Page 128 - EMCAPP-Journal No. 13

days Yahweh made heaven and earth, but on the hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They
seventh day he rested and drew breath.” (New will soar on wings like eagles, they will run and
Jerusalem Bible) not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”
(NIV)
Trauma One of those who have contributed significant-
Many of the developments in the understanding ly to this field is Vincent Felitti with research on
of how unified the body and mind are, comes the impact of adverse childhood events. Felitti’s
out of the recent developments in neuroscience first study was conducted in the Kaiser Medi-
addressing the consequences of trauma. Accor- cal Care system in the United States, and asked
ding to Bessel van der Kolk, “Neuroscience re- 17,000 participants 10 questions about early ex-
search shows that the only way we can change periences of child abuse – emotional, physical
the way we feel is by becoming aware of our in- and sexual; emotional and physical neglect; and
ner experience and learning to befriend what is household challenges which included growing
going on inside ourselves.” up in a household where there was substance
Indeed, it is important to understand that as we abuse, mental illness, domestic violence, paren-
focus on the impact of developmental, chronic tal separation/divorce or a household member
and single-incident trauma, it is also true that being incarcerated. The study showed a graded
increasing evidence points to our capacity to re- dose-response relationship between early ad-
cover from emotional and psychic wounds. Da- verse experiences and negative health and well-
niel Amen and others have shown the resulting being. The study has been repeated with very
neurological changes that result after under- similar results in a range of populations within
going trauma therapy such as EMDR. “Analyses the United States.
found significant functional differences in brain Experiences of adversity in childhood be-
activity from pre- to post-EMDR imaging. come ‘embodied’, and if untreated can cause
EMDR and the procedures involved with this many seemingly unrelated problems, ranging
treatment had both a positive clinical effect and from chronic negative behavior patterns to se-
a possible role in changing brain function.” rious challenges related to physical and mental
The plasticity of our brains corresponds to a spi- health. The following figure summarizes the
ritual promise of renewal when we live in Christ far-reaching, long-term consequences of early
and develop more and more the capacity to em- life adversity.
body hope. Isaiah 40:31 states, “For those who

https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/childabuseandneglect/acestudy/ace-graphics.html
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