Creativity, Theology, and Posttraumatic Growth: The Sacred Impulse of Play and Transformation out of Tragedy

By Dustin S. Risser

The relationship between creativity, Christian theology, and experiences of growth after trauma may open pathways towards transformation for individuals and communities. An integrated theory based upon the psychological theories of D. W. Winnicott, the pneumatology of Jurgen Moltmann, and the current science of trauma and creativity is proposed to investigate how playful, creative expression with the world may foster experiences of positive psychological change. This theory suggests that creative action, rooted in a rediscovery of play, might allow for experiences of reorganization and growth after traumatic upheaval. 
Stewarding creative action after trauma is one way in which the afflicted can collaborate with the Holy Spirit, even in the midst of tragic pain, to honor our wholeness and dignity as beings made in the image of God. Accessing our created, God-given purpose and identity, from a perspective of playful co-creation, is offered as a path to psychological healing and transformation. This approach may have wide-ranging implications for faith-based clinicians, the church, and communities walking through traumatic, desert-like landscapes of the heart.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Pickwick Publications
• Release date: Aug 11, 2022
• ISBN: 9781666799088

Dustin S. Risser

Dustin S. Risser is passionate about the conversation between psychology and Christian faith, with a specialized interest concerning the relationship between creativity, culture, and the work of the Holy Spirit. He currently serves as an affiliate assistant professor of psychology at Fuller Theological Seminary. Music, surfing, nature, and his Boston terrier, Tobias, are a few sources of day-to-day shalom.

Book preview

Creativity, Theology, and Posttraumatic Growth

The Sacred Impulse of Play and Transformation out of Tragedy

Dustin S. Risser

CREATIVITY, THEOLOGY, and POSTTRAUMATIC GROWTH

The Sacred Impulse of Play and Transformation out of Tragedy

Copyright ©

2022

Dustin S. Risser. All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in critical publications or reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without prior written permission from the publisher. Write: Permissions, Wipf and Stock Publishers,

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Pickwick Publications

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paperback isbn: 978-1-6667-3841-4

hardcover isbn: 978-1-6667-9907-1

ebook isbn: 978-1-6667-9908-8

Cataloguing-in-Publication data:

Names: Risser, Dustin S., author.

Title: Creativity, theology, and posttraumatic growth : the sacred impulse of play and transformation out of tragedy / Dustin S. Risser.

Description: Eugene, OR: Pickwick Publications,

2022.

| Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers:

isbn 978-1-6667-3841-4 (

paperback

). | isbn 978-1-6667-9907-1 (

hardcover

). | isbn 978-1-6667-9908-8 (

ebook

).

Subjects: LSCH: Pastoral theology | Post-traumatic growth. | Life change events—Psychological aspects.

Classification:

BR115.A8 R57 2022 (

print

). | BR115 (

ebook

).

version number 091715

Scripture quotations marked (NASB) are taken from the New American Standard Bible® (NASB), Copyright ©

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by The Lockman Foundation Used by permission. www.Lockman.org.

Scripture quotations marked (NRSV) are taken from the New Revised Standard Version Bible (NRSV), Copyright ©

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the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation (NLT) Copyright ©

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Figure

1

From Adenium Obesum, sth, Ethiopia by Robert Waddington,

2015

(https://flic.kr/p/

2

juvo

1

S). CC SA-BY.

Figure

2

From Desert Rose, Omo, Ethiopia, by Robert Waddington,

2015

(https://flic.kr/p/rG

3

rCb). CC SA-BY.

Figure

3

From Adenium Obesum – socotram bottle tree by Robert Waddington. (https://flic.kr/p/

2

hXkGWR),

2019

CC SA-BY.

Figure

4

From Adenium Obesum by Joan Simon,

2013

(https://flic.kr/p/fQfYjJ ). CC SA-BY.

