The podcast is good and I really like the host she seems nice and ask good questions, but the victims are lowkey the worst. I’ve never heard so many grown adults not only get themselves into these situations but also blame everyone for not helping them get out of them.especially the breeanna girl . She says so many times that “nobody did anything”.like girl you followed this man across the country MULTIPLE times. Idk I hate to victim blame but literally non of the people she brings on ,really seem to have grown enough to realize their part in the situations and it’s kinda frustrating to listen too

Came to this podcast from “Toxic: The Podcast” who interviewed the subject for Season 1, Kayla. I started all 3 seasons at the same time bouncing between the women’s stories as I drove. It allowed me to easily pass on experiences that I was not relating to and in some cases totally triggered/turned off by. I’d recommend bouncing around a bit to see if you connect with/ learn something from one or more of the ladies. So far- Season 3, Emily is going well. The Pros: 1. The host, Rachel. At least in seasons 1 & 2, she starts each episode with an aspect or red flag of DV and gives a great explication- this has to be so informative for people who only know something was/is wrong- but don’t yet have the word or definition for what is going on. I wish there was more of this throughout and less of some of the more dragged out stories. I’m also pretty sure it’s not her who experienced DV, but her friend Kayla brought her into the DV realm- think that’s awesome she was such an ally since it’s often impossible for victims to have the energy or mental/emotional strength to do the advocacy work. 2. The women’s experiences and stories are all across the spectrum- so where I absolutely hated the podcast during one woman’s story- I really appreciated and bookmarked parts of another woman’s. Being able to find an experience like your own (no matter how wild) is amazingly healing on its own. The Cons: 1. I’m proud of all the women for having the courage to tell their stories; but where I am in my journey- it was frustrating to hear zero accountability from some of the women- especially after having time away from the relationship. If they can’t circle back around after time & space and realize where they were actively feeding this monster and storming over red flags- they’re prone to repeating the cycle. Episode 59 of “Toxic The Podcast” with psychotherapist Talia Bomba covered just this very well. 2. The music. If I have to listen to it- please make it shorter. 3. Hypocrisy: it turns me off and I’m sure a lot of possible allies when there are drastic double standards for men and women in relationships and what is abusive vs not a big deal. These are spattered throughout- but right off in Ep 3, Emily: she talks about how her husband called her a cow when she was gaining weight during her pregnancy. She and the host go on to talk about how it’s never acceptable to make fun of your partner’s appearance; yet in Season 1, Kayla said she made a comment about her partner (in the fitness industry) looking bloated and he got so upset over it and Kayla and the host went on to say that it wasn’t a big deal and mocked him. Overall- thank you to Rachel for creating this space, doing the research & the work. Huge thank you to the women speaking up- everyone’s story will resonate with someone.

I saved this podcast in my library and then forgot about it until I found it a couple of days ago. I'm so happy I found it! I've binged all 3 seasons in the last two days and I'm impressed from the very first episode. Well done ladies! Very informative wonderfully put together.

So many of these abused victims say “I can’t remember” things. I can relate. It’s so true. When you are in an abusive relationship. You literally can’t remember the moments of trauma. I have never told my entire story. I admire and respect these victims for sharing. Thank you.

I listened to the first season and kept it in my library hoping there would be more seasons. It’s really well done. I love the host. She is really smart, well spoken and compassionate. I hope she keeps making more seasons. She is doing a lot to help people heal and move forward. Thank you!

Really love stories where survivors can tell their stories!

Just discovered this podcast and binged all three seasons in the last few weeks. Thank you for giving survivors a voice and amplifying their stories!

I was really wanting to like this podcast but much like the other 1 to 2 star reviews I just can’t get passed how biased the guests are. They don’t take accountability for their own actions. It’s very hard to listen to and sympathize especially when in season 1 Kayla made comments about her partners weight and lied about getting a ride from her coworker let alone stopping at Starbucks to get a drink with him and taking her grandmas money for a trip. Don’t get me started on season 2… I started both and just couldn’t finish either one.

Great podcast. The storytelling is a little slow.

It was a choice to borrow from her grandma to go to France and 3k. This instantly turned me off for the lack of her accountability in this specific part of the story, much of the same pattern for the rest for the story.

This podcast is great. I hope it goes on for a long time. You’re helping people. And let me just say the music is spot on. Keep it up!

