Healing the Wounds of Trauma

Lesson 7 CARING FOR THE CAREGIVER

1. Pastor Jay Pastor Jay has been working hard since two of the big factories in the town shut down. Many people lost their jobs and are losing their housing. Crime is increasing. People from his church are coming to him and he has heard one heart-breaking story after another. He thinks that, as a pastor, he should always be ready to listen, to attend to their requests, and to try to help them find work and housing. One of Pastor Jay’s best friends, Manuel, also lost his job. Pastor Jay does all he can to help out, but with no income and no savings, sometimes Manuel’s family has had to go to bed without dinner. One night while Manuel and his family were sleeping, two armed men broke in through their bedroomwindow. They put a gun to Manuel’s head and warned the family members that if they moved they would kill them. The family stayed completely still while they watched the men take all their food and valuables. Since then, they all sleep in one room at night. Manuel often wakes up petrified, and then realizes that it was only a dream. Manuel came to Pastor Jay and told him about the attack in great detail. Since Manuel’s visit, Pastor Jay cannot stop thinking about what his friend told him. Pastor Jay is not sleeping well. He wakes at the slightest sound. He has lost his energy and gets up very tired. Last week, he woke up three times with terrifying nightmares of robbers breaking into his home and holding him up at gunpoint. He feels like a failure as a pastor and doesn’t like preaching anymore. He’s thinking of resigning. His wife is concerned because he rarely speaks to her. Yesterday, he was distracted by his thoughts as he headed to church and had an accident. He broke his leg and his car was totally wrecked.

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Caring for the Caregiver