Eligibility Criteria
The Ph.D. candidate’s Theological Practicum must be supervised by a qualified mentor with at least five years of experience in a spiritual approach to integrating survivors of sexual exploitation with dissociative identity disorder.
The mentor must be born-again (John 3:7) and an ordained member of the Christian clergy holding a terminal degree (Ph.D., Th.D., or D.Min.). Alternatively, the mentor may be a licensed Christian mental health counselor or a Christian clinical psychologist with a terminal degree (Ph.D. or Psy.D.), provided they also utilize a spiritual approach to integrate their survivor counselees.
During the Theological Practicum, the Ph.D. candidate will spiritually counsel a focus group of survivors for integration, applying insights from their coursework, dissertation research, mentorships, and supervisor guidance. The candidate will report their transformational findings in their dissertation and present these results during their oral defense. If the Ph.D. candidate’s research cannot be effectively applied, they will not pass the theological practicum and, consequently, will not be eligible for graduation.
The Transformational Theology dissertation textbook by Thomas Luke, Ph.D., has specific lesson content due to its application and methods. Rev. Dr. Thomas Luke received the Theological Practicum Award because both survivors he counseled achieved integration from dissociative identity disorder and were healed of post-traumatic stress disorder within ninety days.
Rev. Dr. Luke’s profoundly effective spiritual integration counseling system is a central tenet of transformational theology, facilitating recovery and integration from traumatic experiences. Luke attributes the healing process solely to the Spirit of Jesus (Philippians 1:19, EXB, “Because I know ·this trouble [this] will ·bring my [result in] ·freedom [deliverance; or salvation], through your prayers and the ·help of [support from] the Spirit of Jesus Christ.”).
Luke asserts that Jesus is the reason his spiritual integration counseling system is so effective, contrasting it with the secular mental health approach that does not incorporate Jesus into the treatment of the disorder. Instead, he employs a spiritual approach to integrate survivors of sexual exploitation with dissociative identity disorder. Professor Luke clarifies that his contribution was learning and applying the spiritual integration counseling system from his mentors.
Rev. Dr. Thomas Luke also underwent extensive weekly mentoring for three years, which he applied as spiritual integration counseling or soul-surgery—a practice born out of transformational theology. Furthermore, Dr. Luke has twenty years of combined research in this discipline (2003-2023).
Dr. Luke emphasizes to survivors the importance of cooperating with God during spiritual integration counseling to achieve healing and spiritual maturity (1 Corinthians 3:9, NIV, “For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building.”).
Survivors are instructed to engage in Christian spiritual activities that strengthen their faith in Jesus Christ as they begin their journey toward integration. These activities include evangelism and discipleship of alter-personalities, journaling, self-reflection, counseling, Christian worship, and being heard without judgment. Understanding the trauma lens is crucial when working with dissociative identity disorder survivors; without it, their dysfunctional sexual behaviors will remain incomprehensible. Judging others’ behavior is a temptation arising from a lack of understanding the context of their acting out, often fueled by unresolved childhood sexual abuse trauma.
Secular Mental Health View
According to a Psych-Central journal article, dissociative identity disorder has no permanent cure. However, therapy can lessen symptoms and improve quality of life. DID, a rare disorder affecting approximately 1.5% of the population, is characterized by one or more separate personality states. While psychiatric medications do not cure DID, some may help manage frequently lifelong symptoms. The experience of DID treatment and recovery is unique to each individual. Mental health professionals may recommend therapies to help manage co-occurring conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and anxiety. Scientifically, there is no guaranteed healing for DID, PTSD, and other traumas caused by childhood sexual abuse.
Byproduct
According to Dr. Luke, mental health restoration is a byproduct of addressing a survivor’s spiritual condition through a spiritual approach to the integration of their psyche. He states, “The Lord Jesus Christ is the one who decides when to heal someone [Psalm 147:3, NIV, “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.”]. The ninety-two-day integration of his counselees is not a guaranteed timeframe for all survivors diagnosed with dissociative identity disorder.”
