Abstract
Objectives
Buddha’s Four Noble Truths state that (1) life is full of suffering, (2) there is a cause of suffering, (3) it is possible to stop suffering, and (4) there is a path leading to the cessation of suffering. The current study aimed to explore how trauma-related suffering and mindfulness dispositions are experienced among survivors of childhood cumulative interpersonal trauma (i.e., CCIT, an accumulation of physical, psychological, and sexual trauma before the age of 18) through the lens of Buddha’s Four Noble Truths.
Methods
Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with 23 adult survivors of CCIT (12 men, 11 women). A directed content analysis was performed.
Results
Findings revealed that survivors of CCT experience paths of suffering and healing echoing the Four Noble Truths. First, being a survivor of CCIT is a major source of suffering. Second, most participants engage in experiential avoidance (aversion, cravings, illusion, and amnesia) as adaptive strategies to pain and suffering. Third, some participants search for inner and outer resources to reduce the suffering caused by experiential avoidance. Fourth, a few participants engage in a path of liberation characterized by a new approach to trauma and to life.
Conclusions
Findings suggest that the integration of Western and Buddhist frameworks might foster a better understanding of mindfulness dispositions and suffering in survivors of CCT.
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Acknowledgements
The authors wish to thank participants who participated to this project and the community organizations partners. They would also like to specially thank Drs Monique Tardif and Marie-Marthe Cousineau, who helped to acquire funding for the current study. Finally, they would like to thank Léa Séguin and Mathieu Constance, who read the paper to ensure the quality of the writing, and Dr John Briere, who provided his expertise to comment the paper.
Funding
This research was supported by a grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (#430–2016-00951) awarded to Mylène Fernet and by a scholarship from the Fonds de Recherche du Québec – Société et Culture (#2021-B2Z-290624) awarded to Éliane Dussault.
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ÉD: conceptualized and designed the study, analyzed the data, and interpreted the findings, wrote the manuscript. DL: completed the categorization consensus, interpreted the findings, and collaborated in the writing and editing of the manuscript. MF: completed the reliability coding and categorization consensus, interpreted the findings, and collaborated in the writing and editing of the manuscript. NG: completed the categorization consensus, interpreted the findings, and collaborated in the writing and editing of the manuscript. All authors reviewed and approved the final version of the manuscript for submission.
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All procedures involving human participants performed in this study were approved by the Université du Québec à Montréal’s institutional ethics board (Certificate number: 1476_2021), and with the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments.
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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.
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Dussault, É., Lafortune, D., Fernet, M. et al. Mindfulness in Survivors of Cumulative Childhood Interpersonal Trauma: a Buddhist Conceptualization of Suffering and Healing. Mindfulness 13, 1816–1828 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-022-01922-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-022-01922-7