Trauma Informed Ministry Training: Addressing Stress,Burnout,and Trauma in Youth Ministry

Abstract

This article discusses mental health principles for prevention and recovery of ministerial burnout, particularly those working with trauma or personally experiencing trauma. The article will define key trauma concepts. Risk factors and trauma informed care principles will be analyzed from a cross-national analysis of burnout among youth workers. Causes of burnout, recovery and prevention will be discussed. This research will be of interest not only to ministry practitioners, but also denominational leaders and ministry educators.

Keywords

Trauma youth ministry burnout ministerial training trauma informed ministry ministerial burnout stress secondary trauma

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

American Counseling Association. (2021, October). Fact Sheet #9: Vicarious trauma. http://www.wendtcenter.org Trauma-Fact-Sheets-October-2021.pdf.

Chamberlain

Miller

M. K.

(2008). Stress in the courtroom: Call for research. Psychiatry, Psychology, and Law, 15(2), 237–250. https://doi.org/10.1080/13218710802014485

Chirico

(2015). Job stress models for predicting burnout syndrome, A review. Annali dell'Istituto Superiore di S anità, 52(3), 443–456. https://doi.org/10.4415/ANN_15_03_17

Cloud

Townsend

J. S.

(2002). Boundaries: When to say yes, how to say no to take control of your life . Zondervan.

Cordes

Dougherty

(1993, October). A review and integration of research on job burnout. Academy of Management Review, 18(4), 621. https://doi.org/10.2307/258593

Felitti

V. J.

Anda

R. F.

Nordenburg

Williamson

D. F.

Spitz

A. M.

Edwards

, … Marks

J. P.

(1998, May). Relationship of childhood abuse and household dysfunction to many of the leading causes of death in adults. The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE). American Journal of Preventative Medicine, 14(4), 245–258. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0749-3797(98)00017-8. PMID: 9635069. 245

Figley

C. R.

(1995). Compassion fatigue: Coping with secondary traumatic stress disorder in those who treat the traumatized. Brunner/Mazel. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203777381

Hatinen

Kinnunen

Pekkonen

Raija

(2007). Comparing two burnout interventions: Perceived job control mediates decreases in burnout. International Journal of Stress Management, 14(3), 220. https://doi.org/10.1037/1072-5245.14.3.227

Hydon

Wong

Langley

A. K.

Stein

B. D.

Kataoka

S. H.

(2015, April). Preventing secondary traumatic stress in educators. Child Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics of North America, 24(2), 319–333. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chc.2014.11.003. PMID: 25773327. 321

10.

Jang

Scantling

Allee

Brahmbhatt

T. S.

(2023). Secondary traumatic stress disorder in the surgical profession. Journal of Surgical Research, 292, 176–181. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jss.2023.06.053

11.

Kageler

Severe

Argeropolis

(2021). Burnout among Christian youth workers: A cross-national analysis. Journal of Youth Ministry, 19(1), 10–38.

12.

Maslach

Schaufeli

Leiter

(2001, February). Job burnout. Annual Review of Psychology, 52, 397–422. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.52.1.397

13.

Mercer

Cookson

Simpson-Adkins

Van Vuuren

(2023, September). Prevalence of adverse childhood experiences and associations with personal and professional factors in health and social care workers: A systematic review. Psychological Trauma, 15(Suppl 2), S231–S245. https://doi.org/10.1037/tra0001506. PMID: 37141025

14.

Mikulincer

Shaver

P. R.

(2016). Attachment in adulthood: Structure, dynamics, and change (Second edition). Guilford Press.

15.

Newell

J. M.

MacNeil

G.A.

(2010). Professional burnout, vicarious trauma, secondary traumatic stress, and compassion fatigue: A review of theoretical terms, risk factors, and preventive methods for clinicians and researchers. Best Practices in Mental Health, 6(2), 57–68. https://doi.org/10.70256/607490pbruec

16.

Purvis

Karyn

(2013). Trust-based relational intervention (TBRI): A systemic approach to complex developmental trauma. Child & Youth Services, 34(4), 360–386. https://doi.org/10.1080/0145935X.2013.859906. 368

17.

Schaufeli

Leiter

Maslach

(2009). Burnout: 35 years of research and practice. The Career Development International, 14(3), 204–220. https://doi.org/10.1108/13620430910966406

18.

Schmidt

K. H.

(2007). Organizational commitment: A further moderator in the relationship between work stress and strain? International Journal of Stress Management, 14(1), 26. https://doi.org/10.1037/1072-5245.14.1.26

19.

Senior

(2013, November 27). I can't get no satisfaction. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/27/books/review/i-cant-get-no-satisfaction.htm

20.

Severe

M. K.

(2006). The Pac-Man syndrome: The missing congruence of philosophy and practice in youth ministry. Journal of Youth Ministry, 4(2), 75.

21.

Signorelli

Costanzo

Cinconze

Concerto

(2013). “What Kind of Diagnosis in a Case of Mobbing: Post-traumatic Stress Disorder or Adjustment Disorder?” BMJ Case Reports.

22.

Viljoen

Claassen

(2017). Cynicism as subscale of burnout. WORK, 56(4), 499–503. https://doi.org/10.3233/WOR-172518

23.

World Health Organization. (2018). International Classification of Diseases for Mortality and Morbidity Statistics. (11th Revision).

24.

Yellowlees

Coate

Misquitta

Wetzel

A. E.

Parish

M. B.

(2021, April). The association between adverse childhood experiences and burnout in a regional sample of physicians. Academy Psychiatry, 45(2), 159–163. doi:10.1007/s40596-020-01381-z. Epub 2021 Jan 6. PMID: 33409937.