Overview

Are They Lying? How Psychological Trauma Impacts Memory

When a witness contradicts themselves or a client's account keeps shifting, the instinct is to question their credibility. But the neuroscience tells a different story. This CLE seminar, led by Dr. Jennifer Sweeton — a clinical and forensic psychologist specializing in PTSD — explains what's actually happening in the brain during and after traumatic events.

Whether you're a legal professional or simply interested in how memory works under stress, this course walks you through the brain's complex functioning during and after trauma, with a focus on:

Understanding the Brain

Trauma fundamentally alters how the brain processes and stores information. You'll explore how key structures — the amygdala (fear processing) and hippocampus (memory formation) — respond under extreme stress. You'll learn why traumatic memories are structurally different from ordinary recall, and why the inconsistencies that often show up in trauma accounts are a feature of neurobiology, not a sign of dishonesty.

Trauma's Effect on Memory

Traumatic memories are often fragmented, emotionally charged, and incomplete. This section covers how the brain shifts into survival mode during a traumatic event, prioritizing certain sensory and emotional details while other aspects of the experience go unencoded. Understanding this process changes how you interpret gaps and contradictions in a client's or witness's account.

Legal and Practical Implications

For legal professionals, understanding trauma's effect on memory is directly relevant to practice. This section covers how these brain mechanisms impact testimony, deposition reliability, and client accounts — giving you key insights for more accurate legal representation. With Dr. Sweeton's expertise in both clinical psychology and forensic settings, you'll leave with a deeper understanding of how trauma shapes memory and its broader implications in both therapeutic and legal contexts.