Self-Paced and On Demand:45- Hour Human Centric Interviewing Course

The goal of the HCI education course is to develop the knowledge and essential skills required to conduct and document forensic interviews with adults, adolescents and children who have experienced trauma and/or victimization as the victim or as the suspect.

Rooted in the neurobiology of trauma and memory, somatic understanding, intersectionality, and brain diversity, HCI equips professionals with an evidence-based, evidence-informed interviewing playbook designed to enhance information gathering and accurately capture the client's experience in an equitable and neutral manner.

Human-centric interviews are a part of the human-centered criminal justice process. The goal is to prioritize the needs, values, and experiences of people by providing a healing-inspired opportunity to deliver their expertise in their own words, actions, and understanding. HCI emphasizes that working with humans who are in pain requires that we respond with empathy, err on the side of compassion, and develop and maintain genuine human-to-human connections throughout the process.

Development of various types of interviews & interrogations, child forensic interviews, and trauma-informed interviews has all paved the way in which we seek to understand the human experience of victims, suspects, and witnesses of crime and tragedy. As we continue to learn about human behavior, memory, neurodiversity, impact of trauma, etc. we need to continue to apply advances in our knowledge and forge ahead to improve our practices.

It’s not just trauma or a traumatic experience we need to understand - it’s so much more – many other factors can affect the ability and motivation to recall. We need to seek understanding and connection through an intersectional lens to better comprehend behavior and recall, including past experiences, neurodiversity, complex trauma, non-linear memory, polychronic time, environment, and genetics, among other factors. We must connect with and understand the human in front of us as a human being facing what can sometimes be an inhuman system – we must be authentically human, most of all.

 In this engaging course, participants will delve into the art of human-centric interviews, focusing on understanding the human experience through the lens of trauma-responsive care, trauma memory, body.ology of trauma (how trauma impacts the body, mind, and spirit), relaxation techniques, authentic human connection, and healing-inspired practices. This workshop is designed for multidisciplinary professionals across the criminal justice system seeking to deepen their understanding of human experiences through empathetic and compassionate human interactions.