Walking the Middle Path

Walking the Middle Path

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Walking the Middle Path
Walking the Middle Path
"Are unhealthy relationships always abusive?"

"Are unhealthy relationships always abusive?"

A Surviving Purity Culture Interview with Sarah McDugal

Camden Morgante's avatar
Camden Morgante
Sep 27, 2024
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Walking the Middle Path
Walking the Middle Path
"Are unhealthy relationships always abusive?"
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Welcome to Surviving Purity Culture, a mini-series of interviews with purity culture survivors and diverse experts. These are the full-length transcripts of the interviews I conducted for my book, Recovering from Purity Culture. In order to protect both the women’s stories and the material in my book, this mini-series will only be available to paid subscribers or members of my launch team.

Welcome to this Surviving Purity Culture Interview with coach, author, and abuse expert Sarah McDugal. Here is a line-up of this Mini-Series.

Experts:

  • Brittany Broaddus-Smith, a Christian sexologist: Purity Culture's Effects on Black Women

  • Bridget Eileen Rivera, an activist and author: Purity Culture’s Effects on Queer Christians

  • Sarah McDugal, an advocate and coach: How to Recognize Unhealthy or Abusive Relationships

Survivors’ Stories:

  • “Carrie”: prolonged singleness

  • “Nicole”: divorce and marital rape

  • Emily: dating and reconstructing your sexual ethic after the death of your spouse

  • “Elizabeth”: dating and your sexual ethic after divorce

  • Alisha: abusive marriage and remarriage after divorce

  • Hanna: vaginismus in marriage


Sarah and I will be going live TODAY at 11am EST on her Facebook if you would like to join us to discuss more on the topic of abusive marriages and purity culture.

I was introduced to Sarah’s work through our mutual friend and colleague, Sheila Wray Gregoire.

Sarah runs Wilderness to WILD, an online community with courses, coaching, and groups to empower women to thrive after trauma.

Walking the Middle Path is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Sarah’s own story includes trauma. She got married at age 23 to a seminary student and had a son and daughter back-to-back. At the time, she didn’t know she was in a domestic abusive marriage. Her husband was the senior pastor at a big church and got caught with child sexual abuse material at the church. (You can read her full story of healing in her books and on her website.)

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