Date of Award

2018

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Ministry (DMin)

Department

Seminary

First Advisor

Deborah Loyd, DMin

Second Advisor

Jeffrey Savage, DMin

Third Advisor

MaryKate Morse, PhD

Abstract

For some who partake in the wonders of marriage, the experiences of pleasant memories and successful challenges mark their dreams in their twilight years. For couples where one or both experienced childhood sexual abuse (CSA), marital challenges have far greater negative effect on each of the marital partners—their twilight dreams may not be so pleasant. Although many couples experience setbacks and hardships, for the couple affected by CSA, the setbacks are experienced with greater intensity and duration. This dissertation will highlight research quantifying the negative long-term consequences of CSA. I also will give examples of qualitative research that describes the partner’s experience. Section one presents the problem CSA inflicts on marriages as well as the challenges the partners face. Section two is a review of current popular literature written to assist partners who are married to a CSA survivor. Section three describes how using Bowen’s Family Systems Theory, spiritual formation practices, humility, and projective exercises can assist the partner and couple in experiencing a rewarding relationship. This section informs the trajectory of the artifact. Section four introduces the artifact—a curriculum. The section begins with how the frog projective exercises were developed and how they work within the book. There are eleven chapters in the artifact, which covers various areas of marital concerns. Areas covered include, introduction to spiritual formation, dissociation, church resources, and intimacy challenges to name a few. ix Section five contains the formal presentations that will be presented to a publisher. In conclusion, section six is a summary of my experience researching and developing the ideas presented in this dissertation. This section provides the reader with ideas of further study, what surprised me, and what I found to be the most important parts of discovery during this process.

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