Date

9-17-2026

Department

School of Behavioral Sciences

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology (PhD)

Chair

Joyce Brady

Keywords

childhood sexual abuse, relationship quality, partner support, intimate relationships, attachment theory, social support theory, relational healing

Disciplines

Counseling | Psychology

Abstract

Survivors of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) often experience long-term disruptions in their ability to form and maintain healthy adult intimate relationships. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to explore how adult survivors described partner support and its impact on their relational healing and the quality of their intimate relationships. Eleven adults who had experienced CSA and had participated in a committed intimate relationship lasting at least 12 months were recruited through a combination of convenience, purposive, and snowball sampling. Data were collected through demographic questionnaires, a Lived Experiences Timeline Activity (LETA) sheet, semi-structured interviews, field notes, and memos. Data analysis was guided by Moustakas’s seven-phase phenomenological process for thematic analysis. Five themes emerged: searching for love, worth, and belonging after relational wounding; testing and building safety in intimate relationships; reclaiming the body, boundaries, and consent; faith, shame, and meaning-making in healing; and moving from survival patterns toward relational healing. Partner support was helpful when partners responded to disclosure with care, listened without judgment, remained emotionally present, respected boundaries, and supported healing at the survivor’s pace. Healing was hindered by minimization, emotional unavailability, control, sexual pressure, boundary violations, inconsistency, and limited trauma understanding. The findings suggest that partner support can strengthen or undermine survivors’ safety, agency, connection, and relational healing.

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