Book Description
Drawing on Walter Brueggeman's (2001) theology of prophetic imagination, Abraham Heschel's (2001) reflections on prophetic tradition, and Louis Stulman and Hyun Chul Paul Kim's (2010) insights into prophetic literature as survival literature, this thesis uses the lens of prophetic imagination to examine research into the disintegratice impact of trauma and the possible role of imagination in recovery from trauma on multiple levels of human experience (neuro-physiological, psychological, sociological and transcendent). Bringing the science of traumatology into conversation with the theology of prophetic imagination, the mixed methods component of this thesis, uses both qualitative and quantitative measures to investigate the inter-relationship of physiological and psychological measures of coherence, the creation of coherent, meaningful narratives and the development of symbolozing capacity (examined through content analysis of dreams and case studies) in traumatized adolescents. Results of this study suggest that increased physiological coherence (measured using the Hearmath Heart Rate Variability Biofeedback Protocal) and participation in Dream Group correlate with changes in dream content (analyzed using DreamSAT and SDDb Word search quantitative measures) and development of symbolizing capacity in this population. Study results provide evidence that dreaming and patterns in dreams are relevant to trauma recovery in adolescents. Study limitations and implications for ministry are discussed.