The Review
The Cokeville Miracle is the true story of an event that occurred on May 16, 1986, in an elementary school of Cokeville, WY. Doris and David Young decided that was the day they would enter the elementary school with guns and a homemade bomb to demand millions of dollars in exchange for the safety of the children. They managed to confuse the teachers enough to get all of the classes into one classroom, where they terrorized children and teachers. The children all reacted in different ways, but most significantly they all resorted to prayer, students and teachers alike. In a bizarre series of events, the bomb does detonate, however everyone escapes alive except for Doris and David Young. After the event, the children report having seen and heard angels guiding and protecting them. One particular family, the Hartley’s, is highlighted in the movie with a special focus on the father’s lack of ability to believe the report of his son regarding the angels. Scenes that had the greatest impact on my thinking include Young’s daughter standing up to her parents, the warped relationship between the Young’s, the scenes depicting the teacher’s abilities to stay calm, Ron Hartley admitting he could not fully believe, and Jason Hartley speaking the truth to his parents.
When the Youngs first arrived at the school, David Young handed a large gun to his bewildered daughter, Penny, and proceeded to threaten her life if she did not comply with his commands to enter with him and take the school by force. When Penny realized the extent of what was going on she took a stand and refused to continue to follow along with her parents. Surprisingly, they let her go and even gave her the keys to the car, in which she was able to go inform the police of what was happening.
From the very beginning of the movie, the interactions between Doris and David Young depict a very troubled relationship in which David exerted a powerful influence over Doris and she easily succumbed to his mania. Not only was Doris submissive but also excusatory of his behavior. She absolutely idolized him and did everything within her power to keep the peace between them by obeying all of his demands.
Impressive is the teacher’s abilities to remain calm throughout the ordeal. As it would turn out, some of the presumably small decisions they made were instrumental in ultimately achieving safety for the children. For example, one of the teachers suggested opening the windows, as well as putting a square made of tape around David Young so the children would not get near and bother him.
Throughout the movie, Ron Hartley is depicted as a man struggling with his faith in God after witnessing so much pain and suffering as a police officer. During the entire time of the hostage situation, he and the other police officers were not in town and therefore not available to help. This results in a confusing mesh of feelings regarding what happened and why it happened. So great is his struggle that he embarks on a journey to determine whether he can find enough evidence for the claim that angels were there in the room helping the children and teachers. At one point, he admits to his wife that although he has an overwhelming amount of evidence to support the claim, he just cannot believe it.
Jason Hartley, on the other hand, boldly stands in the truth he experienced. Although not at first. When Jason was taken to receive mental health aid, he is persuaded to speak the truth to his father which he does in separate occasions.
Throughout the scenes in which the children are being held hostage in the classroom, it is worth paying attention to the way their reactions fluctuate as they attempt to make sense of it all.
Therapeutic Implications
The specific therapeutic value for use in the counseling process in the scene of Penny standing up to her parents is the demonstration of choosing to do the correct thing, even in the face of adversity. At times clients may feel overwhelmed by circumstances in such a way that it paralyzes their actions. Other times, they run, fight against, or submit to what is going on (Blaustein & Kinniburgh, 2019). The body’s stress response system is capable of all these responses. Penny’s initial reaction was to submit to her father’s outrageous demands. However, something caused her to decide to flee. Interestingly, she announced that she would, and her parents react by allowing her to do so, a completely unexpected reaction. However, fleeing did cause her to not only save herself from the horrible situation but also to alert the authorities of the incident. This situation in the movie can be used to explain the different stress reactions that a person can experience in the course of a traumatic experience. With that understanding in mind, the rest of the movie can be used to evaluate the different stress responses exhibited by the characters.
The relationship between the Youngs is characteristic of an abusive relationship in which the woman changes her perception of reality in order to cope with the stress. At one point during the hostage situation in the classroom, Doris made a statement to one of the teachers that she does whatever she can to keep the peace in the home. This is also evident in a scene in which Doris and David have an argument based on his anger over the milk finishing, even though he poured it out on purpose. Her response to his anger was to immediately run out to get more milk. After she leaves, he proceeded to make a personal phone call that he clearly did not want her to overhear. Therefore, the viewer is made aware that David knew she would react submissively and immediately run out to get the milk. He manipulated the situation in order to get what he wanted. Throughout the movie, Doris’s thoughts and actions towards David can be used as tools to bring awareness of the concept of submission and even re-creation of reality to avoid stress.
