Trauma-Informed Pastoral Care: How to Respond When Things Fall Apart

by Karen A McClintock

Clergy are more likely than ever to be called on to respond to community trauma, sitting alongside trauma survivors after natural disasters, racial violence, and difficult losses. In Trauma-Informed Pastoral How to Respond When Things Fall Apart , pastoral psychologist Karen A. McClintock calls clergy to learn and practice "trauma-informed care" so they can respond with competence and confidence when life becomes overwhelming. Weaving together the latest insights about trauma-informed care from the rapidly shifting disciplines of neuropsychology, counseling, and theology, she explains the body's instinctual stress patterns during and after trauma, guides readers through self-reflection and self-regulation in order to care for others and lower the risk of obtaining secondary trauma, and suggests culturally sensitive models for healing from overwhelming experiences. McClintock particularly attends to the fact that across a lifetime in ministry, clergy accumulate and need to regularly heal multiple traumatic wounds. As a pastor and psychologist, she is perfectly positioned to help clergy recognize symptoms of trauma and commit to healing individual, community, and generational trauma with care and cultural sensitivity.

182 pages, Paperback

Published March 1, 2022

Reviews

[Holly Buhler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Trauma informed pastoral care: McClintock
* “I could answer that question for you, but it would come from my experience rather than yours. It may be the best answer for me, but not the best answer for you.”
* Victims know intuitively how to reconstruct their faith when life falls apart
* When a current trauma intersects with past traumas - our bodies remember , relive, and reenact old ones
* Clergy need to respond proactively instead of reactively
* How responses are handled can influence a trauma survivors, long-term memory, and recovery
* Unconscious trauma, arousal patterns, lead us to avoidance behaviors, shame, or emotional disconnection when we are trying to help others, but conscious awareness can overcome these dynamics
* Learn to recognize secondary trauma symptoms by paying attention to your cognitive emotional and physical responses as you care for people
* Reduce and confront old shame, messages in your head avoid telling yourself to push through
* Seek out remedies and get treatment at the first sign of secondary trauma symptoms
* Stress messes with your sequencing and ordering thoughts gets hard. Try one thing at a time.
* Taking the news one day at a time, but for the rest of the time focus on your work to gain a sense of agency
* Lean on the specific gifts, God has given you and take a breath before deciding how to focus your time
* Linger in the moments that give you comfort as long as you can
* You can do about 50 to 75% of what you did before the trauma let extra stuff fall away and streamline what you can
* Jump in to make something happen it’s good to move fast, but remember to move slowly afterward
* Do it differently take care of members and stretch outward to love your neighbors
* You can expect past traumas and current traumas to influence your days notice signals your body sends you
* Meditate at the beginning and end of the day take a long walk and have a regular talk with a dear friend
* You don’t have to rescue the whole world. We are in this together, and God is still here.
* Emotional Freedom Technique
* Tension and Trauma releasing exercises

[Tiffany · Rating 3 out of 5]

The personal stories are valuable as they provide insights into trauma responses. The call to clergy is also important. Most of the opening prayers were a bit too "zen" like. I had a few takeaways from the book but not too the extent I expected.

[BJ Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wish this had been assigned in CPE.
I do worry that the definition of trauma becomes so expansive as to lose meaning (why not just say, 'everybody's got something'?) but well worth the read.

[Amy Ziettlow · Rating 5 out of 5]

Most helpful in this season of secondary trauma related to just reading the news.

[Lynnette · Rating 4 out of 5]

Helpful guide for clergy

This book explores a trauma-informed approach to pastoral care in ways that are easy to understand and implement in ministry.