Genesis The Podcast

In this episode author and survivor Jessi Bixler shares the story behind her memoir, The Story We Share: How One Sexual Assault Rippled Through a Family and Their Fight for Healing, recounting the assault that occurred in her home in 2013, the immediate aftermath, the failures of the criminal justice system, and her family’s decision to pursue civil accountability.
The conversation explores how trauma can fracture memory, disrupt relationships, and leave loved ones unsure of how to help. Jessi reflects on the role her husband, parents, brother, and friends played in her recovery, and how writing the book opened long-overdue conversations that ultimately strengthened many of those relationships. She also discusses her advocacy work with MOCSA, the importance of believing survivors, and why silence can deepen isolation. Jessi’s message to survivors is clear and compassionate: find your person, seek support, and know that there are people and organizations ready to believe you.

What if fear isn’t weakness… but wisdom?
In this powerful episode of Genesis the Podcast, Maria MacMullin sits down with Genesis CEO Jan Langbein to unpack a truth we don’t talk about enough:
for women experiencing abuse, fear is not an overreaction—it’s a signal.
A signal that something isn’t safe.
A signal that control is taking hold.
A signal that it’s time to listen.
Together, they explore how fear shows up long before physical violence, why it’s so often dismissed by others, and how that dismissal can deepen isolation and self-doubt. But this conversation doesn’t stop there.
It also reveals something extraordinary:
fear can be the beginning of courage.
Through real stories from Genesis, you’ll hear how women—while still afraid—take brave, life-changing steps toward safety, healing, and hope. Because bravery isn’t the absence of fear… it’s what we do in spite of it.
💜 If you’ve ever questioned your instincts, this episode is for you.
💜 If you want to better support someone who may be afraid, this episode is for you.
💜 And if you believe we must do better at listening, believing, and responding to domestic violence—this episode is for all of us.

Fear is one of the most powerful personal safety tools we have, because it’s often the first hint that something is off. In this episode, we sit down with expert and author Laura Frombach to talk about fear as useful data, not drama. We break down the difference between being afraid and being aware, and we share a simple, practical approach to situational awareness using the military-style color codes (green, yellow, orange, red). The goal is not to live in panic, but to stay calm, notice sooner, and act earlier when something feels wrong. From Laura we also learn:
How offenders test boundaries.
How women are socialized to “keep the peace,” and why that conditioning can be dangerous in real time. 
How intuition is your nervous system's “hardware,” and how social rules can act like “software malware” that teaches you to talk yourself out of your own instincts. 
Practical safety planning ideas, boundary-setting scripts, and a reminder to look out for others when we can.
We also name a truth we never want to lose sight of: people can do everything right and still be harmed, and responsibility always belongs to the perpetrator, not the victim.

Fear can keep someone alive and it can also keep them trapped. To explore this topic, we sit down with Ruth Guerreiro, Chief Clinical Officer at Genesis Women’s Shelter & Support, to unpack how abusers weaponize fear to establish power and control, ensure compliance, and cut off escape routes long before anyone sees a bruise.

In this episode, we break down the real-world mechanics of coercive control: threats, monitoring, intimidation, isolation, social engineering, and the quiet ways an abusive partner interferes with a survivor’s ability to function day to day. Ruth explains why fear can be present without physical violence, what hypervigilance can look like (constant check-ins, “proof” photos, changing hobbies, always scanning for mood shifts), and why the question “why didn’t she leave?” ignores the fact that danger often escalates during and after leaving.

We also revisit survival responses to danger: fight, flight, freeze, and fawn, plus how abusers and even outsiders can misinterpret those responses in courtrooms, families, and communities. You will hear practical, compassionate next steps, including safety planning ideas for friends and family, and how to reach confidential support even if you are not ready to make a big decision.

Fear can hit in a split second, before we have words for it, and then we’re left wondering why we reacted the way we did. With this episode we begin our 4 part series about fear by getting specific about the science. With Jordyn Lawson, Chief Residential Officer at Genesis Women’s Shelter & Support, we unpack what fear really is in the brain and body, why it’s tied to survival, and how the amygdala works like a smoke alarm that can shut down the thinking brain when it senses danger.

We talk through fight, flight, freeze, and fawn, including why “freeze” can feel like total paralysis and why memory can get fuzzy during terrifying moments. We also explore the difference between real threat and perceived threat, and how trauma can make the nervous system extra sensitive to cues that resemble past danger. For survivors of domestic violence, that context matters: fear often tracks patterns, and instinct can be protective even when other people dismiss it.

From there, we move into PTSD and complex PTSD, the impact of chronic fear on adults and children, and the behaviors that can grow out of survival mode, like anger, avoidance, people-pleasing, isolation, perfectionism, and dysregulation. We close with practical nervous system regulation tools you can use right away, including simple grounding, box breathing, five-finger breathing, cold water, and paced movement, plus the mindset shift we keep coming back to: fear isn’t the problem, what happened is.