Tuesday, August 31, 2021 from 2:00 pm-4:00 pm
The Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS) is pleased to announce that registration is now open for “Trauma, Neurobiology, and Sexual Assault.” This training will provide participants with the science of how the brain reacts to threat and what can happen when that threat presents itself as traumatic. This session will explore the dynamics of sexual assault and related topics including why self-defense is often an impractical and potentially victim-blaming prevention method, how an assault by a known assailant affects the brain, and why so many individuals who experience sexual assault neither flee nor defend themselves.
Christopher Wilson, Psy.D.
Dr. Chris Wilson is a licensed psychologist from Portland, Oregon. He is currently the Director of Being Trauma Informed (BTI), an organization dedicated to making the science of trauma accessible and practical. Prior to starting BTI, Dr. Wilson had a private practice conducting evaluations and psychotherapy, while also providing training with a focus on domestic violence and sexual assault. For seven years, he worked in the Oregon Department of Corrections and for ten years ran groups for abusive men. Dr. Wilson is a guest faculty member at the US Army’s Special Victim Capabilities Course, where he teaches military criminal investigators about the neurobiology of trauma. He formerly served as a curriculum consultant for The National Center for Campus Public Safety.
Dr. Wilson co-authored, with the National Crime Victim Law Institute, the bulletin entitled “Judges' and Juries' Common Misperceptions About Domestic Violence Victims' Behaviors.” He also co-authored, with End Violence Against Women International, the bulletin entitled “Understanding The Neurobiology of Trauma and Implications for Interviewing” (an abbreviated version of which was translated and provided for Danish law enforcement in 2017). He’s provided training, plenary, keynote, and breakout sessions for conferences and organizations across the United States, Canada, and Europe, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, US Department of Justice, the US Department of the Interior, the US Navy, Marine Corps, Army, and Air Force, and the US Office for Victims of Crime. His audiences include judges, law enforcement officers, advocates, attorneys, and clinicians. Dr. Wilson received his doctoral degree in clinical psychology from Pacific University in 2002. He was licensed as a psychologist in the state of Oregon in 2005 and for six years served on the Board of the Oregon Psychological Association. He is also a member of the American Psychological Association
Participant Registration and Cost: This training webinar is free. Participants need to register in advance for the training. Please click on registration button above to register.
