally until it caused him to change his entire belief system about God and the world. Being a chaplain in a mental hospital, I have occasionally had patients who take the Bible in the most literal sense. And so, while leading a good spiritual life in his local community, according to Mr. C., he began to suffer more and more. He began to plunge into a spiritual darkness because of the fact others were telling him exactly how he should believe. He was basing his religious beliefs on how others believed, rather than making religion part of what he believed. It is now, while in the hospital, that he is beginning to obtain a healthier perspective on his spiritual well-being. He has the opportunity, through time, to explore his inner self and understand that everything in the Bible cannot be taken in the most literal sense. Mr. C. views his mental illness as going through a spiritually dark period and that he can appreciate, amidst this darkness, that now he is able to emerge stronger. It is through the darkness that a new spiritual light is being illumined and he can start fresh and have a new beginning once he is discharged. I asked Mr. C. why he feels this way. It is certainly a challenge to him, that, by being hospitalized, he has called himself to gain a new perspective on his life and his faith. He is more grateful for what he has because of the positive ways he views himself. He can deal with illness more willingly when it comes in his life. In other words, how Mr. C. views himself and those around him, and all situations in between, is more important to him than what he is viewing or what he was forced to believe previously. How he reads and studies his Bible with the guidance of a chaplain and the information he learns by attending spiritual-related groups have provided him with new perspectives on his faith-based beliefs. Mr. C. views his spirituality in a more positive way now than previously. As the chaplain, I did not change Mr. C.; rather, he changed himself. Mr. C. has stated numerous times that he would like to become a chaplain some day or some sort of counselor that helps others in their struggles. Mr. C. feels he would be able to help others because he has gone through similar struggles in his personal life.

Keys to Success

Post-traumatic growth is positive psychological change experienced as a result of adversity and other challenges in order to rise to a higher level of functioning³. Post-traumatic growth includes “life-changing” psychological shifts in thinking and relating to the world. These shifts contribute to a personal process of change that is extremely meaningful. Some of the outcomes that have been seen in individuals that have experienced post-traumatic growth include some of the following: greater appreciation of life; changed sense of priorities; closer, more intimate relationships; greater sense of personal strength; and recognition of new possibilities and choices for one’s life and spiritual development⁴. The chaplain’s job is to encourage and foster the growth of an individual’s confidence and self-esteem arising from the struggle with adversity. The chaplain will remind the patient that they must remember to keep spirituality in the forefront of their recovery process once they are transitioned and reintegrated into society. Specifically, the patient’s spiritual growth and development will aid them in the following:

As a chaplain, I consider all the above as being important in an individual’s spiritual growth and development. I continuously remind my patients that they are every bit as capable of strengthening their spiritual lives and their belief system and that they will be strengthened from their struggle.

Chaplains use their own life experiences when meeting with patients and convey to the patient what value there is in considering the potential of their personal growth as the result of suffering. Chaplains try to have the patient think, that even in the aftermath of negative events in their life, that there may be value that will follow. As a chaplain in a hospital where the patients are mentally challenged, it is common to hear them say that they feel like life will never be the same again once they are discharged. Those that possess strong spiritual strength will see for themselves that they have grown stronger, and they will be able to use this strength in the future. As chaplains, we remind the patient that they do have the ability to transition and reintegrate themselves back into society and to lead a fulfilling and a positive life again. We remind them that, through their personal experiences, they now possess wisdom.

Some chaplains use the phrase of “finding a meaning in hell” or, “going through a spiritual desert” when talking to a patient about their past or even, their present. A patient’s “hell” and “desert” are words that are used to describe anything traumatic and horrible they are or have gone through in their lives. One patient I meet with on a regular basis is Miss W. I see Miss W. at least twice a week when she participates in my spiritual group sessions, one-on-one meetings, or Sunday Worship Service. In worship service, she always sits in the front row and is always the first to volunteer to take a reading part. During the testimony and sharing portion of the service Miss W. often attributes her current state of peacefulness and happiness because she continuously reflects on what going through the “spiritual desert” means in her life. Miss W. admits her childhood was not a happy one due to what she considers mental abuse by close family members. She further stated that her teenage and early adulthood years were not so good because of the same reason. She feels like she made many “walks through hell” in her life and had been stuck in many “spiritual deserts.” Miss W. admits, that because of enduring them, she is the person she is today. Miss W. feels that she has experienced growth at so many levels in her life which she feels bears witness to her strong spiritual strengths. Because of the nurtured faith-based belief system she obtained in the hospital, she now feels that she is a “changed for-the-better” person and as a result, now has an enormous capacity to overcome problems in her current day-to-day life. Upon performing Miss W.’s initial spiritual assessment, this was certainly not the case. She displayed very few signs of spiritual strength at all. For me, it was not surprising after hearing the sort of mental abuse she previously experienced. My job is to encourage Miss W. and build confidence in her that she has the potential to grow from her past negative experiences. While she cannot change her past, she can certainly change her future. I am a witness to Miss W.’s changed outlook during her stay in the hospital by the way she now participates in our discussions and the enthusiasm she shows in worship services. Her spiritual strengths far outweigh her spiritual weaknesses. Just as Mr. C. in the previous scenario, Miss W. attributes her road to recovery and success are direct results of her spirituality and strong belief in God (her Higher Being.) She understands that even though her past may have been negative due to other individuals’ actions and not being shown the love she so desperately longed for, she can now find that person that loves her unconditionally – God! Miss W. understands that while she cannot change the past or the individuals in her past, she is able to change herself! Through spiritual groups she has learned to take control of her thoughts and can actually choose which thoughts to have. She chooses positive thoughts! This is growth! Miss W. is currently waiting for a spot to become available in a group home and once it does, she is excited to be discharged from the hospital and begin to lead a healthier and more productive life in serving others. She is overcome by joy with the anticipation that this will become reality for her soon.