Table of Contents

Title Page

Acknowledgments

Chapter 1: Introduction

Chapter 2: Theories of Creativity and Play in Human Development

Chapter 3: Toward a Theological Understanding of Creativity

Chapter 4: Clinical Applications toward Posttraumatic Growth

Chapter 5: The Desert Rose

Figures

References

Given the pervasive levels of trauma adversity today, it is no wonder that people have reached the ends of themselves and increasingly seek therapy and spirituality. . . . With intellect and grace, Risser not only reminds his reader of the importance of play and creativity in our theology but offers a path forward for Christian psychologists to engage diverse clients through creativity, play, and spirituality to not only heal but thrive.

—Pamela King

Fuller Theological Seminary

Risser brings together D. W. Winnicott’s developmental theory of creativity and play with theological reflections on the image of God to offer his own creative, playful contribution on the role of play and creativity in responding to trauma in growth-enhancing ways. Clinicians interested in spirituality/religion will appreciate both his theological reflections as well as his practical suggestions for responding creatively to trauma.

—Stephen Parker

Regent University, emeritus

"In Creativity, Theology, and Posttraumatic Growth, Dustin Risser invites the reader to pursue play and joy, even in the shadows of trauma. His psychological and theological analysis of attuned relationships, playful creativity, and posttraumatic healing offers a model to bring growth to trauma survivors through acts of making and creative expression. His metaphor of the desert rose is an engaging reminder of this possibility of beauty out of adversity."

—Cynthia B. Eriksson

Fuller Theological Seminary

Risser offers a path to transformation and life through the medium and cultivation of creativity. He does so by exploring creativity through the integration of psychology and theology. Not often does one see psychologists such as Winnicott and theologians such as Moltmann put into dialogue, but Risser does so in an engaging and playful manner. This book will stimulate the creative imaginations of psychologists and theologians working at the intersection of trauma and growth.

—Brad D. Strawn

Fuller Theological Seminary

Risser’s examination of the vital role that creativity plays in posttraumatic growth not only provides a clear overview of the field of research on this topic but also a blueprint for how individuals, churches, and counselors can make play a greater aspect of the healing process.

—David T. Lamb

Missio Seminary

I want to give my heartfelt thank you to Tim and Kathy Risser for supporting me in prayer throughout my doctoral program, and upholding faith in God’s inner working through the years of this project. Thank you to the brothers Alejandro and Marco Ulloa, for the many conversations that contributed to creativity, inspiration, and a life of faith. Blessings and thanks to all of those who were praying, encouraging and offering your support as this was being written; especially the Risser families, the Heisey family, Pisey Sok LMFT, Dr. Nadine Sidhom and the many others who have impacted me during different stages of idea generation, writing, and editing this work. By your walking with the Spirit in faith, hope and love you have contributed to my ability to complete this task. This work simply does come to fruition without such a grace.

Acknowledgments

I must express my sincere gratitude to my entire dissertation panel at Fuller Theological Seminary’s School of Psychology and Marriage & Family Therapy. This panel was a lineup of experts in the global field of integration of Psychology and Theology. I want to thank Dr. Cynthia Eriksson for both her wisdom and commitment to whole-person research and clinical work in the areas of trauma, culture, and spirituality. Thank you to Dr. Pamela Ebstyne King, a forerunner in thriving, flourishing, and the integration of theology and developmental psychology, for her continued insight, inspiration and words of life spoken. Finally, a special thank you to my former advisor Dr. Brad D. Strawn, an innovator in intersection of Christian anthropology, psychoanalytic practice, and spiritual formation for your persistent encouragement, patience, and scholarly wisdom. I feel blessed to have had such an accomplished panel of experts in the field who brought both guidance, and genuine faith-filled reflection.

1

Introduction

The human capacity for creative play is widely regarded as a universal, intrinsic, and prehistoric human phenomenon (Morris-Kay, 2010). Creativity has been written into humanity’s marrow, and people have witnessed its power in a host of forums. Such forums include traditional manifestations—such as music, dance, fine arts, design, cinema, and architecture; as well as practical and civic forums, such as collaborative economics, engineering, social policy, and scientific exploration. But perhaps the most essential forums have been the places where the very potential for creativity begins—the street corners, backyards, and family rooms across the globe.

