Why Practice Emotional Regulation Skills?

When your witness attends a witness support session, they will be taught two new emotional regulation skills. These half-hour educational sessions alone are not enough to make the difference in how your witness shows up in the courtroom. They have to practice skills in order to make them habitual, therefore instinctive, which allows them to be used even when the amygdala is running the show.

Think about a big, grassy, overgrown field. This is your witness’s brain. Since childhood, every time your witness faced anxiety, their amygdala took over and they walked Path A through that field. Before long, that path became well-developed in an otherwise uncharted field.  When faced with the anxiety of testimony, an untrained brain will take Path A, allowing the amygdala to take over.

Now imagine your witness learns  regulation tools to control their anxiety. Those tools are a whole new path that has to be developed. Each time your witness uses an emotional regulation tool, they have to fight their way through a previously unpassable field. But each time they practice, that new path -- Path B -- becomes more and more visible and easier and easier to use.

At first, when your witness is making instinctive choices, acting without intentional thought, they’re automatically going to take Path A. It’s easy, familiar, and clear. As your witness practices their skills, however, Path B starts to take shape. The more they practice, the easier Path B becomes until, eventually, it’s as easy or easier to take than Path A.

When your witness starts taking Path B without any false starts down Path A, Path A begins to grow back, allowing Path B eventually to become their default. 

Depending how long your witness has to practice skills before they’re put to the test in court, they may or may not be ready to use them independently. This is where I offer Deposition Support and Court Days. If permitted by the applicable procedural rules, I can be present with your witness during breaks in the testimony to provide coregulation and reminders of the skills they have learned.