Partnered with a Survivor: David Mandel and Ruth Reymundo Mandel
Partnered with a Survivor is a professional-focused podcast created and produced by Ruth Reymundo and hosted by the Safe & Together Institute. What began as intimate conversations between Ruth and David Mandel—founder of the Institute and creator of the Safe & Together Model—about violence, relationships, abuse, and the systems that respond to them has grown into a global conversation about systems and culture change.
Hosted by Ruth and co-hosted by David, the podcast features in-depth, professionally grounded discussions about how institutions respond to domestic abuse, gender-based violence, and child maltreatment. Many episodes also feature global leaders working across fields such as child safety, men and masculinity, perpetrator accountability, fatherhood, and partnering with survivors.
Together, these conversations examine how systems often fail adult and child survivors, how societal narratives about masculinity and violence shape professional practice, and how intersectional realities—including cultural and religious beliefs, racialised identities, LGBTQ+ experiences, immigration status, disability, and other structural vulnerabilities—shape responses to abuse and violence.
The podcast offers an insider lens into how professionals navigate systems not only as practitioners, but also as parents and partners. Through candid dialogue and critical reflection, Ruth and David challenge the assumptions and structures that limit meaningful accountability, safety, and healing. The goal is collective movement across systems, cultures, and families toward greater safety, nurturance, and sustained change.
Disclaimer: Episodes contain sensitive topics and occasional mature language that may be difficult for some listeners. The views and opinions expressed by podcast guests are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of the Safe & Together Institute or its staff.
Episodes
128 episodes
Season 7, Episode 7: Coercive Control and Children: What Systems Miss | Conference Wrap-Up (Australia 2025)
Season 7 Episode 6: Domestic Abuse in Queer Relationships
Season 7 Episode 5: AI in Child Protection: Can Technology Make Social Work Safer?
Season 7 Episode 4: When Violence Hides In Plain Sight: Expanding Clinical Curiosity to Protect Children with Dr. Norell Rosado
Season 7 Episode 3: How Systems Become Tools of Coercive Control and What Professionals Must Change: An Interview with Valerie Frost
Season 7 Episode 2: 7 Years of Partnership: Survivor Leadership, Systems Change & What Comes Next
Season 7 Episode 1: No, You Can’t Arrest Your Way to Healing and Healthy Relationships with Nneka MacGregor
Season 6 Episode 24: If “Mother Is In Denial About Domestic Violence” Had a Buzzer, We’d Smash It!!!
Season 6 Episode 23: Being Seen at 60: A Birthday Conversation About Vocation, Violence & Hope
Season 6 Episode 22: Real Talk, Real Dads: From Brooklyn to Boyhood to Fatherhood with Kenneth Braswell
Season 6 Episode 21: David Challen on How Growing Up with Coercive Control Warps Childhood and Manhood
Season 6 Episode 20: Shame, Love & the Truth About Male Violence
Season 6 Episode 19: Inside Ten To Men: What Male Health Reveals About Partner Violence
Season 6 Episode 18: Broken: Women Who Survive and Cause Harm with Lisa Young Larance
Season 6 Episode 17: From Boys to Men: Dr. Kate Fitz-Gibbon on Coercion, Misidentification & Real Prevention
Season 6 Episode 16: Centering Survivor Voices: How Scottish Services Shift Blame, Raise Fatherhood Standards & Heal Families
Season 6 Episode 15: When Seeking Safety Makes You More Vulnerable: Migrant Survivors' Dilemma
Season 6 Episode 14: Violent Crime & Religion: How Religious Teachings Are Used as Justification for Child Abuse
Season 6 Episode 13: Your Pet Is Not Safe When You're Not Safe: Understanding Animal Abuse in Coercive Control
Season 6 Episode 12: Power and Pulpits: The Truth About How Religious Leaders Groom Adults
Season 6 Episode 11: We Are Not Our Trauma: Exploring Post-Traumatic Growth Beyond Deficit Models in Therapy with Oli Doyle
Season 6 Episode 10: A Champion's Journey to System-Wide Change: A Conversation with Kyra Feetham About Transforming Practice
Season 6 Episode 9: See the Person, Not Just the Problem: Kelly Daley's Award-Winning Approach
Season 6 Episode 8: The Prevention-Response Nexus: Keeping Children Safe While Breaking Cycles of Abuse
Season 6 Episode 7: Every Man: A Candid Conversation on Male Violence and Social Change with Jackson Katz