Trauma Coping Strategies for the Catholic Religious Men and Women Survivors of Kidnapping in the Southern Ecclesiastical Provinces of Nigeria

The study aimed at investigating the effective trauma coping strategies among Catholic religious men and women survivors of kidnap in Southern Ecclesiastical Provinces of Nigeria. It had a phenomenological design. Twenty-one survivors of which twelve were males and nine females were interviewed in a focus group using a semi-structured interview guide. A thematic analysis was of the data showed emerging themes of Relating with more people, having a wider social support network, not paying too much attention to the fact that they experienced the kidnapping, finding a rational and realistic explanation to the situation, being open to learning positive lessons from a very difficult situation, being compassionate towards their abductors, actively looking forward to ways to replace the losses they have encountered, plunging themselves into the depth of their prayers, praying for their abductors, and receiving some kind of professional counseling or therapeutic support have helped them to cope and navigate the path that leads to posttraumatic growth. Other themes that emerged from participants who seem to be struggling and are still traumatized are Inadequate understanding of their trauma by their conferrers, poor understanding of mental health issues by their superiors, fear of the costs of therapy, and that the recommendations of counselors and therapists are not often respected. The study recommends that Catholic Institutes of religious men and women, family members, and the society at large can incorporate these positive coping strategies into the trauma intervention and care of the survivors of kidnapping for them to navigate the path of posttraumatic growth.