There’s so many pods out there now like this. This one is truly my favorite. Truly takes time to educate, share the learning and growth of the subjects. Thank you and keep it up!!

I just found this podcast and started with the most recent season. Season 3 was very well done. I have to say season 2 tho was infuriating. The fact this man was a sex offender was very glossed over. I think she really wanted to believe he wasn’t a bad person and I feel for that. But he was clearly mentally ill and needed real intervention. His crazy paranoid episodes seemed less about him being an abuser and one of someone schizophrenic. Her abuse was horrific, and she seems to have such a good heart but you really question why she went into this relationship at all. But again, he’s a child sex offender. True or not that whole story about him and his ex was so disturbing it made my stomach hurt. 1 if he did do it and 2 (if his side was true) that the ex would do that to her own child. It was very very glossed over

INTIMATE PARTNER HOMICIDE From 2014 to 2018, 62 women were fatally shot by an intimate partner in Oklahoma. This represents 71% of all intimate partner gun homicides in the state.

I absolutely love this podcast! I stumbled across it and I am so bummed that I binged it. Can’t get enough. Jennifer’s story crushed me. I love that she found Jesus through her pain. She is absolutely amazing and I wish her nothing but the best!!!!!

I can’t comprehend why why Lora keeps goin back to this man and then she gets upset that the cops can’t do anything when she was violating the protection order herself ! She can’t just call and expect the police to jump when she continues to taking him back !! So many times you can cry wolf!! Come on ….. 🤦🏽‍♀️🤦🏽‍♀️

Love the show, hate the intro music. It is like 90’s soft porn and goes on for wayyyy too long

I have listened to all the episodes and emphasized with all witnesses to abuse. However , this one is bugging me. Breeana is problem. Her boyfriend’s parents were right! She needs to go , and she never should have brought a dog into their home! Who does that without asking? She is terrible for her boyfriend, and is wreaking havoc on this family! And this is a two parter??? What is going on? Breeana is a terrorist!

i have been in an abusive relationship for the past 5 years and while i have a good supportive community around me, this podcast is giving language and nuance to things i am too exhausted to explain to my friends and family. THANK YOU for making this. i see a lot of poor reviews and people are missing the point. thank you for this work.

It’s good it is just that the music Nandi the early twenties guests are not quite working together. You should try to have guests who have been in this situation so it could be more interesting. Other than that it was very good. I would recommend to orher people.👌

Firstly, it’s drug out for several episodes when it could of been one episode. Kayla slapped her partner in the face, made comments about his weight, crossed boundaries by going somewhere with a man and lied about it, and he was the problem for finding out she lied and reacting to her comments? It was so biased, she didn’t take any accountability that she was a major problem and it was hard to listen. Also have trouble calling it financial abuse when she chose not to work, it never seemed like he forced her into not working. But would happily take money from her Granny for vacations, and had to pay it back herself which she seemed to think wasn’t fair. I couldn’t even finish the season and don’t think I’ll even listen to anything else from this podcast after that season

It’s hard to listen with the terrible music that plagues the transitions. It’s tone is unmatched with that of the podcast. It’s made me leave twice. I tried again and can’t.

I couldn’t finish the first two interviews. Both the host and guests kept saying “like” in every other sentence. It sounded like I was listening to little girls gossiping.

I can understand season 1, but season 2 had me frustrated the whole way. Every single time she just “can’t figure out why he was doing this” I’d be yelling, he’s a PARANOID SCHIZOPHRENIC. He does not have the ability to fully comprehend what he is doing. No, it doesn’t justify her abuse, but the fact that she continually put herself back with him again and again and again and then didn’t understand his violence or why he was doing this to her? Also, the amount of times she mentions, “yeah and the police didn’t do anything”..??? You have to actually file a report then & there, not after the fact and from another state. She continually downplayed everything to everyone, including the police, but then is confused when they don’t do anything?? She acts like she was trapped but she literally doesn’t HAVE to be around him. Playing this as she’s a victim of an abusive relationship is skewed because she is choosing to put herself in harms way of someone who is severely mentally ill and needs help, not her constantly “saving” him. There were so many other things she could have done. I know hindsight is 20/20 but jfc the foresight was crystal clear

Strong platform to give women their voices back. I love that there is ownership to mistakes and acceptance of that as well. I am happy to see new episodes

The positive, it’s well produced. The negative, the first season is a story about a woman who is with a man who’s obnoxious and self centered and trying to get a business off the ground and actually gets herself arrested for domestic abuse. Breaks up with him but somehow thinks she’s entitled to big money from said business? There’s a lot of conflicts in her story as well. Second season is a story of a woman choosing a sex offender schizophrenic, who’s not on medication, to move in with who abuses her and she keeps him around.

