Healing Together: How Trauma Affects Your Marriage | Marriage Minute

The Naked Marriage with Dave & Ashley Willis

XO Marriage

Relationships, Society & Culture, Religion & Spirituality

4.8 • 2.8K Ratings

🗓️ 1 May 2026

⏱️ 2 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Every person carries wounds — and if left unaddressed, those wounds will show up in your marriage. In this Marriage Minute, Dave and Ashley Willis break down how past trauma silently damages even the strongest relationships, why we unconsciously push away the people who love us most, and what it takes to break the cycle. Whether you're dealing with childhood trauma, emotional baggage, trust issues, or communication breakdown in your marriage, this episode speaks directly to the heart of what so many couples are quietly struggling with. Dave and Ashley also dive into the powerful biblical story of Hosea — a timeless picture of unconditional love, pursuing a spouse who keeps pulling away, and how God's relentless love for us mirrors what healthy, grace-filled marriage can look like. If you're searching for Christian marriage advice, marriage healing, or how to support a spouse with trauma, this short episode is the perfect place to start. Join us every Monday for full-length episodes packed with real, practical marriage help. _______________ We want your marriage to thrive! Learn more at http://xomarriage.com Dave and Ashley Willis spent thirteen years in full-time church ministry before devoting their work entirely toward the global mission of building stronger, Christ-centered marriages. Their marriage-related books, blogs, podcast, speaking events and media resources have reached millions of couples around the world making Dave and Ashley one of the most recognized and trusted couples in marriage ministry. Dave and Ashley partnered with XO Marriage in 2018. XO Marriage is the nation's largest marriage-focused ministry. The Willis family includes four sons and a rescue dog named "Chi Chi." When Dave and Ashley aren't writing and speaking, they love hanging out with their family, watching movies and going on long walks which is also where they develop many of their marriage ministry content ideas. Learn more about Dave & Ashley at daveandashley.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	If you're a reader like me, Ex-O Marriage has some incredible resources that have helped couples for decades.
0:06.8	Books like Marriage on the Rock and The Four Laws of Love by Jimmy Evans break down timeless principles in a way that's practical and easy to apply.
0:15.0	You can find these books and many more through Ex-O Marriage. Just head to XOM Marriage.com.
0:21.7	Hey friends, Dave and Ashley here. Welcome to the Marriage Minute on the Naked Marriage
0:25.9	Podcast. We're so glad that you're here. And we are doing the Marriage Minute because sometimes
0:29.8	we just don't have time to listen to a full-length episode. So we want to give you a little
0:33.3	tidbit of marriage encouragement as you go into your weekend. So let's dive in.
0:38.9	You know, all of us have something. There's no age barrier or anything when it comes to people need to be in their
0:43.6	recovery. It's hurt people, hurt people. You know, trauma isn't linear. Sometimes you can't even
0:48.6	figure out like the starting point. It's just it can come up whenever we can recall it very fast,
0:53.3	right? You know, when we're triggered with our trauma, sometimes we push those closest to us away, almost
0:58.0	like testing them, like how far can I take you?
1:00.2	The best thing you can do, I mean, it kind of reminds me a little bit, and this isn't exactly
1:04.1	the same story, but of Josea and how, you know, when Josea was pursuing his wife and how much she would push, you know,
1:12.7	men had used her her whole life. And she just kept on wanting to push his love away. I would
1:18.1	encourage you to go read that story. And it's really a picture of what God does to us and just
1:23.5	pursuing us as the bride of Christ. Thank you all so much for joining us for today's Marriage Minute.
1:29.6	We hope that you want to hear more of this,
1:31.5	so please join us on Monday for a full-length episode.
1:34.2	Hope to see you then.
1:38.7	Holland and Barrett's big payday event has landed.
1:41.8	So now's a good time to check in with your body. Low on energy.
	...

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