From Looking for Reason to Finding Meaning: A Spiritual Journey of Recovery From Sexual Trauma

Abstract

The current study aims to describe a spiritual facet of recovery processes from sexual trauma, as manifested in the transformation from the frustration and despair of looking for reasons to the traumatic event(s) to the growth and prosperity of finding meaning. A phenomenological research was conducted, interviewing individuals with a variety of affiliations to spirituality and to trauma: female survivors who turned to spirituality as part of their recovery process ( n = 17), spiritually oriented therapists who treat survivors ( n = 10), and spiritual leaders and teachers who are often consulted by survivors and their close ones ( n = 9). Participants were asked about the nature of perceived transformation of survivors’ trauma, within the meaning context, and about the perceived relevance of such a spiritual meaning-making process to recovery. Findings suggests four stances in the process:(1) doubting, describing frustrations, denials, and struggles, (2) believing, describing the acceptance of the idea that there is spiritual meaning in the trauma, (3) knowing, describing calmness, comfort, trust, and sense of freedom, and (4) doing, describing carrying the message of spiritual recovery to other survivors. This study contributes to the growing body of literature on victimology and on spirituality. It adds to the research on the spiritual meaning-making process, on the role of spirituality in survivors’ perceptions of victimization and recovery, and on the importance of spiritual meaning as a recovery capital. Additionally, it directs therapists to broaden their discussions with survivors on their beliefs and values. The study lays the foundation for a theory entitled Spiritual Victimology.

Learning a Lesson: Spiritual Attributions of Sexual Trauma and Revictimization

“…By accepting the existence of a spiritual, eternal dimension, participants demonstrated how their perspective of the world changed; they attributed spiritual principles and ideas to every event and circumstance, and specifically to extreme, dramatic ones. This is in line with previous research, which showed that sexual trauma survivors tend to look for explanations in spirituality (Park, 2020), give spiritual meaning to the traumatic event (Eytan & Ronel, 2023), and redefine the trauma as part of God’s plan (Ahrens et al, 2010).…”

“…This can be explained by the theory of Positive Victimology (Ronel, 2015), which described the recovery process from victimization as a journey on an axis of positive experiences, from victimization toward the ultimate positive experience, namely love. However, in Spiritual Victimology (Eytan & Ronel, 2023), this consuming love is more than an ultimate positive experience: it is attributed to the individual’s connection with the Higher Power. Love, or a beneficiary holistic connection, which includes connections to one’s self, to one’s environment, and to God, is one of the basic principles of the upcoming theory.…”

“…As long as victims do not find a reasonable external cause of the trauma, they may experience self-blame and guilt (Frazier et al, 2017; Peter-Hagene & Ullman, 2018) and are more likely to be subject to revictimization (Arata, 2000). In their search for reasons for the trauma, survivors might find plausible explanations in spiritual beliefs (Eytan & Ronel, 2023; Park, 2020). Still, most literature on sexual trauma and revictimization is explored from a secular view, and focuses on behavioral and mental (i.e., emotional and cognitive) aspects (Brenner et al, 2021; Culatta et al, 2020); the spiritual aspects of sexual trauma have received little empirical attention to date (Miller et al, 2021).…”

“…Spiritual or religious faiths and practices are important components of most cultures (Peres et al, 2007); moreover, to those who practice spirituality nothing is really secular (Hart et al, 2020). Thus, for survivors who practice it, spirituality can assist in constructing an explanatory narrative (Park, 2020), by redefining the traumatic events as part of God’s plan (Ahrens et al, 2010), or by providing assurance that there is meaning to the traumatic events (Eytan & Ronel, 2023; Walker et al, 2021). Though recent research shows that sexual trauma and revictimization survivors turn to spirituality to look for answers and attributions (Berrett et al, 2007; Tuito & Band-Winterstein, 2021), there have been very few attempts to explain and describe the spiritual characteristics of trauma and victimization.…”