An Inner Light — A Reflection on Pastoral Therapy, Hermenteutics, and Theological Understanding.

By: Tyler Nicodem

Today is a bit different. Typically I use AI to write many of these posts, or at least to optimize them so you find this page, but today you’re going to hear 100% from me. 

It’s been awhile since I’ve last written anything that others will read — probably the last time I did so was during my masters program. Admittedly, I may be a little rusty, so please forgive me. 

Today I want to highlight the license I am pursuing: clinical pastoral therapist and what my views are theologically around how I view working with clients.

Many clients I counsel suffer from a non-diagnosable condition coined Religious Trauma Syndrome. Religious Trauma Syndrome was first coined by Dr. Marlene Well, a psychologist who wrote Leaving the Fold where she explores her work with individuals coming from cults and/or high control religions. Well defined religious trauma syndrome as “the condition experienced by people who are struggling with leaving an authoritarian, dogmatic religion and coping with damaging indoctrination. They may be going through the shattering of a personally meaningful faith and/or breaking away from a controlling community or lifestyle.” While not within the diagnostic manual for mental health practitioners (the DSM), RTS is commonly diagnosed as PTSD or C-PTSD induced by religion. Sufferers of RTS often have low critical thinking abilities, high levels of shame, depression, being unfamiliar with mainstream/cultural norms, driven by fear, difficulty making decisions (for fear of making the wrong one and being punished by a deity or leader), and some other conditions present to PTSD like flashbacks.

In short, RTS is a condition that is fostered. It is fostered by those who wield power and control of others in the name of God. It is birthed within those who are most vulnerable, those who are seeking a better life, a better understanding of who they are and what their purpose is in the world. As a former minister, I have seen time and time again ministers use their power of congregants and other staff to exercise control, to create a church that benefits their agenda, the beliefs they are comfortable with, and shape people the way they think others should be.

It’s a classic strategy of (buzzword warning) Narcissists. That is not to say all ministers are narcissists — far from it. There are plenty of wonderful, deeply devout, and humble ministers. But conversely, there are ministers who are, or become, self absorbed. Many believe they have absolute Truth (with a capital T purposefully) because they have a degree, or they have been a Christian for a long time. But, it is likely their degree was from a school that was theologically biased; most scholars of the biblical text site historical-critical hermeneutics (a fancy word for the science of interpretation) as the hermeneutic that guides them in their work. Historical-critical hermeneutics essentially says that the Biblical text was written at a specific time, in a specific context, to a specific audience — that being Jews or specific gatherings of people, what we would call “churches” in today’s context. 

For example, a historical-critical view takes into context that during the time the biblical text was written, women were viewed as lesser beings. This was true of nearly the entire Roman Empire at the time. A historical-critical view of the biblical text would understand that biblical writers were affected by their contexts, because they are human (surprise!), and because so it is significant that women are named within the biblical text. This was deeply uncommon practice of the time — women were nearly never mentioned in letters of the Greco-Roman period, and if they were they most certainly weren’t name AND proper Greco-Roman letters always addressed the man and then the women succeeding him. Within the biblical text we see a different story: women are named. Not only are they named, but they are given status. The story is this: the weakest (in this case, women) are exalted over those who have power. The hermeneutical theory has led us to read between the lines, take into account the context of the biblical writers as much as the text itself, and we arrive at a place where women, whose status was just above lepers, are to be exalted.

Conversely, the hermeneutic many bible colleges and conservative divinity schools lean towards is what is called historical-literal hermeneutics. Historical-literal hermeneutics essentially says that what has been written in the bible, in a literal sense, is same as much today as it was 2000 years ago. A historical-literal purist would take very seriously to literally cut off their hand if it is perceived to cause them to sin (Matthew 5:29-30). These schools teach from a position that the Bible is literally true, is inerrant in it’s face value writings, and that the Biblical text and how it relates to mankind is the same today as it was 2000 years ago, despite of how society has developed. A historical-literalist would attribute the changing of society to “the world straying from God’s word.” Attempts are made to reshape the world by reshaping and influencing those around historical-literalists to see the fault in their thinking and understand that the Biblical text is to be taken word for word as Truth. Historical-literal hermeneutics do not “read between the lines” as historical-critical hermeneutics does. And thus, many pastors are biased towards reading the text in a way that is already decided for them, rather than critically thinking about the text and coming to their own conclusions.

All that said, pastors who function like (or just are) narcissists aren’t created in a vacuum. They are also fostered, and the sad truth is that many of them never had the opportunity, or were challenged to, think and wrestle with different theological understandings.

Now, all this is an effort to set up this: the function of Pastors is to care for their flock (congregation).  This includes teaching, but also counsel; to be a place of understanding, wisdom, and non judgement. 

If you grew up in the UMC, Episcopal Church, PCUSA, UU, or the like you probably understand this. If you grew up in other traditions like most Baptist denominations, PCA, Pentecostalism, LDS, Church of Christ, the Christian Church, or nondenominationalism you’ve probably been judged by your pastor, been told they can’t see you to support you 1 on 1, or you’ve been “rebuked” after confessing something to your minister. I want to validate for you that that was wrong. It shouldn’t have happened. Period. In tandem, I hope you can see from the description above that most of the time pastors that have treated you this way were formed by others, and they are parroting what they were taught.

I am proud to be part of the world of pastoral psychotherapy. As Clinical Pastoral Therapists, we understand our goal is to care for our clients mentally, spiritually, and emotionally. What sets clinical pastoral therapists apart from other therapeutic professions is that each pastoral therapist understands the suffering of their clients through a theological lens that provides wholistic healing, rather than treat a diagnosable disorder. For myself, my narrative is that each of my clients is guided by what Quakers call an “inner light” or “inner teacher.” More mainline Christian traditions would call this the “Holy Spirit.” Other names for it in other traditions include Dao, Center, Grounded, or the like. I see that each client has their own inner guide, and the more empathetic I am, the more I understand their experience, the more I enter into the world of the client — I trust that as we give room to these deep places of the self the clients inner teacher will emerge, helping to guide them into their own decision making, following what their soul calls for.

But, what do I know. Do I have theological degrees? Yes. Have I worked in the church? Yes. Do I know the Will of God? Not a chance. That is a great mystery, and all I can do is live into my inner light, and help others live into and find theirs.