Transformative Powerlessness: The Role of Powerlessness in Recovery from Interpersonal Trauma
Main Article Content
Abstract
This qualitative study delves into the complex nature of powerlessness, a significant aspect of the suffering experienced by survivors of interpersonal trauma. While powerlessness is typically viewed as a negative attribute, spiritual teachings suggest that embracing it can lead to inner peace and calm. A phenomenological study was conducted, interviewing 49 survivors of various interpersonal traumas who turned to spirituality for recovery. Once seen as a hindrance, powerlessness became a recovery tool that enabled participants to seek help while rejecting helplessness. This process involved hitting rock bottom, experiencing Transformative Powerlessness, and ultimately submitting to spirituality and the Sublime. Interviews analysis unveiled the different components of Transformative Powerlessness and the paradoxes that exist within it. This article offers a fresh perspective on powerlessness, showcasing how accepting it in its most extreme form empowers individuals to choose life and seek help. In promoting recovery processes, caregivers, family members, and trauma survivors can utilize this innovative concept of Transformative Powerlessness.
Keywords:
Interpersonal trauma, Powerlessness, Spirituality, Recovery, Phenomenology, Qualitative research, Transformative experience, Psychological well-being, Resilience
Article Details
How to Cite
FLINT, Dr. Tuly; EYTAN, Dr. Sharon.
Transformative Powerlessness: The Role of Powerlessness in Recovery from Interpersonal Trauma.
Medical Research Archives, [S.l.], v. 12, n. 12, dec. 2024.
ISSN 2375-1924.
Available at: <https://esmed.org/MRA/mra/article/view/6041>. Date accessed: 06 jan. 2025.
doi: https://doi.org/10.18103/mra.v12i12.6041.
Section
Research Articles
The Medical Research Archives grants authors the right to publish and reproduce the unrevised contribution in whole or in part at any time and in any form for any scholarly non-commercial purpose with the condition that all publications of the contribution include a full citation to the journal as published by the Medical Research Archives.
References
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39. Patton M. Qualitative interviewing. In: Qualitative Research and Evaluation Methods. 3rd ed.; 2002:344-347.
40. Campbell R, Adams AE, Wasco SM, Ahrens CE, Sefl T. Training interviewers for research on sexual violence: A qualitative study of rape survivors’ recommendations for interview practice. Violence Against Women. 2009;15:595-617.
41. Ronel N. Why victimology should stay positive: The ongoing need for positive victimology. Temida. 2015;18(3-4):5-16.
42. Duckworth MP, Follette VM. Retraumatization: Assessment, treatment, and prevention. Routledge; 2012.
43. Sanderson C. Introduction to counselling survivors of interpersonal trauma. Jessica Kingsley Publishers; 2009.
44. Johnson SK, Zitzmann B. A grounded theory of the process of spiritual change among homicide survivors. Omega (Westport). 2020;81(1):37-65.
45. Exline JJ, Hall TW, Pargament KI, Harriott VA. Predictors of growth from spiritual struggle among Christian undergraduates: Religious coping and perceptions of helpful action by God are both important. J Posit Psychol. 2017;12:501-508.
46. Green S, Pemberton A. The impact of crime: Victimisation, harm and resilience. In: Handbook of Victims and Victimology. Routledge; 2017:77-102.
47. Chen G. Building recovery capital: The role of “hitting bottom” in desistance and recovery from substance abuse and crime. J Psychoactive Drugs. 2018;50(5):420-429.
48. Shults FL, Sandage SJ. Transforming Spirituality: Integrating Theology and Psychology. Baker Academic; 2006.
49. Flint T, Ronel N. From deprivation to capital-spirituality and spiritual yearning as recovery capital from PTSD. J Aggress Maltreat Trauma. 2022;32(3):325-345.
50. James W. The Will to Believe. Routledge; 2014.
51. Piechowski Milberg MM. Childhood spirituality. J Transpers Psychol. 2001;33(1):1-15.
52. Stewart C, Rapp L. The relationship of spirituality and family functioning to recidivism: An investigation with incarcerated adolescent males. Resid Treat Child Youth. 2017;34(3-4):292-310.
53. Gueta K, Eytan S, Yakimov P. Between healing and revictimization: The experience of public self-disclosure of sexual assault and its perceived effect on recovery. Psychol Violence. 2020.
54. Levy I, Eckhaus E. Rape narratives analysis through natural language processing: Survivor self-label, narrative time span, faith, and rape terminology. Psychol Trauma. 2020;12(6):635.