Creativity has been a resource with nearly unlimited manifestations woven into the materialization of culture. Winnicott (1971) described such cultural materialization as emerging from a collective capacity for play, emphasizing the relational nature of creativity. Creativity has also been considered a core, developmental element of human flourishing (Russ, 2014). It is connected by emotional expression, bodily learning, and exploration, which come together in moments of spontaneity, initially in childhood. The power of curious spontaneity in childhood from which play emerges, may even be a developmental crux that can prepare creative resourcefulness later in life (Russ, 2014; Winnicott, 1965).

The unfolding of creative learning can be an opportunity for personal expression and emotional release, which might eventually unfold as personal growth and expansion of self-understanding throughout the lifespan (Garland et al., 2007; Hass-Cohen & Findlay, 2015; Winnicott, 1971). Given the varying roles of creativity in psychological development, emotional expression, and meaningful work, it is essential for Christian therapists to steward a theological understanding of creativity. From a perspective of Christian faith, the formative human potential of creativity is grounded in being created in the image of God (Gen 1:27). Creativity can be a gift that manifests the beauty, benevolence, patience, intrigue, and power of God, who is the Creator and origin of life-giving creativity (Moltmann et al., 1972).

Such a divinely originated capacity for creative living may also be a critical natural resource to humanity. The resource of creativity may help individuals integrate emotion, meaning, memory, bodily sensations, and complex learning together, in a synergistic experience that could facilitate recovery from psychological distress, and even result in personal growth. Clinically, creative activities have provided a therapeutic effect by helping individuals work through painful experiences, including those experiences as corrosive as trauma (Hass-Cohen, 2008; Russ, 2014). Though researchers have cited the use of art-making and creativity to improve psychological well-being, and benefit trauma recovery, few have focused on the role of art-making and creativity from a growth-oriented perspective (Crenshaw, 2006; Garland et al., 2007; Van der Kolk, 2014). Adding a dimension of growth within treatment could move clinicians beyond a perspective of solely recalibrating a person’s distress level, and restoring their ability to function after trauma, to actually incorporating the possibility of worldview transformation, which may yield deep elements of self-discovery within the process (Janoff-Bulman, 2006; Kauffman & Gregoire, 2015).

The concept of psychological growth beyond the adverse effects of trauma, also known as posttraumatic growth (PTG; Calhoun & Tedeschi, 1998), has lacked clinical application to creative processes in current research. Art therapy has a recognized place in trauma treatment (Avrhami, 2006; Johnson et al., 2009), and has even demonstrated significant efficacy as an adjunctive treatment alongside Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT), over and above CPT alone, for combat veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD; Campbell et al., 2016). Yet using art-making as a route to capitalize on growth, beyond trauma, has been largely unrecognized. Though a few researchers have suggested creativity as a route to PTG (Chilton, 2013; Kaufman & Gregoire, 2015; Lee, 2013), it has lacked significant theoretical and systematic investigation. Particularly the hypothesis that creativity may contribute towards PTG, has lacked theoretical support; support which may have strong links to psychodynamic theory, especially concerning the underlying mechanisms of change in PTG. Additionally, there is rich history of theological themes of hope, transformation and redemption after traumatic experience in the Christian faith which can connect PTG with important theological themes, and dually towards the integration of faith and psychology.

But in order to thoughtfully understand PTG in context of other theories, PTG as a construct must be situated within a coherent wider-arching approach to trauma, as offered by Judith Herman (1997). Herman emphasized that the varieties of recovery from trauma occur in an undulating, nonlinear, and dialectical processes, which has included three central stages. Herman’s (1997) stages included the establishment of safety . . . remembrance and mourning . . . [and] reconnection with ordinary life (p. 155). Researchers have described PTG as a theoretically undulating and dialectical construct (Calhoun & Tedeschi, 2013). Clinically, applying the creative process in the midst of trauma to promote growth would be primarily located in Herman’s stages of remembrance and reconnection, as a traumatized person ought to have a baseline of psycho-physiologically informed coping and safety, before delving into more expressive creativity. But the limits of the construct and application of PTG should not deter clinicians from recognizing the potential such creative, positive movement has offered. Instead, the hope that can be gleaned from the process of recovery and growth might edify both Christian clinicians’ and clients’ vision of the presence of God’s grace in creation, and the in-breaking of the Holy Spirit into the therapeutic process, even in the midst of dire traumatic narratives.