They completely skip over the fact that he is a convicted child sex offender?! They basically say he was set up by a toxic ex? Yeah right! And they keep talking about how he is paranoid and acting like she doesn’t know where this is coming from? He’s a paranoid schizophrenic?! I’m sorry this happened but the red flags were so obvious it seems like there was nothing redeemable from the start

… when you have nothing to say. Queue up the reading of journals, IM’s, emails and other exchanges, and then throw blame and “insight” around as one-sidedly as possible. Use catch phrases like “lean into” or “self-care”, use the word “narrative” liberally and there you have a podcast!

I am obsessed with the podcast “Something Was Wrong”. Of course I’m caught up and I was looking for a similar podcast that shares survivor stories. I love that there are no ads in this, and the music is pleasant. I hope this takes off soon!:)

Kayla comes off as so unlikable and entitled. The way she spoke of her parents mental health issues and her mothers suicide was a complete turn-off right away and was so off putting that I couldn’t force myself to care about the rest of her story.

Season 1, Kayla came off as entitled. Sure the guy was douchey, but ignoring her red flags made this story very biased. Season 2, Lora goes into a relationship knowing he is a sex offender with childhood trauma and not on meds to make her ex jealous and neither she nor the host acknowledge that? What he did was terrible. But, to sit there and not even mention that this guy was definitely mentally ill but instead call him crazy over and over was frustrating to listen to.

Such an amazing podcast, such good information to be able to catch an abuser before its to late. Love the research!!!

Literally amazing. For any woman that has been in this situation, this is beyond meaningful. Thank you for making this podcast.

This was drawn out over 7 episodes and could have been covered over 2. The people speaking kept saying the same things over and over again. It was annoying

Loved this podcast! Very different stories that both have different underlying issues. This is a great podcast for learning about red flags.

Let me preface with, I lovedddd season 1. So good. But season 2 was upsetting. Mason was a paranoid schizophrenic. Not saying anything he did was ok, but painting him in the same light as Mr Wannabee is very unfair. To tell her story and what she went through dating him, yes. But to act like he’s just a horrible guy gaslighting and lovebombing like the rest, no.

I think this podcast is especially good for young women with a lot of involvement in social media. The picture is not always as it seems. We never know what someone’s life is really about. I think it would have been helpful to have more details about the start of the relationship. More specifics about red flags early on. The earlier someone can see what is happening the better. I am still unclear what drew Kayla from no romantic interest to moving in asap. I am concerned about the emphasis placed on him being bigger than Kayla therefore he had to be the abuser. True in this case but not always. There are men who are bigger in size but are victims and do not fight back. Sadly some women are as violent and abusive as men. Women are more often victims but men who are victims face greater stigma. Gabby Petitos parents would have been happy having her arrested rather than separating her and her boyfriend for the night. Many police officers are well meaning and trying to do the right thing but they are walking into the middle of the story. They are dealing with a large variety of crimes are not experts in every type of situation. I like the emphasis on self care. Obviously at her core Kayla is focused on health. Mental, emotional and spiritual healing are essential. Journaling and meditation and counseling are all great.

I suppose I can understand interviewing a very best friend for the first season; rather a trial or “let’s see if this podcast takes off”. Because it’s the Holiday season, I will attempt to keep most comments to myself, but I do feel the host could have a found a different pool of people who have survived abuse. It’s an obvious attempt to replicate ‘Something Was Wrong’. 5 stars for the music production. I do think this show will gain some traction after improved storylines and characters are selected.

I wish I knew 13 years ago what I know now. So many similarities and I truly appreciate the candor. I left a brief toxic marriage almost 11 years ago and even though the healing is still happening, I’m grateful I had the strength to go from moving to San Diego back to Tampa to get as far away as I could from my Mr Wannabe. Thank you so much for sharing and the validation that we are not alone even if you feel it at the time… the NPD ASPD etc person wants to isolate you and finding the strength to break free is amazing! 🙏 you are worth it! AND Side bar… there are also many women who do the same thing to good people as well. Be safe.

