Transforming Trauma: Episode 128

Context is crucial to understanding the challenges faced by those in recovery from complex trauma perpetuated by religious leaders and authoritarian systems of spirituality. That’s especially true regarding former members of Black Christian communities where the church represents more than just a home for shared worship. How do we support folks extricating themselves from patriarchal traditions, initially adopted as a survival mechanism, so that they may reclaim a life and spiritual practice based on agency?

In this episode of Transforming Trauma, host Emily Ruth invites Vanessa R. Brooks, MA, a doctoral candidate studying the efficacy of mental health training intervention for African American clergy, to reflect on her experiences in and out of the Black church. The pair also discuss the stigma and disparities that marginalized communities must navigate to access culturally competent mental health resources. 

“Institutionally and systemically, Black people don’t have anywhere else to go,” Vanessa explains. “We have the church; it’s the one place where we feel like we are not the minority, where our culture is embraced, and we can be ourselves.” The generational ties that bind Black communities to mostly Evangelical Christian traditions go back to the earliest days of slavery in America. Enslaved people took the religion forced upon them by enslavers and reshaped it into an outlet for their own unspeakable trauma. 

While Christianity provided some solace, Vanassa points out that enslaved people were still worshiping within an authoritarian framework. “As African American believers, we still have that trauma in our DNA that makes us more inclined to focus on oppression to where it’s almost glorified.” Deliverance ministry and prosperity gospel are two such principles within the Black church, says Vanessa, that preach fault with zeal rather than compassion and mental well-being. “I’m trying to stop the cycle.”

Fortunately, Vanessa has witnessed a gradual shift towards mental health support. “The stigma is so deeply ingrained within us as African American people.” She remains hopeful as more folks recoup their agency from patriarchal congregations and embark on journeys of self-realization. “I don’t think people understand the importance of just being able to make decisions for yourself, using your intuition, autonomy, and self-governance. It’s so rewarding!”

Transforming Trauma appreciates Vanessa’s role in reconnecting folks to their divine.

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

Darren M. Slade, PhD

 

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Vanessa R. Brooks, MA, is a Doctoral Candidate completing a research study on mental health & the Black Church and the lack of evidence-based mental health counseling methods that can be integrated with biblical counseling.