Thesis

Throughout this work, I provide psychological and theological grounds for the application of creativity as an adjunctive and ongoing therapeutic support, which might mobilize the occurrence of PTG. How might creative processes aid PTG from an embodied viewpoint? How can Christian theology support, inform, and empower the creative process? Further, how might such an experience of growth through the recovery of play impact an individual’s sense of self, meaning-making system, and spirituality? In this work, I propose that experiences of creativity and play can offer a holistic approach to growth and transformation, after tragic and disorganizing experiences of trauma. This is accomplished by highlighting the interrelationship between creativity, Christian theology, and trauma in order to offer an integrated vision for promoting PTG.

Method

In the proceeding chapters I offer a psychological and theological account for the role of creativity, which has been applied to the construct of PTG. The role of creativity and play in psychological development (Russ, 1993; Russ, 2004; Russ, 2014) has remained a potent resource that can be harnessed toward PTG and solidified within the psychoanalytic theory of Winnicott. Winnicott’s work can be applied broadly to the fundamental experience of play in shaping the self and interacting with the world in cogent ways. In addition, this work contributes to a theological understanding of creativity that provides an integrative frame for the Christian therapist. This highlights the role of experiences of liberation and wonder through creativity and play, as well as in Christian theology and spirituality. Liberation and wonder experienced through play anchor a perspective of renewal and growth for clients, in terms of both immediate and eschatological hope. With a psychologically and theologically informed perspective on the creative process, the application of this process towards PTG is then detailed. PTG is a relatively new concept of measurement in the field of psychology and reflects growth that occurs in various domains of life after a traumatic experience. This measurement was not meant to minimize the caustic effects of trauma, but was rather meant to track emergence that has occurred from worldview shifts. Instances of PTG, over time, have reoriented a hopeful attention to movement out of tragedy. PTG is the possible positive shift that can occur by a disturbance in worldview—which, when deconstructed, can open up a more robust posture of subjective experience and understanding oneself, others, and the environment. An experience of PTG, is not a given aspect of recovery, but is a possible change in the lens through which emboldened, richer colors may be illuminated in everyday life (Tedeschi & Calhoun, 1995; Tedeschi et al., 2018). The application of creativity towards PTG has offered a chance to extend growth and transformation beyond the therapy room by heightening agency; allowing for a holding space between sessions; increasing deliberative forms of rumination; adding depth and dimensionality to the post-trauma narrative; as well as offering a new mode of sharing a traumatic experience, or bearing witness (Herman, 1997; Hoffman, 2011).

Summary of Chapters

In chapter 2, I establish an understanding of creativity and play as developmental potentials, with a simultaneous emphasis on theoretical and scientific bases of understanding. This chapter is organized into three main sections. First, I describe the theoretical work of Winnicott, which serve as a frame for the binding together of play, creativity, and healing of traumatic material. This is accomplished by investigating the relationship between Winnicott’s (1965) idea of potential space and creative emergence; the use of transitional phenomena as a creative intercession for processing trauma to increase deliberative rumination; the role of decathection and catharsis, in which spontaneous play yields expression for agency and affective processing; and the importance of recovering a sense of pleasure in creative action that awakens senses that have been co-opted by trauma. Further, the importance of spontaneous expression in psychodynamic theory, akin to Winnicott, was described in relevance to the multiple domains of experience in which PTG occurs.

Second, I illuminate definitions of creativity in order to present readers with a robust view of this capacity. For this elaboration of creativity, I rely on both the developmental