Understanding Trauma and Resilience

Foreword

(wrote the foreword)

Warren Kinghorn

“Clear, compassionate, and deeply grounded, Understanding Trauma and Resilience helps readers understand how wounds shape lives and how healing unfolds over time. Evan Marbury brings clinical insight and spiritual wisdom together, gently acknowledging the personal and communal contexts that influence trauma while keeping the focus on hope, care, and restoration. I'm eager to commend this book to my students, clients, and beyond.”

Chuck DeGroat

“Marbury has written an extremely thorough synthesis of the best psychological, scientific findings on trauma while also engaging in deep, sensitive, theological reflection. Full of clinical case material, biblical exploration, and hands-on assessment devices and practices, Marbury's book provides an immediately practical text for clinicians, ministerial leaders, and laypersons caring for traumatized persons. Chapters on racial and religious trauma stand out as particularly needed for navigating these complex issues.”

Brad D. Strawn

“We live in a time when it's more important than ever that we acknowledge the reality of trauma in individual lives and in our society at large. Evan Marbury has written a timely resource that will equip students, caregivers, ministers, and counselors alike with a deep understanding of trauma-informed practices. With the authority of an expert, the empathy of a counselor, the wisdom of a teacher, and the engagement of a storyteller, Marbury describes the complexities of trauma with remarkable clarity and insight.”

Nii A. Addy

“Understanding Trauma and Resilience offers a theologically rich, clinically astute, and relationally oriented vision of trauma that will serve therapists, caregivers, and pastors well. Marbury writes as both a thoughtful practitioner and an empathetic witness. As someone training the next generation of marriage and family therapists and Christian ministry leaders, I am eager to place this book in my students' hands; it will deepen their clinical imaginations and equip them to sit with trauma-affected individuals, couples, and families with greater courage, humility, and hope.”

David J. Van Dyke

“With clarity and pastoral attentiveness Evan Marbury reframes trauma as pain that alters—not pain that merely hurts—and invites readers to imagine healing as more than a return to baseline functioning. Without relying on technical jargon, the book illustrates how trauma, when met with attuned and dignifying care, can give rise to resilience, deeper meaning making, and spiritual growth, and it does so without minimizing suffering or rushing hope. This is a practical and humane resource for counselors, caregivers, and ministers seeking to accompany others with discernment, care, and humility.”

Joseph M. Williams

“Trauma-informed care is finally finding its way into the church, yet few voices integrate clinical research with compassionate pastoral wisdom as experientially as Evan Marbury in Understanding Trauma and Resilience. In a culture learning how to name real trauma and support survivors without reinforcing a sense of stuck victimhood, Marbury offers a refreshing emphasis on healing, hope, and restoration. As both therapist and minister, Marbury carries a grounded authenticity and draws from the hard-won resilience of the African American tradition—a tradition deeply acquainted with suffering and strength. Therapists, ministers, and lay leaders alike will find this insightful and highly practical book a breath of fresh air.”

Shan Alexander

“Understanding Trauma and Resilience by Evan Marbury is a hopeful, holistic guide for counseling those affected by trauma. Drawing from his experience as a counselor and pastor, Evan blends psychology and theology with insight and care. He emphasizes the deeply relational nature of life and offers thoughtful perspectives on abuse, trauma, and healing that are grounded in spiritual and existential truth. If you approach trauma with gravity and see Jesus as the source of hope, this resource will enrich your ministry and bless those you serve.”

Sam R. Williams

“With grace and humility, Evan Marbury engages in the sacred topic of trauma and invites his readers to do the same. In this work, he beautifully captures the heart of God, the affliction of the soul that is trauma affected, and the call of counselors, ministers, and caregivers (and every person) to enter these sacred spaces with humility, recognizing and embracing each soul's God-given dignity and beauty. Easy to read and hard to put down, this book lays out a foundation for understanding the implications of trauma and abuse. With boldness and gentleness, Marbury speaks into the existence of collective and spiritual trauma and offers ways to move toward growth, resilience, and hope for healing.”

Suzanne R. Bates