The scenes depicting the teacher’s abilities to stay calm can also be used therapeutically for the purposes of further understanding the stress response. Several teachers were able to regulate their emotions and still think clearly. For example, one teacher had the suggestions of opening the windows and making a square around David Young. Both of these suggestions demonstrate the teacher using his cognitive abilities to solve problems. During a body’s stress response, the limbic system and brainstem tend to take over and shut down the cortical areas which allow for the ability to problem solve (Blaustein & Kinniburgh, 2019). Therefore, both suggestions demonstrate that teacher was not in panic stress mode even in the middle of a highly stressful and traumatic situation and was able to think clearly and possibly have saved many lives because of that.
Ron Hartley admitting he could not fully believe after all of the evidence presented of there being angels in the room helping and guiding can be used, especially by a Christian therapist, to bring awareness to the connection between head and heart. He had the information he needed to believe, but anger was still blocking his heart from being able to receive it. A discussion about the kinds of emotions that could be blocking the heart of the client from walking in wholeness with God may lead to greater awareness.
Lastly, Jason Hartley speaking the truth to his parents would be of great use with older children capable of understanding how important it is to trust loving parents and allowing God to move through the truth being spoken. This is especially helpful because at first Jason does not say the truth because he was afraid. A discussion of fear of revealing truth would be beneficial in several circumstances in therapy.
Personal Implications
I connected with this movie as a parent and former teacher. As a parent it caused me to wonder how I would react in such a situation. In my mind I pray that my children are God’s and His will in their lives is sufficient for me. However, in circumstances like these although I hope to have the faith to endure whatever outcome may present itself, I do not believe anyone can know unless they are in the actual situation. I believe this is the true basis for empathy; the ability to recognize that you have no idea how you would truly react and understand the reactions of others as coping mechanisms without judgement. It was amazing to see in a scene close to the end of the movie how one mother chose to pray first. She had received the phone call of what was going on at the school and all that was shown in the beginning of the movie was how she dropped the phone right away and ran. However, at the end, the scene is replayed. We are able to see the phone still dangling with the addition of her kneeling in the background praying, right before she jumps up to go to the school. I personally pray that in the middle of a very difficult situation, I will be able to first stop and pray, knowing that all things are in His hands and that His will is always perfect and good. Although this does not mean there will always be a positive outcome, believers can rest assured that He is worthy of trust for any outcome.
As a former teacher, several thoughts came to mind. I was amazed at the patience and trust in God they demonstrated. Throughout the hostage situation, I continuously thought of ways I would have wanted to act to protect the children and get them out of harm’s way. I identified with Rob Hartley’s comment that if he would have been there, he would have rushed in and possibly have caused the death of many people. During my years as an educator, we performed many drills to simulate how to react in the event of an active shooter. We never learned how to react in the event of a bomb or hostage situation. Therefore, I continuously looked for ways and moments to escape throughout the hostage scenes. I even became somewhat upset that no teacher was doing anything to get them out. All of those feelings brought conviction as I later found out they had been praying throughout the ordeal. How can we interrupt the physiological response of fight, flight, freeze, or submit, and insert pray before any kind of action? This must only happen through habit. The point of school drills is to cause the body to learn the motions so that if the situation happens, then not much thought is required, and the body can simply do what it has been trained to do. Therefore, believers must be in constant prayer before any situation as a way to train our bodies in the correct action before the reaction comes.
The movie also recalled the concept of resilient children. Blaustein and Kinniburgh (2019) state, “the most consistent predictor of resilience for high-risk children is a safe, nurturant bond with a single person”. Although there are several concepts that can predict resilience, childhood is a vulnerable time both for growth and for trauma (Blaustein & Kinniburgh, 2019). The children of Cokeville that were highlighted in the movie all had supportive families, faith, and community. Those children had the potential for growth through this trauma because of the number of safe adults around them to help them.
I can use this information personally to grow in my faith. This movie was a reminder that God listens to our prayers. In particular, Matthew 26:53 comes to mind which states, “Or do you think that I am not able to pray to My Father now, and He shall provide Me with more than twelve legions of messengers?” (The Scriptures, 2018). Messengers are all throughout Scripture, and yet sometimes we live as if we are on this journey alone. This movie was a reminder that throughout all the different circumstances of life, prayer can unleash the power of God in our lives.
