A cerebral approach to helping family violence victims

Oct. 13--It's all about the brain.

And the better you understand the brain of survivors of sexual assault, domestic violence and child abuse, the better you can help them.

That message was delivered Thursday to close to 200 therapists, victim advocates, prosecutors and members of law enforcement at the 19th annual Safe at Home conference in the Falls. The conference, sponsored by the Child Advocacy Center of Niagara and Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center, bills itself as "seeking solutions for adults and children experiencing family violence."

"We approach (the conference) looking at children and adults bringing a holistic approach to family and interpersonal violence," the Child Advocacy Center's Executive Director Ann Marie Tucker said.

In particular, this year, Tucker said trauma, and its effects on survivors, is a key area of interest.

"It's really looking at how trauma effects survivors and how they may react it," Tucker said. "We know the effects are cumulative."

The conference's keynote speaker, James Hopper, a nationally recognized expert on how brain responses to sexual assault shape the survivor experience, behavior and memory, told attendees understanding those things is critically important in offering help and healing.

"I talk about what happens to the brain under attack," Hopper said. "And how evolution has developed the brain to respond to attack."

Hopper said the "circuitry of the of brain" has evolved over time from when humans were "prey for predators" to today and he told attendees that when the brain's "defense circuitry" kicks in during a sexual assault it will have "huge effects on the attention, thinking, behavior and memory" of survivors.

He said when an attack is detected, the rational part of the brain becomes impaired and leaves survivors relying on "habits and reflexes." That reliance on habit and reflex may leave law enforcement investigators, prosecutors and others who deal with survivors in the immediate aftermath of an attack struggling to understand what happened.

"Common brain responses (to sexual assault) are still commonly misunderstood," Hopper said. "Behaviors associated with fear and terror are misunderstood."

That misunderstanding can lead survivors to conclude that their experiences during an assault are not being believed.

"If you're not believed, it can be devastating," Hopper said. "You've already been traumatized. You need to have different expectations in meeting with survivors."

Tucker said Hopper's message meets the conference's mission to provide information that is "current and practical."

"We're trying to find things that work," she said.

___

(c)2017 the Niagara Gazette (Niagara Falls, N.Y.)

Visit the Niagara Gazette (Niagara Falls, N.Y.) at www.niagara-gazette.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.