Episode 13 - Susan Smandych, Tori Mullin and Larry Schneider

The Mad and Crip Theology Podcast

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On this episode, Amy and Miriam speak with three of our contributors from our Fall 2021 issue of The Canadian Journal of Theology, Mental Health and Disability: Susan Smadych, Tori Mullin, and Larry Schneider. To read these pieces, go to https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/cjtmhd/issue/view/2302
Susan: A Psychological Exegesis of Job through Conceptualizations of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Moral Injury. This paper proposes that the results of a psychological exegesis of Job through a lens of current conceptualizations of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and moral injury (MI), and based on evidence of his behaviour, may be leveraged to: 1) enhance the scholarly understanding of the impact of trauma on Job; 2) inform pastoral care of people who live with the same psychological condition(s) as Job; and 3) contribute to discourse on the relevance, applicability and limitations of psychological exegesis. This paper will overview the historical and recent utilization of psychological exegesis, including its anticipated benefits and relevance, and how concerns about its methodology have been mitigated by modern scholars; provide conceptual definitions of PTSD and MI, as the ‘lens’ through which to conduct a psychological exegesis of Job; briefly describe an existing psychological exegetical framework, and how it was leveraged; and summarize psychological exegetical findings of Job and their implications.
Tori: A Wish (poem). As someone with depression who grew up in an Evangelical Christian community I have struggled to accept how my brain was created. Today I am able to say that I am a sensitive human being that processes her experiences in a way that is different from others. But, for so long, I labelled my “mental health struggles” as a lack of faith, as human weakness. As I grew from a teenager into an adult I found it easier to accept my sexuality and gender than my physical or mental impairments. My body was a source of deeper pain and hurt than my sexuality or gender identity could ever be. Perhaps this is because, even in "progressive" Christian communities, we still struggle with a stigma around mental health. It has been through learning about my deceased mother’s history with mental health that I’ve found a way to begin accepting this part of myself. However, this has also brought a new edge to my grief as I mourn the knowledge and compassion she would have been able to offer me from her own lived experience. My mother and I were incredibly similar, and more than anything I wish I could tell her about my pain, my struggles, about what has worked and what has not. Some part of myself believes in her story I might have found the secret to my own.
Larry: Musings on a Turbulent Time (a poem). A poetic exploration of the extreme emotions and situations that people are finding themsevles experiecing during the pandemic, highlighting personal and spiritual challenges being faced, and that which we seek from God and from within our own beings in order to survive and thrive

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