CAUSE AND EFFECT –
TRAUMA AND ADDICTION
Review and Essay on Four Articles on
Addiction, Trauma and the Church
Merle R. Jordan, Th.D.
Merle Jordan, Th.D. is a practicing
pastoral psychotherapist, family counselor, and author. A longtime member of the American Association
of Pastoral Counselors, he has published several books including Taking on the gods: The task of the pastoral
counselor (1986, Abingdon), Reclaiming
your story: Family history and spiritual growth (1999,
The editors asked him to review the articles on Trauma and Addiction in the second issue of Guest House Review. We include his essay response for our readers.
CAUSE AND EFFECT – TRAUMA AND ADDICTION
Review and Essay on Four Articles on
Addiction, Trauma and the Church
Merle R. Jordan, Th.D.
“Trauma victims and addicts are like brothers and sisters. Whenever you find one you almost always find the other. Wherever trauma is discovered, there is almost always some kind of substance abuse or where addiction is found, trauma is almost always in the background,” so writes Robert Grant in the first of his two articles.
A key theme of all four of the articles is that underneath and behind addiction problems of clergy there are profound “adverse childhood experiences” or traumas that need to be faced, brought into consciousness, and healed. Too often in the church, addiction troubles of clergy are seen as the essence of the problem which need to be eradicated and the underlying problems are ignored. As the thoughts of Bruce Ecker in Coherence Therapy suggest, too often helping people (including the officials of the Church) take an Anti-Symptom approach (to get rid of the symptoms, as in the addiction), and do not take a Pro-Symptom position which is to explore and heal the underlying adverse childhood experiences such as abuse (emotions, physical, sexual), neglect (emotional, physical), witnessing domestic abuse, growing up with substance abuse (alcohol or other drug abuse) or mental illness in the household, parental discord or crime in the home.
Anda notes that adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are common and occur in clusters rather than single experiences. Anda writes: “In the case of persons who grew up with household substance abuse, 81% reported at least one additional ACE and the majority had experienced 2 or more ACEs.” Such ACEs have a strong neurological impact, Anda believes from his research. He writes, “ACEs have a particularly strong association with alcohol abuse….the perpetuation of the cycle of alcohol abuse appears to be tightly interwoven with the number of ACEs… A major finding in the ACE Study has been that adverse childhood experiences are common and strongly associated with personal alcohol abuse later in life; they account for a large proportion of adult alcohol abuse.”
Anda highlights how difficult it is for religious leaders and others to be aware of the profound underlying connection between adverse childhood experiences and the presenting problem of someone’s addiction. “The effects of ACEs are long term, powerful, cumulative, and likely to be invisible to health care providers, educators, social service organizations, and policy makers because (a) the linkage between cause and effect is concealed by time, (b) there is an inability to “see” the process of neurodevelopment, and (c) because effects of the original traumatic insults may not become manifest until much later in life. Likely, ACEs will also remain hidden from directors of formation, spiritual directors, religious leaders and church authorities for the same reasons.”
It behooves the leaders of the church to take into account Anda’s research that “adverse childhood experiences remain the ‘hidden engine’ behind a great deal of the pain in modern life.”
We can also note that beyond the scope of the ACE research, such traumatic childhood events and relationships powerfully distort one’s operative image of God as well as one’s sense of oneself. When religious leaders address their colleagues in ministry with an anti-symptom approach to their problems, they are not inviting those persons into the depth oriented transformations that are necessary for true healing.
Robert Grant in “Trauma, Addiction and Spirituality” highlights that we only develop a substantial kind of rooted spirituality “through our personal distress and pain – while being held reverently by others in that pain – that people come to accept their humanity and are no longer ashamed of it. In no longer being ashamed of one’s humanity, it becomes nearly impossible to turn away from the distress of others because they are my brothers and sisters. We are all struggling with the challenges of this existence together.”
So becoming “wounded healers” is of key importance in the church. Grant adds, “There is nothing more powerful than a wounded human being who is comfortable and not ashamed of his/her wounds.”
In his second essay on “Healing the Soul of the Church,” Grant focuses his concern for the church in these matters. “My primary concern is to educate church members and leadership about the effects of unresolved abuse and trauma and to demonstrate how, if left unresolved, these issues will result in an institution and ministry that are characterized by abuse and addiction.”
He states a similar theme in the words: “Due to the inadequate way in which the Church addresses matters related to sexuality, abuse and trauma, a majority of such ministers will turn to some form of addiction or compulsion in order to contain the many issues and tensions that are generated by unresolved traumas. As a consequence, the issue of clergy abuse raises questions about the overall health and soul of an institution that claims to represent God on earth.”
Grant sees a parallel process going on between the institutional church which seeks to hide its imperfections and weakness and thus not make itself open to healing just as the traumatized priest or seminarian feels he must do. Grant, who clearly cares about the Church and its future, is merciless in confronting that institution’s culture as “authoritarian, hierarchical, power-based, homophobic, sexually phobic, misogynistic and duplicitous.” He suggests that such an institutional culture pushes clergy and seminarians “toward addiction and/or some form of inappropriate sexual expression in order to manage internal conflicts and unresolved needs.” Out of Grant’s rigorous analysis of the Church’s part in fostering the crisis, he finally addresses the crucial question of where is the hope if “the Church is to heal itself and recover its soul.” He challenges the Church to rethink its theology of sexuality as well as to develop a spirituality of trauma. He writes that traumatized people need to “head in the direction of their fundamental humanity, embracing their inherent vulnerability and helplessness in the face of forces that are beyond their control… They come to accept a spirituality characterized by brokenness and imperfection.”
He adds, “In a similar fashion, the institutional church – itself in search of forgiveness and redemption – must admit its faults to concerned others and a caring God… Without aligning itself with its wounds, the institution rather than God becomes the priority. The institution becomes enamored with itself and addicted to its own images rather than that of its Maker. A Church, like an individual addict, does not seek recovery, or find redemption, unless it is held accountable by concerned others who cannot be manipulated or deceived by the addict’s cover stories and avoidance maneuvers.”
So the hope lies in the trauma victims and the institution working through their pains and problems with integrity and courage.
In the fourth article, Richard Chiola focuses on trauma and sexual addiction. He notes that the “sexual abuse of minors is a major cause of PTSD later in adults and that a significant number of religious women as well as men have suffered this experience.” Chiola, as the other authors, focuses on how the brain is affected by trauma as well as it is numbed by addiction. Chiola highlights the thinking of key leaders in sexual trauma and addiction, such as Van der Wolk, Carnes, and Herman.
He quotes Gerald May who saw “addictions as doorways through which the power of grace can enter our lives.” He like Grant believes that not only individuals but also our religious communities need conversion to a contemplative way of being and of receiving the power of grace. He challenges bishops and religious superiors to shepherd their priests in their recovery and healing process.
The only challenge I have to the articles is in the last one in which Chiola repeats a common idea about addiction that “the one true addiction is the addiction to power.” I believe that there are now authors on the cutting edge who would not agree with this simplistic reduction of power being the one and only addiction.
Readers interested in additional points of view may wish to read the following:
Prentiss, Chris “The
Alcoholism and Addiction Cure – A Holistic Approach to Total Recovery.” Pub. By Power Press,
Taloff, Michael Critical
Thinking for Addiction Professionals.
Pub. By Springer Publishing Company,
Dodes, Lance The Heart of Addiction. Pub. By Harper Collins Publishes, 2002
Khatzian, Ed Understanding Addiction as Self-Medication. Pub. By Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham, MD: 2008
May you be blessed in experiencing ever more grace in the midst of your humanity and pain and may you help the Church and its leadership to become more of a healing community.