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Trauma, Development, and Spirituality
Alexis H. Prince
Department of Education, Liberty University
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Trauma
All future growth is built based upon the brain’s development during infancy and early
childhood. The formation of neural connections occurs rapidly and is reliant on the recurrence of
experiences. The brain processes this information and learns what to expect as well as how to
respond from these negative and positive experiences.
The National Institute of Mental Health (2020) defines childhood trauma as “the
experience of an event by a child that is emotionally painful or distressful, which often results in
lasting mental and physical effects.” Dr. Gary Sibcy stated that when a child is going through a
traumatic event, the neural connections or pathways that are getting the most use are the ones
responding to the negative event. If this event is recurring or there is a series of traumatic
experiences, the brain becomes more sympathetically dominant, entering a constant state of fight
or flight, Liberty University (n.d.). This can be due to many reasons such as an increase in
anxiety, lack of safety in the environment, not feeling secure with caregivers or parents and even
a loss sense of control.
Effects of Trauma
A child’s cognitive development is heavily affected since it continues to develop at a
rapid rate the first 3 years of life (Wong et al., 2021). By the age of three, the brain is almost
80% of its adult size (zerotothree.org), giving a sense of urgency in responding and intervening.
Since the brain has not completely developed at this stage, it is more malleable, offering a
window of opportunity to create a positive shift, altering the pathways of the brain. But if left
unresolved, the effects can be detrimental to the development of identity, self-regulation, and
varying levels of attachment.
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Similarly to older children, infants and toddlers have physiologic and behavioral
symptoms because of childhood maltreatment. The main difference is the younger child’s
inability to convey their feelings of fear, anxiety, or despair with words. A child may have a
challenging time self-regulating their emotions and reactions due to high stress levels. Some may
be more attached to their caregivers than others or more timid in new environments. And in other
cases, a child may regress behaviorally and developmentally.
Resilience
Resilience is a key tool that can be employed to reverse the detrimental consequences of
trauma. The term resilience is used to describe how well individuals can recover from significant
events in their lives. If a parent or caregiver is protective, kind, reassuring, encouraging, and
consistent with their actions and behaviors, these characteristics can act as a shield or a helpful
protective factor in altering the child’s response (Wong et al., 2021). It is believed that resilience
can be taught by parents, caregivers, or an authoritative figure in the child's life. Though these
adults cannot fully protect the child from trauma, they play a significant role in building coping
skills so the child can respond well to high stress situations.
Munoz and colleagues conducted a study on the roles hope and resilience played among
childhood trauma survivors. “When dealing with adversity, resilience is frequently mentioned.
Hope is another component that has been considered as being useful for dealing with hardship.
Although hope and resilience are comparable, according to C.R. Snyder, a leader in hope theory,
hope is unique and quicker to comprehend and apply” (Munoz et al., 2020). Their study
concluded that having a hopeful mindset was more important than being resilient. Resilience is
more focused on returning to normal or being as an individual once was before a traumatic event.
Hope focuses on reaching a goal, trying to overcome the obstacles and be better than before.
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Spirituality’s Effect on Trauma
According to research studies done, spirituality can play an active role in dealing with
trauma. Spirituality is even said to aid and ease a patient's rehabilitation after a traumatic event in
some circumstances. A 2020 study done by Kosarkova and colleagues sampled Czech population
and concluded that childhood trauma can increase spirituality and spirituality can increase
childhood trauma (Kosarkova 2020). Keeping this in mind, individuals who are religious or
spiritual may reference religious context as a means of justifying their trauma or interpret their
experiences as a reason God or a higher power may not be real because they endured something
traumatic to them. This could lead to feelings of abandonment and making the choice to question
their religion or doubt their beliefs. Individuals who are not religious would have no one to
blame for their trauma and may seek spirituality as comfort and means of coping. Further
research is needed to come to an accurate conclusion and clarify underlying associations between
the two.
Conclusion
Trauma has a significant impact on the physiological and psychological development of
a child which can lead to devastating effects in adulthood. How soon trauma is recognized
determines the outcome for that individual. If addressed early enough, children may have a
higher chance of turning a negative situation into a positive and learn to see life through an
optimistic lens. In some cases, families and caregivers can be taught simple skills which their
kids can imitate and use as a protective factor further building resilience. In other cases, relying
on religion can be more beneficial to the individual based on their beliefs, culture, and faith.
There has not been enough studies done to accurately conclude spirituality as a helpful factor for
overcoming trauma as it varies from individual to individual and their experiences. In further
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research studies it could be useful to include hope in the measurement with resilience. Finding a
correlation between the two can provide counselors and doctors with tools to identify traits and
characteristics they can help their patients with building so they may have a higher chance of a
better quality of life.
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References
Kosarkova, A., Malinakova, K., Koncalova, Z., Tavel, P., & van Dijk, J. P. (2020). Childhood
trauma is associated with the spirituality of non-religious respondents. International
Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(4), 1268.
https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17041268
Liberty University. (n.d.). Watch: Neurobiology [Video]. Kaltura.
https://cdnapisec.kaltura.com/index.php/extwidget/preview/partner_id/2167581/uiconf_id/
39959791/entry_id/1_kquxgra9/embed/dynamic
Munoz, R. T., Hanks, H., & Hellman, C. M. (2020). Hope and resilience as distinct contributors
to psychological flourishing among childhood trauma survivors. Traumatology, 26(2),
177–184. https://doi.org/10.1037/trm0000224
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2020, January). Coping With
Traumatic Events. National Institute of Mental Health. Retrieved November 8,
2021, from https:// www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/coping-with-traumatic-events .
What is childhood trauma? Look Through Their Eyes. (n.d.). Retrieved November 9, 2021,
from http://lookthroughtheireyes.org/what-is-childhood-trauma/.
Wong, D. W., Hall, K. R., & Hernandez, W. L. (2021). CHAPTER 4 / HEALTHY INFANT
DEVELOPMENT. In Counseling Individuals Through the Lifespan
(Second, pp. 78–80). essay, SAGE.
Zero to Three. (2012). Brain Development.
http: //main.zerotothree.org/site/PageServer?pagename=ter_key_brain FAQ #question
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