Professional Implications
This movie impacted my thinking professionally by considering how community crisis counseling could work. Although we are not shown in the movie much about the immediate crisis interventions completed, we do see a community who gathered together in prayer during the event. Kennedy-Paine (2018), an experienced crisis response school psychologist discusses the myriad of responses required in the aftermath of a school shooting. Through all of the unfortunate times that experience has been her teacher, she has seen the effects schools can have in the community in promoting healing and hope (Kennedy-Paine, 2018). The incidence of school shootings and similar crisis situations is all too real for counselors working with children. There is a need to have accurate and flexible protocols in place to follow in the aftermath of these devastating situations (Kennedy-Paine, 2018). Additionally, she highlights the understanding that the entire community is affected by these situations. Because they are so pervasive and devastating the importance of crisis response models cannot be overstated. Kennedy-Paine (2018, p. 202) also states, “because of these potentially negative effects (depressive disorders, anxiety disorders, trauma-related disorders, dissociative disorders, sleep-wake disorders, and substance-related and addictive disorders), schools must be prepared to address all phases of a crisis: prevention, protection, mitigation, response, and recovery”. Counselors must develop a trauma-informed approach to working with children, partly because trauma is an unfortunate reality of life and partly because of the inescapable reality of school violence.
My delivery of therapeutic interventions will be informed as I consider the effects of trauma on children who have strong attachment relationships. Blaustein and Kinniburgh (2019) state, “the earliest understanding of self, other, and self in relation to other grows in the context of attachment relationships”. This attachment relationship is especially important during early childhood, when the child is determining who he is and learning from the way those around him act and react. Based on the movie, it seems that secure attachment relationships have the capacity to be very strong buffers against trauma. In the end credits, some of the real individuals share testimony and pictures of their families. One particular woman shares the appreciation she feels for being alive after what they endured. The ability to not only survive, but also experience positive psychological changes post trauma is called posttraumatic growth (PTG) (Tedeschi et al., 2018). It seems that PTG can possibly explain the ability of so many of them to be able to succeed and have their own beautiful, large families, due to the the availability of secure attachments during their early childhood.
This movie has increased my competence in therapy by reminding me of the power of prayer. Hawkins and Clinton (2015) emphasize not only praying for ourselves and our clients, but, when stated in the consent forms, we can also teach clients how to pray the Scriptures. Just in the Psalms, there is despair, hope, and honest, painful emotions poured out to a God who cares enough to hear them (Hawkins & Clinton, 2015). The competent Christian counselor is able to allow the use of prayer to become a fundamental aspect of the change in priorities that may be occurring in clients (Hawkins & Clinton, 2015). Prayer can also be used as homework in between sessions if the client seems open to studying the different kinds of prayers modeled in Scripture (Hawkins & Clinton, 2015). And lastly, out loud prayer with the clients may also lead to healing and honesty if the client chooses to pray (Hawkins & Clinton, 2015).
Therefore, not only is prayer capable of being effective because of the therapeutic value in it, but most importantly, the Spirit of God is invited into the therapeutic relationship. It is no longer two people, but three, with one of them being the Almighty Counselor, sent to us by Yeshua to guide us into all truth (Hawkins & Clinton, 2015). We must remember to present our requests to God (Philippians 4:6, The Scriptures, 2018).
Blaustein, M.E. & Kinniburgh, K.M. (2019). Treating traumatic stress in children and adolescents (2nd ed.): How to foster resilience through attachment, self-regulation, and competency. The Guilford Press.
Hawkins, R. & Clinton, T. (2015). The new Christian counselor: A fresh biblical &
transformational approach. Harvest House Publishers.
Kennedy-Paine, C. (2018). Hope and healing: A community response to a school shooting. In
Roth, J.C., & Fernandez, B.S. (Eds.), Perspectives on school crisis response: Reflections from the field (1st ed.)(pp. 199-214). Routledge. https://doiorg.ezproxy.liberty.edu/10.4324/9781315301471
Tedeschi, R.G., Shakespeare-Finch, J., Taku, K., & Calhoun, L. (2018). Posttraumatic growth:
Theory, research, and applications. Routledge.
The Scriptures. (2018). Institute for Scripture Research.
Discerning Trauma 