Examining Mental and Spiritual Trauma for Religious Leaders

Click here to download Dr. Pater-Ennis’s Slides as a pdf.

Examining Mental and Spiritual Trauma for Women in Ministry

Trauma affects religious leaders as well as parishioners and congregants. Trauma can be either vicarious or direct for religious leaders. It is possible also for religious leaders to experience both vicarious and direct experiences of trauma. Vicarious trauma occurs when we watch others get injured in some way and are not protected from the perpetrators in local congregations or in religious institutions.  Direct trauma occurs when religious leaders are hurt by perpetrators in either local congregations or in religious institutions.

Trauma can be experienced as post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, and depression, and create physical symptoms as well. In addition, there is a higher incidence of suicide among clergy. For religious leaders, religious trauma syndrome can be either vicarious or direct.

 In a society that once lifted up religious leaders, the crises of religious systems coupled with changing societal beliefs about religious adherence, have all contributed to more stress on clergy and other religious leaders. Thus, congregations have placed unrealistic expectations on clergy and their families to change patterns of participation.  Clergy are experiencing more burn out and more pressure than any time in years in the past and are leaving their ministries and having mental and physical health issues.

Pamela Pater-Ennis, founder and CEO of Hudson River Care & Counseling, LLC, in Hoboken, New Jersey, a multi-lingual, multi-cultural, and multi-faith psychotherapy and coaching practice, has also founded My Sanctuary Healing in Teaneck New Jersey, committed to providing counseling, research, and prevention for victims of religious and spiritual abuse. Dr. Pater-Ennis is also an RCA minister of the Word and Sacrament and an adjunct instructor at NBTS. In her practice and ministry, she has done extensive ecclesial, educational, and clinical work around the issues of religious trauma syndrome and feels that women would have far less trauma symptoms if they had had the opportunity to both report their incidents of abuse and know they would be validated. She will share the insights she has gleaned so far and her progress toward creating a network of mental health clinicians trained in religious trauma syndrome in a Reformed Church Center program, “Hurting, Healing, (W)hole: When Trauma Impacts Religious Leaders,” to be held on Wednesday, December 11, 12:00 noon to 1:30 pm on Zoom.

After Dr. Pater-Ennis’s presentation, there will be a response by Faye Banks Taylor, Assistant Professor of Spiritual Formation and Field Education and Director of Field Education and Career Services at NBTS. A native of Virginia, she holds degrees from Virginia Commonwealth University, NBTS, and Drew University and she is an ordained itinerant elder of the African Methodist Episcopal Church and presiding elder of her district. After Dr. Taylor’s response, there will be general discussion with everyone present.