Conclusion

Regardless of how a patient has changed because of mental illness or where he or she stands on the path of life, the chaplain can help with their journey back to society. Many times, the local community religious leaders, rather than the health care providers, may be the first point of contact for an individual who may be struggling with their return to society. Chaplains can play a vital role in educating their community colleagues about challenges that may confront the individuals as well as services that can provide additional assistance. Many times, a chaplain is asked to research and find a local church in the place the patient is being discharged to. This is a sign that the patient intends, or at least, is thinking about, a place where they can continue their spiritual journey.

Chaplains are there to provide a comfort to those seeking help or sharing hardships. The goal is to help facilitate the transition to the normal rhythm of life, assist the individual with defining his or her new “normal,” as well as supporting the family while the transition is taking place. This includes, but is not limited to, helping the individual feel comfortable, valued, understood, and fully integrated into the community and family. Especially important is assisting the individual to move on with their lives and to enjoy the happiness that they have earned and deserve.

As a chaplain I can offer the patient the following piece of advice. The advice is this: that they have a choice - they can simply stand at the threshold of the opportunity to change and grow after a traumatic experience, which results in incessant complaining about all that happened in their previous life - or - they can take advantage of the opportunity to walk through the spiritual threshold to a new life. I remind them that this is up to them to decide for themselves, and the opportunity is there for them to take. Carl Jung has a powerful quote that I often like to use. He states that, “Your visions will become clear only when you can look into your own heart.” He furthers explains that “Who looks outside, dreams, who looks inside, awakes⁵.”

Steve Taylor, in his book, Out of the Darkness: From Turmoil to Transformation, sums it up perfectly as he writes,

“There will always be some degree of suffering in our lives and when it comes, we should not try to see it wholly in negative terms. We should always be aware that, buried inside it, there is an opportunity for growth and transformation…Beneath the terrible, painful surface there is a massive reservoir of spiritual potential…Spiritual awakening exists as a potential inside everyone. It is just that normally the potential is dormant. To manifest itself, it normally has to be triggered by turmoil and trauma⁶.”

All of us have experienced at the very least one, if not multiple, types of transformational situations in our lives and it is often as a result of some sort of traumatic life event. Consequently, we were forced out of our “normal” way of thinking and behaving. Some of us work through these transformational situations in different ways than others. For many, the situations produce negative long-term impacts that lead to mental illness. When dealing with an individual, I try to provide the assurance that I understand that trauma is essentially negative; however, by persevering through the traumatic experiences, I make sure to ask them if they have come to a new and more informed meaning of themselves and life. And if so, that their new experiences are positive. My aim is not to push the patients to experience growth. The result I look for is for the patients to simply be aware and informed of the positivity that can follow because of their strong spiritual strengths. The silver lining is that, even as horrible as life’s situations are, it is certainly possible that a patient with mental illness can be equaled with positive long-term outcomes. By using both personal spiritual strengths to heal and by experiencing post-traumatic growth, an individual certainly has the potential to succeed. When an individual has the skills, courage, and the patience to face the terror and find a way to experience it and accept it, success awaits them as they transition and reintegrate into society over time. This is a win/win.

References

1.      Lees AB. Posttraumatic growth. Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/surviving-thriving/201904/posttraumatic-growth. Published April 18, 2019. Accessed May 2, 2021.

2.      Catechesis E&. Posttraumatic growth and the spirituality of suffering. USCCB. https://www.usccb.org/news/2020/posttraumatic-growth-and-spirituality-suffering. Published September 8, 2020. Accessed May 10, 2021.

3.      Post-traumatic growth. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-traumatic_growth. Accessed May 10, 2021.

4.      Tedeschi R, Calhoun L. Tempered by fire. Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/beyond-resilience/201309/tempered-fire. Published September 24, 2013. Accessed June 3, 2021.

5.      Jung C. Trauma, spirituality and post-traumatic growth. Your Strength to Heal. https://strengthtoheal.org/trauma-and-spirituality/. Published December 9, 2014. Accessed June 15, 2021.

6.     Taylor S. Post-traumatic growth and spiritual awakening. Spacious Awakening: Randy Compton, M.A. http://spaciousawakening.com/articles/post-traumatic-growth-and-spiritual-awakening/ . Published March 29, 2021. Accessed June 20, 2021.