Addressing religious and spiritual issues in trauma-focused cognitive behavior therapy for children and adolescents.

Abstract

Psychologists have become increasingly concerned with the role of religion and spirituality in resolving childhood physical and sexual abuse, particularly religion-related abuse. In treating victims of child abuse, trauma-focused cognitive behavior therapy has emerged as a leading treatment for recovery. In this article, we discuss the relevance of religious and spiritual issues in trauma-focused cognitive behavior therapy for children and teens. Using three case studies, we then present a model for assessing and treating religion and spirituality in trauma-focused cognitive behavior therapy. This model focuses on the client's pre-existing religious and spiritual functioning as well as changes in religion/spirituality after abuse. We suggest that this approach will assist clients from various religious and spiritual affiliations to process childhood abuse.

Differential Prediction of Resilience Among Individuals With and Without a History of Abuse

“…Across models, one aspect of spirituality, existential well‐being, was the only construct to significantly predict resilience for both populations. This supports previous research, which found that spirituality is an integral part of the healing and coping process, and additionally identifies that existential well‐being, an aspect of spirituality, has significant influence on greater psychological well‐being (Peres et al, ; Wachholtz & Sambamoorthi, ; Walker et al, ). Hope for the future and a lack of negative religious coping were also found to be significant predictors in those who did not have a history of abuse, which also supported previous research (Bogar & Hulse‐Killacky, ; Kagan, ; Wachholtz & Sambamoorthi, ; Walker et al, ).…”

“…Spirituality is distinct from religion, because religion is described as a structured framework of a particular set of beliefs (Robert & Kelly, 2015). Researchers have found that many individuals already turn to spirituality as a form of coping during a traumatic event (Peres et al, 2007;Walker et al, 2010). Wachholtz andSambamoorthi (2011) andWalker et al (2010) found that spirituality positively affected individuals' perceived and objectively measured physical health and psychological well-being after a trauma.…”

“…Smith et al (2010) found support for this notion by demonstrating that resilience can be developed through personal experience, social learning processes, or direct encouragement, and they suggested it could be an outcome in counseling. Researchers have explored various factors that influence an individuals' perception of resilience, and they found that people who had higher levels of mutuality (Deci, La Guardia, Moller, Scheiner, & Ryan, 2006;Weinstein & DeHaan, 2014), hope (Hirsch, Visser, Chang, & Jeglic, 2012;Kagan, 2014), and spirituality (Wachholtz & Sambamoorthi, 2011;Walker, Reese, Hughes, & Troskie, 2010), particularly after experiencing some form of trauma or abuse, also had higher levels of resilience and a greater psychological well-being compared with people who had lower levels of each construct.…”

A Critical Review of Trauma Interventions and Religion Among Youth Exposed to Community Violence

“…Similarly, in a study comparing effectiveness of cognitive therapy that used religious imagery, even when the therapist was nonreligious, the cognitive therapy with religious elements was slightly more effective at follow-up among religious adults (Propst, Ostrom, Watkins, Dean, & Mashburn, 1992). Fuller discussions of therapeutic work that allow religious and spiritual assessment and inclusion of religious frameworks and potential pitfalls are available (Canda, 2010;Hodge, 2011;Lukoff, Lu, & Turner, 1998;Walker et al, 2010).…”

Healing after traumatic events: Aligning interventions with cultural background and religious and spiritual beliefs

“…Although not generally studied in conjunction with child and adolescent interventions, R/S coping strategies have proven effective in helping individuals make sense of loss and trauma as well as helping individuals improve their life satisfaction (Ano & Vasconcelles, 2005; Aten et al, 2014; Bryant‐Davis et al, 2012; Walker & Hathaway, 2013). In the professional literature specific to children's counseling needs, R/S needs have been considered when assisting children with a history of sexual abuse (Walker, Reese, Hughes, & Troskie, 2010); encouraging victims to offer forgiveness to those who have inflicted harm (Diblasio, Worthington, & Jennings, 2013); and supporting healing in children exposed to traumatic events (Bryant‐Davis et al, 2012).…”