Pádraig Ó Tuama | Healing Spiritual Trauma

19 snips

Sep 30, 2025

In this insightful conversation, Pádraig Ó Tuama, an Irish poet and theologian, explores the impact of spiritual trauma on identity and belonging. He shares his personal journey as a young gay man and how church communities can both uplift and betray. Pádraig discusses the intertwining of Irish identity with religion and politics, revealing historical traumas. He emphasizes creativity and poetry as vital forms of healing, illustrating their power through his reading of "The Exorcism." It's a profound reflection on reclaiming one’s identity through art.

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INSIGHT

Spiritual Trauma As Breath Stopped

Pádraig links 'spiritual trauma' to an interruption of breath and a sense of suffocation.
He frames spirit (spirare) as breath connecting body, people, and grander stories of belonging.

INSIGHT

Big Promises, Bigger Risks

The deeper a group's promises, the greater the potential for harm when it fails its members.
Pádraig stresses that heart-involved belonging always brings both promise and risk.

ANECDOTE

Pastor's Honest Welcome

A Lutheran pastor told newcomers she would never make excuses for failures and warned they'd still be disappointed by her.
Pádraig uses that pledge as a model for realistic practices in any heart-involved community.

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Can creative expression help us return to ourselves after we’ve experienced spiritual trauma?

This week, Thomas sits down with Pádraig Ó Tuama, a distinguished Irish Poet, theologian, and host of the podcast Poetry Unbound, for a profound exploration of spiritual trauma. Pádraig shares about the specific heartbreak of being betrayed by a spiritual community, drawing from his own intense experiences as a young gay man whose sexuality was demonized by his church.

Pádraig and Thomas discuss the intertwining of religious identity with politics and colonial history, particularly in Ireland, and share practical, philosophical, spiritual, and artistic approaches to healing from this type of trauma. At the heart of this conversation is the regenerative power of creativity and how art, poetry, and other forms of self-expression are essential to reestablishing a healthy relationship to your identity and your personal faith after trauma.

Pádraig also reads his poem “The Exorcism” from his “Seven Deadly Sonnets” collection.

✨ Click here to watch the video version of this episode on YouTube:

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✨ Join Thomas, Pádraig, and over 40 expert leaders in trauma-healing, embodiment, somatics, and social change for 7 days of embodied practices, guided reflection, and powerful interviews at the Collective Trauma Summit 2025.

This free, online event will help you deepen your understanding of trauma, learn practices for deeper presence, regulation, and compassion, and connect with a supportive global community.

The Summit begins on October 12.

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✨ Pádraig Ó Tuama is a poet with interests in conflict, language, and religion. He presents Poetry Unbound from On Being Studios and has published two anthologies. In early 2025, Copper Canyon Press published Kitchen Hymns, his fourth poetry collection. A freelance artist, one of Ó Tuama’s projects is poet in residence with the Cooperation and Conflict Resolution Center at Columbia University. He splits his time between Belfast and New York City.

Connect with Pádraig here:

👉 https://www.padraigotuama.com

Thomas Hübl, PhD, is a renowned teacher, author, and international facilitator who works within the complexity of systems and cultural change, integrating the core insights of the great wisdom traditions and mysticism with the discoveries of science. Since the early 2000s, he has led large-scale events and courses on the healing of collective trauma.

In addition to Attuned, he is the author of Healing Collective Trauma: A Process for Integrating Our Intergenerational and Cultural Wounds. He has served as an advisor and guest faculty for universities and organizations, as a coach for CEOs and organizational leaders, and is currently a visiting scholar at the Wyss Institute at Harvard University.

✨ Connect with Thomas here:

Website: https://thomashuebl.com/

Facebook: https://facebook.com/Thomas.Huebl.Sangha/

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✨ Order Thomas Hübl’s newest book, “Attuned: Practicing Interdependence to Heal Our Trauma–And Our World,” here:

👉 https://www.attunedbook.com/

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