The Rising Beyond Podcast
If you're trying to protect your children while navigating an abusive ex, this podcast is for you. Because leaving the relationship didn't end the abuse, and no one prepared you for what came next.
The Rising Beyond Podcast is for protective mothers navigating the overwhelming reality of sharing children with someone who continues patterns of manipulation, coercive control, or emotional abuse after separation. Join Sybil Cummin, licensed professional counselor, who has spent the last decade helping survivors and their children navigate this incredibly difficult chapter. Every week, we share trauma-informed education, nervous system insights, protective parenting strategies, and honest conversations about family court, post-separation abuse, and healing, so you can feel more confident, more grounded, and better equipped to protect both your children and yourself.
Whether you're in the middle of family court, struggling with parenting alongside someone who continues patterns of control, or simply trying to become the parent you want to be after everything you've survived, you'll find validation, practical guidance, and hope here.
The Rising Beyond Podcast
Ep 215: When Justice Isn't Accessible: Closing the Gaps in Legal Support for Survivors with Heather Bellino
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Leaving an abusive relationship is only the beginning.
For many survivors, the legal system becomes the next obstacle, especially when financial abuse, intimidation, and limited access to legal representation leave them trying to navigate family court alone.
I'm talking with Heather Bellino from the Texas Advocacy Project to discuss the often-overlooked civil legal needs of survivors and the systemic gaps that continue to put families at risk. Although Texas Advocacy Project serves survivors in Texas, the themes discussed apply to communities across the United States.
We explore how coordinated community responses, trauma-informed legal advocacy, and increased collaboration between professionals can improve both safety and access to justice.
We discuss:
- The difference between criminal and civil legal remedies for survivors
- Why protective orders, custody, and family court often determine a survivor's immediate safety
- Why abuse must be understood as a pattern of coercive control, not isolated incidents
- How stalking and coercive control are frequently minimized when viewed one event at a time
- The importance of trauma-informed judges, evaluators, and court professionals
- Why passing new legislation is only the first step—and why implementation matters
- The role of court watchers in increasing accountability and transparency
- How Texas Advocacy Project helps survivors who must represent themselves in court (pro se)
- Why knowing your legal rights can be empowering after coercive control
- The importance of coordinated community responses rather than organizations working in silos
- Why funding survivor services is essential to long-term systemic change
Survivors shouldn't have to navigate complex legal systems alone. When professionals collaborate, communities invest in survivor-centered services, and systems understand coercive control as a pattern rather than isolated incidents, families have a far greater chance of finding both safety and justice.
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