2. Milberg A, Strang P, Jakobsson M. Next of kin’s experience of powerlessness and helplessness in palliative home care. Support Care Cancer. 2004; 12:120-128.
3. Ronel N. Grace Therapy for recovering victims: A restorative 12-step based therapy. In: Sundaram MS, Jaishankar PK, Ramdoss S, editors. Crime Victims and Justice: An Introduction to Restorative Principles. New Delhi: Serial Publications; 2008:399-408.
4. Masin-Moyer M, Engstrom M, Solomon P. A comparative effectiveness study of a shortened trauma recovery empowerment model and an attachment-informed adaptation. Violence Against Women. 2020;26(5):482-504.
5. Eytan S, Ronel N. Spiritual victimology: basic principles. Int J Offender Ther Comp Criminol. 2023.
6. Gorka SM. Interpersonal trauma exposure and startle reactivity to uncertain threat in individuals with alcohol use disorder. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2020;206:107727.
7. Van Hook MP. Spirituality as a potential resource for coping with trauma. Soc Work Christ. 2016;43(1):7.
8. Unthank KW. How self-blame empowers and disempowers survivors of interpersonal trauma: An intuitive inquiry. Qual Psychol. 2019;6(3):359.
9. Milberg A, Strang P. Protection against perceptions of powerlessness and helplessness during palliative care: the family members' perspective. Palliat Support Care. 2011;9(3):251-262.
10. Lilly MM, Valdez CE, Graham-Bermann SA. The mediating effect of world assumptions on the relationship between trauma exposure and depression. J Interpers Violence. 2011;26(12):2499-2516.
11. Abu-Raiya H, Pargament KI, Krause N, Ironson G. Robust links between religious/spiritual struggles, psychological distress, and well-being in a national sample of American adults. Am J Orthopsychiatry. 2015;85(6):565.
12. Flint T, Ronel N. Post-traumatic stress disappointment: Disappointment and its role in developing PTSD. Int J Offender Therapy & Comparative Criminology. 2023.
13. Eytan S, Flint T. Between forcefully surrendering and willingly submitting: Implementing the 12-step programme in treating women suffering from sexual-related trauma and substance use disorder. In: Mayer CH, Vanderheiden E, Braun-Lewensohn O, Chen G, Sueda K, Mathololoti B, Safdar S, Kin S, editors. Women's Empowerment For A Sustainable Future World. Cham: Springer Nature; 2023.
14. Amitay G, Hawa-Kamel D, Ronel N. Sufi non-doing offender rehabilitation: Positive and peacemaking criminology in practice. Int J Offender Ther Comp Criminol. 2021;65(8):916-936.
15. Chen G. The meaning of suffering in drug addiction and recovery from the perspective of existentialism, Buddhism and the 12-step program. J Psychoactive Drugs. 2010;42(3):363-375.
16. Pargament KI. The meaning of spiritual transformation. In: Spiritual Transformation and Healing: Anthropological, Theological, Neuroscientific, and Clinical Perspectives; 2006:10-24.
17. De Almeida SA, Salomé GM, Dutra RAA, Ferreira LM. Feelings of powerlessness in individuals with either venous or diabetic foot ulcers. J Tissue Viability. 2014;23(3):109-114.
18. Dyslin CW. The power of powerlessness: The role of spiritual surrender and interpersonal confession in the treatment of addictions. J Psychol Christianity. 2008;27(1):41.
19. Narcotics Anonymous World Services. It works, how and why: The twelve steps and twelve traditions of narcotics anonymous. World Serv Off. 1993.
20. Matheson JL, McCollum EE. Using metaphors to explore the experiences of powerlessness among women in 12-step recovery. Subst Use Misuse. 2008;43(8-9):1027-1044.
21. Bond LM, Csordas TJ. The paradox of powerlessness. Alcohol Treat Q. 2014;32(2-3):141-156.
22. Cole BS, Pargament KI. Spiritual surrender: A paradoxical path to control. 1999. Oxford
23. Eytan S, Ronel N. Learning a lesson: Spiritual attributions of sexual trauma and revictimization. Int J Offender Ther Comp Criminol. 2023.
24. Eytan S, Ronel N. From looking for reason to finding meaning: A spiritual journey of recovery from sexual trauma. J Interpers Violence. 2023.
25. Kierkegaard S. The Cambridge Companion to Kierkegaard. Cambridge University; 1998.
26. Sinko L, James R, Hughesdon K. Healing after gender-based violence: A qualitative metasynthesis using meta-ethnography. Trauma Violence Abuse. 2021.
