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The book of Job asks the timeless question: Why do bad things happen to good people?

Job's outrage at innocent suffering is validated. Therapy provides a place to create meaning from suffering.

Part of healing is recognizing our profound vulnerability while continuing forward with resilience.

A few years ago, my patient's child was admitted to the ICU with pneumonia.

"Dr. Pauker, why did this happen? She's such a baby. Just 2 years old. What could she have done wrong? I don't think I can go on if anything happens to her..."

My patient's plea echoed in my ears as anguish and panic reverberated throughout the world in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, a modern plague that, at that time, felt almost Biblical in scale. Her question also brought me back to a discussion about the book of Job that took place in my study group of psychoanalysts, who met monthly for over a decade examining Biblical texts through a psychoanalytic lens. Job confronts a question that emerges in every therapist's office: How do we make sense of devastating loss when no explanation feels adequate?

The Book of Job as a Psychological Narrative of Trauma

The Book of Job is the quintessential Bible story that addresses loss and confrontation with God. It invites the question, “Why, if there is a just God, do the good and righteous suffer?” Or, more colloquially, Why do bad things happen to good people?

To summarize the tale: Job is a good, prosperous family man whom........

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