Creative Maladjustment: Confessions of a Trauma-Informed Systemic Therapist

Larger systems impact communities, families, and persons alike. In this talk, Dr. Davis draws insights from systemic therapies to explore approaches to care that chart paths towards “creative maladjustment” to conditions that diminish human dignity and flourishing. Most often, maladjustment refers to an individual’s difficulty adapting to their environment. The problem? Environments are not of an individual’s making and do not always promote an individual’s flourishing. Creative maladjustment, a term coined by Martin Luther King Jr. in his 1967 address to the American Psychological Association, refers to the deliberate and conscious refusal to adapt to unjust or harmful systems. It’s not about a lack of wellness, but rather about resisting and challenging the status quo in creative, constructive, and collective ways.

Experience a series of captivating “TED Talk” style lectures at CTS Talks. Delivered by distinguished guests who are subject matter experts, these thought-provoking talks provide a platform to gain insight on topics that tie together intellectual curiosity and community reflection.

Rev. Dr. Christina Jones Davis

Rev. Dr. Christina Jones Davis is the Clinical Professor of Pastoral Theology and Marriage and Family Therapy at Christian Theological Seminary (CTS). Dr. Davis’ research and teaching interests focus on spiritually integrated counseling, substance abuse and addiction treatment, and relational psychoanalytic theory and self-state multiplicity among women of color. Accordingly, Professor Davis has taught or is scheduled to teach courses on Crisis Care, Foundations of Pastoral Care, Theological Perspectives on Pastoral and Spiritual Care, Social & Cultural Dimensions of Counseling, and Psychodynamic Family Therapy.

Prior to joining CTS, Dr. Davis accumulated a decade of experience in pastoral care and counseling. She is a licensed marriage and family therapist in the District of Columbia, Virginia, and Georgia and is an active member of the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy, the Society of Pastoral Theology, and the American Association for Pastoral Counseling.

An ordained minister in the Progressive National Baptist Church, Dr. Davis also holds a Th.D. in Pastoral Care and Counseling from the Emory University Candler School of Theology where she was bestowed with the W.E.B. DuBois Noomo Award for Academic Excellence.