On June 13, Dr. Karen O'Donnell, academic dean, lecturer, and research supervisor at Westcott House and associate faculty member in the Faculty of Divinity at the University of Cambridge, delivered a presentation titled "Theologies and Practices of Post-Traumatic Remaking" at the Asian Practical Theology International Conference 2025 as one of the keynote speakers. Dr. O'Donnell drew from her recent book, Survival: Radical Spiritual Practices for Trauma Survivors, to explore theological and practical elements relevant to trauma recovery.
Dr. O'Donnell first explained her motivation for developing this framework. After working in trauma theology for over a decade, she regularly encountered two questions: "So what should I, as a Christian minister, therefore do or change within my ministry?" and "So what can I, as a trauma survivor who is a Christian, do?" These questions prompted her to reflect on how trauma survivors might work through the implications of trauma theology in their recovery process.
Following this, Dr. O'Donnell introduced her central concept of "post-traumatic remaking of self," rather than using terms like "healing" or "recovery." She argued that "recovery" implies a backward movement and returns to a pre-traumatized state, which does not reflect the actual experience of trauma survivors. There is no return to who one was before trauma, and this realization can be distressing for survivors and their loved ones.
Similarly, Dr. O'Donnell rejected the term "healing" due to its Christian baggage, which can imply God wiping out traumatic experience or curing trauma's impact. This may fail to do justice to trauma survivors' experiences and can create unhelpful expectations regarding God's activity. Instead, "post-traumatic remaking of the self" reflects trauma survivors' frequent remarks that they are not the same people they were before traumatization.
Dr. O'Donnell then explored philosophical and neurological perspectives on the self. Philosophically, most position the self as the center of autonomous agency responsible for actions and decisions. Trauma and disability can undermine this autonomy. Other philosophers understand the self as embodied, drawing strong connections between body and mind. Neurological research on trauma survivors reveals almost no activation in the brain's self-sensing area, contrasting markedly with non-traumatized individuals. Research indicates that brain parts responsible for sensory information are compromised through trauma, while the limbic system becomes hyperactivated.
Moving to practical applications, Dr. O'Donnell described characteristics of post-traumatic remaking. First, remaking can only happen when the self is no longer experiencing trauma, requiring physical safety from the particular trauma source. Second, attending to the body is essential, remembering that there is no self apart from the body. Trauma psychologist Bessel Van der Kolk's research demonstrates that trauma is held in the body, making phrases like "heartbreaking" or "gut-wrenching" literal rather than metaphorical descriptions. Third, constructing a witnessed narrative is crucial. Due to trauma memory's fragmentary nature and the brain's protective blocking mechanisms, narrative construction becomes an iterative, piecemeal storytelling process. This narrative must not simply relive trauma but frame the experience, so that survivors can rise above rather than be drowned by it.
In addition, she emphasized reestablishing relationships and reconnecting with society. Trauma symptoms often include isolation and withdrawal from previously enjoyable activities. As remaking progresses, survivors typically prefer less solitude, potentially reestablishing previous connections or seeking new communities. Often, reconnection involves making the trauma experience "a gift of sorts" through advocacy, study, writing, or speaking to help others and prevent further trauma.
Dr. O'Donnell then addressed the spiritual dimension, noting that trauma raises challenging questions for Christians: "How could God let this happen? Where was God? Why hasn't God punished the perpetrator?" These questions stem from shallow theology learned through sermons, songs, and Christian paraphernalia. The spiritual element of remaking involves recognizing that these may not be the right questions and requires theological remaking alongside self-remaking.
Moreover, she introduced the concept of Holy Saturday, developed by Shelly Rambo in Spirit and Trauma: A Theology of Remaining. Christians tend to rush from the crucifixion's horror straight to the resurrection's victory, forgetting the day between when there was no hope of resurrection. Holy Saturday represents fear, death, grief, and incomprehension, where boundaries between death and life blur. Trauma survivors live in Holy Saturday, unable to skip to the resurrection's happy ending.
The speaker developed spiritual practices for this Holy Saturday period, which she termed "radical" practices. The word "radical" stems from Latin "radix," meaning root, as in the Advent antiphon "O radix Jesse," referring to Christ's coming. These practices are radical because they offer different foundations for growth, take trauma experience seriously, wrestle with theological questions, and place embodiment front and center.
Finally, she provided an example of protest as a spiritual practice. She suggested making protest a central theme in engaging with God, whether through social action, joining survivor groups, or developing protest prayers. She referenced Job's angry protests as biblical precedent and included Sarah Corbett's prayer of lament as an example of gentle protest against injustice.
The presentation concluded with her expressing hope that her theological work enables flourishing for trauma survivors. Recognizing the individuality of each trauma experience, she acknowledged that there is no one-size-fits-all approach, but she hoped her work would inspire others to build a diverse Christian tradition of post-traumatic remaking theologies and practices.
