Partnered with a Survivor Podcast
Hosted by Safe & Together Institute founder David Mandel, MA, LPC, and his partner and Safe & Together Institute co-owner Ruth Reymundo Mandel, who grew up in an institutional setting where she was subjected to family separation and abuse as a child, Partnered with a Survivor is a series of conversations. What started as intimate conversations between David and Ruth that ranged from personal to professional experiences around violence, relationships, abuse, and systemic and professional responses that harm, not help, has now become a global conversation about systems and culture change.
In many episodes, David and Ruth are joined by a global leader in different areas like child safety, men and masculinity, and, of course, partnering with survivors. Each episode is a deep dive into complex topics like how systems fail domestic abuse survivors and their children, societal views of masculinity and violence, and how intersectionalities such as cultural beliefs, religious beliefs, and unique vulnerabilities impact how we respond to abuse and violence. These far-ranging discussions offer an insider look into how we navigate the world together as professionals, as parents, and as partners. During these podcasts, David and Ruth challenge the notions that keep all of us from moving forward collectively as systems, as cultures, and as families into safety, nurturance, and healing. We hope you join us.
Note: Episodes contain sensitive topics and occasional mature language that may be difficult for some listeners.
Check Out All of Our Podcast Episodes
Season 6 Episode 19: Inside Ten To Men: What Male Health Reveals About Partner Violence
A stadium’s worth of men—every year. That’s the scale of new IPV use suggested by Ten To Men, Australia’s landmark longitudinal study of male health. We sit down with Karlee O’Donnell, a researcher with the Australian Institute of Family Studies, to unpack what the data really says about how depression, suicidality, paternal warmth, and social support shape men’s risk—and what actually works to prevent harm.
Season 6 Episode 11: We Are Not Our Trauma: Exploring Post-Traumatic Growth Beyond Deficit Models in Therapy with Oli Doyle
In this powerful conversation, therapist and trauma survivor Oli Doyle joins David and Ruth to challenge conventional therapeutic wisdom that keeps trauma survivors stuck in cycles of shame and self-blame. Together, they explore how true healing begins with recognizing the remarkable resilience that allowed survivors to endure seemingly impossible circumstances.
