Through Dangerous Terrain
A Guide for Trauma-Sensitive Pastoral Leadership in Times of Threat
Imprint: Cascade Books
When times of threat and uncertainty come, it can be challenging to know what to do or how to help. Through Dangerous Terrain provides a guide and map for how to understand the human threat-response system, how we connect in times of safety, and how to provide wise and informed leadership during and after threat or trauma events. Though it is written in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic and offers some reflections particular to the viral pandemic, it can be applied to any experience of personal or societal threat. When we can more fully understand how human physiology detects threats and seeks safety, we can mobilize the gifts of our religious and spiritual traditions and communities to offer the community care that is essential for health and outside the purview of traditional therapeutic contexts. This book offers key insights from leading trauma care models (Internal Family Systems, Somatic Experiencing, and Polyvagal Theory), neuroscience, and pastoral care to help religious and spiritual community leaders offer informed care, hope, and support in the face of threat and trauma.
Jennifer Baldwin is the Founder of The Center for Trauma-Sensitive Faith Leadership and a clinician in private practice specializing in trauma care. She is the author of Trauma-Sensitive Theology (2018).
“Jennifer Baldwin lays out a timely and valuable plan for us to work with the traumas we’re all facing these days. She artfully combines somatic and neurophysiological understanding and techniques with parts work to lead us toward resilience.”
—Richard Schwartz, developer of the Internal Family Systems model of psychotherapy
“Through Dangerous Terrain is a vital resource for faith and community leaders in perilous times. Jennifer Baldwin combines the science and psychology of trauma and its corporate and systemic effects with her knowledge of spiritual life. She offers tools—rituals of loss and new birth, sacred stories, saints past and present, connections of body, mind, and spirit—for navigating the challenges of today and creating resilience for the future.”
—Margaret R. Rose, Deputy to the Presiding Bishop for Ecumenical and Interreligious Relations, The Episcopal Church
“Like few times in history, spiritual care leaders are faced with the challenges of understanding and responding to a multiplicity of traumas. . . . While this book is most timely for clergy, chaplains, counselors, and healthcare professionals, it is a needed contribution to the spiritual care literature.”
—Rick Underwood, Director of the Oates Institute
“In Through Dangerous Terrain, Jennifer Baldwin explores ‘roadways’ of pastoral and psychotherapeutic models that bring her experience to bear on the repair of the world. I have had my share of initiating reconciliation in congregations, and Dr. Baldwin’s work in trauma-sensitive theology has not failed in providing resources both life-giving and applicable.”
—Joseph V. LaGuardia, pastor of the First Baptist Church of Vero Beach, Florida
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