Abstract

Childhood trauma and stress can lead to widespread changes in brain function that can lead to lifelong learning and living difficulties and disability that impact parental stress levels. Increasingly, parents are turning to social media to find systems of support. This Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis explores the online talk of 17 participants to better understand how they make meaning out of their participation in an online, faith-based parenting community designed for parents raising children with complex trauma exposure. Findings based on the data analysis included five overarching main themes: a) A community of experts; b) The community dethrones the experts; c) The community empowers women to navigate status from victim to warrior; d) The community provides support for members to grieve what seems "irreparably broken;" and e) Participants express faith that God will "mend what is broken." The findings were overlayed on Bronfenbrenner's bioecological theory (Bronfenbrenner & Evans, 2000) to provide a construct for the professionals interacting with parents of children with trauma. Professionals, therapists and religious leaders interacting with parents of children with trauma may want to incorporate a pluralistic, multileveled perspective, recognizing parents' interpersonal conflicts or personal experiences exist in a broader more nuanced system, thus fostering a nuanced and individualized approach to providing support for parents of children with trauma.

Degree

College and Department

David O. McKay School of Education; Counseling Psychology and Special Education

Rights

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