The butterfly in Western and Eastern imaginations has long symbolized personal transformation, spiritual metamorphosis, transformation of the soul, transcendence, movement through various life cycles, processes of personal change, and the world of the human soul
This monograph explores various theories that affect the clinical treatment of survivors of trauma, in this case the survivors of clergy sexual abuse. It is essentially an interactive literature review. I report on others’ theoretical work within the context of my personal and professional lives and the questions about these matters which I have encountered during my life to date.
The core questions are these: (1) what do we know about the religious sequellae to clergy sexual abuse and (2) what do we know about the spiritual sequellae? Related questions are these: (1) what do we know about the religious sequellae to subsequent events of institutional betrayal and systemic or structural abuse and (2) what do we know about the spiritual sequellae.
In addition, this literature review examines several theoretical models for organizing such information into heuristic models that can drive empirical research.
Thus, this manuscript seeks to begin an intentional conversation about the presence of religious and spiritual trauma sequellae in the lives of (1) clergy sexual abuse survivors, (2) clergy sexual abuse survivors who have been re-victimized by incompetent, corrupt or malfeasant institutions, (3) victim advocates and helpers such as clinicians, attorneys, family members and friends who have been attacked by the institutional church as part of its attempts to deny clergy sexual abuse secrets by keeping them hidden,(4) the experience of vicarious trauma in the lives of those who bear witness to the presence of sexual abuse in the religious commons, and (5) the presence of communal religious or spiritual traumatic memory inside religious or spiritual communities in which abuse has happened and has become public information.
Butterfly image by j4p4n at Open Clipart