Date
11-13-2025
Department
School of Behavioral Sciences
Degree
Doctor of Education in Community Care and Counseling (EdD)
Chair
Catherine Packer-Williams
Keywords
Spirituality, Trauma, Resilience, Faith, God is good, Bondye bon, Haitian Women, Immigrants, Culture, Prayer, Transformation, Hope, Healing, Endurance, Posttraumatic Growth, Trauma Resilience, Coping, Cultural Identity, Haitian Proverbs, Black Indigenous Women Of Color (BIWOC), Trauma-Informed Care, Trauma-Focused Treatment, Interpersonal Trauma, Historical Trauma, Transpersonal Psychology
Disciplines
Counseling | Educational Psychology
Recommended Citation
Jules, Filise Hilaire, "Elucidating “Bondye Bon” (God Is Good) in Trauma Context: A Phenomenological Study of the Lived Experiences of First-Generation Haitian Women Immigrants with Spirituality and Trauma Resilience While in the U.S." (2025). Doctoral Dissertations and Projects. 7590.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/doctoral/7590
Abstract
The central theme of this qualitative phenomenological study examines spirituality and trauma resilience from the experiences of first-generation Haitian women immigrants in the United States. This choice of qualitative research is appropriate to study the perception of this group of Black, Indigenous Women of Color (BIWOC) to aim for a comprehensive understanding of their lived experiences with trauma and spirituality. The theories guiding this study are Trauma-Informed Care (TIC) and Transpersonal Psychology (TP). TIC is an approach that acknowledges the widespread impact of trauma and integrates the input of culture and environment into understanding treatment (Rajaraman et al., 2022). TIC integrates several aspects of trauma survivors’ experiences like spiritual or religious practices into treatment. In this study, TIC allowed the researcher to create a non-judgmental environment for the participants to share their experiences and recognize the meaning of “Bondye bon” (God is good) in the healing process. TP is a transformative psychology approach that favors developmental models and states of consciousness beyond conventional notions of self (Hartelius, 2022). TP integrates spirituality and mental health practice to promote multiculturalism exploring spiritual models and practices from various traditions (Carrier & Mitchell, 2016). TP helped design interview questions that leverage multiple aspects of spiritual beliefs and practices prevalent among Haitian women, fostering a sense of connection to something greater than oneself. A sample of first-generation women immigrants was recruited using both purposive and snowball sampling. Data was collected via semi-structured one-on-one interviews and analyzed using Colaizzi’s (1978) seven-step method of descriptive phenomenological data analysis.
