Page 122 - EMCAPP-Journal No. 7
P. 122
Challenges for Christian Psychology
Thanh Tu Nguyen (Vietnam),
Christian R. Bellehumeur (Canada)
Durand‘s Imaginary and Thanh Tu
Growth after Trauma: Nguyen, fmm,
PhD. (Psycho-
A Qualitative Research therapy), is a
member of si-
Report of Christian sters of Fran-
Vietnamese Immigrants ciscan Missio-
naries of Mary,
Living in Canada a full-time pro-
fessor and an academic advisor of the
Faculty of Psychology, University of Social
Introduction Sciences and Humanities - National Uni-
Vietnamese immigrants have gone through tre- versity, HCM City, Vietnam. Her research
mendous losses: fleeing the home country, cros- interest is on immigrants and survivors of
sing the ocean by boat, witnessing loved ones sexual abuse with regard to trauma, grief/
dying, being imprisoned in wretched refugee loss, resilience, the imaginary and religion/
camps, resettling in host countries where the spirituality. Correspondence can be direc-
culture, language, weather and food are totally ted to Thanh Tu Nguyen: Faculty of Psy-
strange (Nguyen, Messe, & Stollack, 1999; Steel, chology, University of Social Sciences and
Silove, Phan &Bauman 2002). In fact, Tran Humanities, 10-12 Dinh Tien Hoang, Dist
(1993) ‒ who did research on psychological I, HCM City, Vietnam.
trauma and depression in a sample of Vietna-
mese people in the United States ‒ reported that tunguyen.fmm@hcmussh.edu.vn.
Vietnamese respondents in her study had been
born and had grown up during war, and many strength to be able to adapt in host countries.
of them had been directly involved in combat In order to explore this theme, two main theo-
or had spent years in concentration camps, or ries, the theory of God image (Rizzutto, 1979)
in Communist prisons or in refugee camps. and the theory of the anthropological structu-
Others had witnessed the violent death of fami- res of the imaginary (Durand, 1960, 2005) will
ly members during the war, or they themselves be adopted . Both theories have been applied to
had experienced rape, robbery, or starvation as the human life from infancy onwards, in terms
they fled from Vietnam. Such experiences may of helping people not only deal with existential
contribute to feelings of helplessness in Vietna- fear, but also with finding meaning in life; the
mese immigrants. Furthermore, several resear- research foundation on these two theories is ro-
chers have suggested that a sense of helplessness bust (Lawrence, 1997; Chamber, 2001; Schaap-
resulting from traumatizing events is extremely Jonker, 2008; Loureiro, 2008). While develop-
damaging to a person’s self-image (Steel et al., ment of God image (Rizutto, 1979) centres
2002). Particularly from the point of view of on personal and interpersonal experiences of
Asian cultural perspectives, any movement out- God (i.e., Object relations), the anthropologi-
side of and away from the family and commu- cal structures of the imaginary provide a larger
nity structures can threaten individual’s loyal- framework for individuals to embrace personal
ty and sense of security within the family and stories, including religious and cultural diffe-
community units (Lee, 1997). rences (Durand, 1999).
Although they have faced challenges, changes, In line with Durand (2005), Rizzutto ( 1979)
disruption and losses associated with hard- proposed that the imaginary ‒ expressed
ships, Dorais (2007) reported that Vietnamese through the use of symbolism and images ‒
immigrants often turn to God to find hope and
echoes the symbolic world carried out by reli-
121