How can a diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic be expected to carry on a normal relationship when not medicated?? I can not understand how can you live a person and not recognize the severity of their disorder?! This story at its core is about Mason’s need for psychiatric help.

I could go down a lit stove listening to these women. I’m relieved other people feel the same bc I actually felt guilty. I never want to trivialize trauma but this white girl living in LA choosing NOT to work is actually comparing living in a hotel meanwhile taking trips to Paris for weddings to an abusive relationship in which a person controls the amount of $$ you can spend? It’s outrageous. And of all the things to shine a light on this is the crap they came up with? It’s nauseating.

I’m sorry, this is going to sound harsh and crude… but I don’t know if it’s the tone in her voice, the laughing throughout the telling or the way she “knows and it was a red flag and she was just pushing all the doctors (Aka her employers) to just go inside and mind their own” … I want to vomit. she seems disingenuous and that she sought out her abuse. Literally enjoyed thinking “hmmm what’s next!?” For a person to be this disillusioned, I’d have to surmise she has a mental illness of her own… and if that’s the case, please don’t capitalize and exploit on such people. It’s gross. And this entire theory can be supported by her sisters mundane reiteration of the tale as well. She seems literally bored and annoyed about the entire scenario. Not saying “Mason” didn’t display characteristics of “abuse” but… if you're some naive person and don’t want to get bit, don’t take in a pit Bull. You literally put the dog in a worse position by infiltrating yourself and your baggage… and to add insult to injury, you told this tale as if it were locker side high school gossip. Get better content and stop exploiting the mentally ill. (On both sides of the story

Mason is schizophrenic, and not on his meds. How on earth does anybody expect him to be reasoned with, as if he’s just making poor choices. He is not in any condition to be in a relationship. He can barely function. I don’t consider this an example of a woman staying in an abisive relationship. This man is in need of psychiatric help.

This podcast and season one is heartbreaking but also so empowering. Episode 4 has me in tears and I feel every single emotion that she is feeling. The friendship between the ladies is so intense and inspiring and makes me miss my girlfriends! This is a must MUST listen for every woman and man! Amazing journey and strength!

I absolutely love this podcast. Thank you for Al your work. 🫶🏼🫶🏼🫶🏼🫶🏼

I’ve seen some comments about Kayla’s decision making regarding money and some of the comments she made regarding “Mr. Wannabe” (worst pseudonym selection ever) and somewhat agree with them; however, it should be noted that when you’re in a high control relationship, you’re basically in survival mode and almost lose your high level processing skills. My biggest issue with this podcast is like April in like season 2 because like she’s just like so obnoxious to like listen to like it sounds like she’s like just like making fun. Like ya know throwing shade on her like sister.

This was a great concept, except this podcast continually glosses over Kayla’s toxicity and poor life decisions. She’s surprised that he gets angry when she comments on his weight? Contributes nothing, complains about how his place is significantly smaller, no job but a house assistant? Then drinks, shows up at his door angry about this affair and “blacks out from adrenaline” but is sure that he “beat her up” and is surprised when she is arrested. Sounds a lot to me like she didn’t get the answer she wanted and started to get physical about it. Both Kayla and Mr. Wannabe are toxic and in the wrong and this is far from a victim story.

As a person that went through an very abusive relationship to the point of being traumatized from it, and not able to fall in love or having a relationship because I’m super afraid of becoming that person again, I’m very grateful for this podcast! You have opened my eyes to the fact that I need to do something to heal!

I’m 3 episodes into season one. Boring. The woman telling her story makes one mistake after another. She borrows $ from her grandmother and father and then turns around and spends $ on dinners and Starbucks as soon as she has a little cash. Why not build up a saving account for emergencies? That would solve most of her problems. Then she cries and the audience is warned to have tissues nearby while listening. Why? What am I suppose to be crying about. My favorite quote, “literally, my jaw dropped to the ground.” Uh… no. Your jaw did not fall off your face and fall on the ground. That would be crazy.

Okay so I’m at work but I came to the bathroom real quick to write this. Thankfully I have a job where I can work and listen to podcasts at the same time. Anyway, I love this podcast! I’ve been in relationships with narcissist before so I can totally relate to these stories. Thank you Rachel! And I just have to say- Kayla, you literally have the best laugh! Every time you laugh I laugh with you! Thank you both! When are more episodes coming out?!