27. Llewellyn-Beardsley J, Rennick-Egglestone S, Callard F, Crawford P, Farkas M, Hui A, Slade M. Characteristics of mental health recovery narratives: Systematic review and narrative synthesis. PLoS One. 2019;14(3).
28. Mancini MA. A qualitative analysis of turning points in the recovery process. Am J Psychiatr Rehabil. 2007;10(3):223-244.
29. von Hohenberg SC, editor. Dispositional Development and Assessment in Teacher Preparation Programs. IGI Global; 2022.
30. Fowler JW, Dell ML. Stages of faith from infancy through adolescence: Reflections on three decades of faith development theory. In: Handbook of Spiritual Development in Childhood and Adolescence; 2006:34-45.
31. Galanter M, White WL, Ziegler PP, Hunter B. An empirical study on the construct of “God” in the Twelve Step process. Am J Drug Alcohol Abuse. 2020;46(6):731-738.
32. Deegan PE. Recovery: The lived experience of rehabilitation. Psychosoc Rehabil J. 1988;11(4):11.
33. Shapiro RM. Recovery--the Sacred Art: The Twelve Steps as Spiritual Practice. SkyLight Paths Publishing; 2009.
34. Flint T, Ronel N. From the bottom to the sublime: Spirituality-based recovery from PTSD. Journal of Religion & Spirituality in Social Work: Social Thought, 2024, 43.2: 234-25.
35. Arcury T, Quandt S. Participant recruitment for qualitative research: A site-based approach to community research in complex societies. Hum Organ. 1999;58(2):128-133.
36. Maxwell JA. Designing a qualitative study. In: The SAGE Handbook of Applied Social Research Methods. Vol 2; 2008:214-253.
37. Shenton AK. Strategies for ensuring trustworthiness in qualitative research projects. Educ Inf. 2004;22(2):63-75.
38. Smith JA, Flowers P, Larkin M. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. Sage; 2009.
39. Patton M. Qualitative interviewing. In: Qualitative Research and Evaluation Methods. 3rd ed.; 2002:344-347.
40. Campbell R, Adams AE, Wasco SM, Ahrens CE, Sefl T. Training interviewers for research on sexual violence: A qualitative study of rape survivors’ recommendations for interview practice. Violence Against Women. 2009;15:595-617.
41. Ronel N. Why victimology should stay positive: The ongoing need for positive victimology. Temida. 2015;18(3-4):5-16.
42. Duckworth MP, Follette VM. Retraumatization: Assessment, treatment, and prevention. Routledge; 2012.
43. Sanderson C. Introduction to counselling survivors of interpersonal trauma. Jessica Kingsley Publishers; 2009.
44. Johnson SK, Zitzmann B. A grounded theory of the process of spiritual change among homicide survivors. Omega (Westport). 2020;81(1):37-65.
45. Exline JJ, Hall TW, Pargament KI, Harriott VA. Predictors of growth from spiritual struggle among Christian undergraduates: Religious coping and perceptions of helpful action by God are both important. J Posit Psychol. 2017;12:501-508.
46. Green S, Pemberton A. The impact of crime: Victimisation, harm and resilience. In: Handbook of Victims and Victimology. Routledge; 2017:77-102.
47. Chen G. Building recovery capital: The role of “hitting bottom” in desistance and recovery from substance abuse and crime. J Psychoactive Drugs. 2018;50(5):420-429.
48. Shults FL, Sandage SJ. Transforming Spirituality: Integrating Theology and Psychology. Baker Academic; 2006.
49. Flint T, Ronel N. From deprivation to capital-spirituality and spiritual yearning as recovery capital from PTSD. J Aggress Maltreat Trauma. 2022;32(3):325-345.
50. James W. The Will to Believe. Routledge; 2014.
51. Piechowski Milberg MM. Childhood spirituality. J Transpers Psychol. 2001;33(1):1-15.
52. Stewart C, Rapp L. The relationship of spirituality and family functioning to recidivism: An investigation with incarcerated adolescent males. Resid Treat Child Youth. 2017;34(3-4):292-310.
53. Gueta K, Eytan S, Yakimov P. Between healing and revictimization: The experience of public self-disclosure of sexual assault and its perceived effect on recovery. Psychol Violence. 2020.
54. Levy I, Eckhaus E. Rape narratives analysis through natural language processing: Survivor self-label, narrative time span, faith, and rape terminology. Psychol Trauma. 2020;12(6):635.