Jonesboro, AR — (JonesboroRightNow.com) — April 18, 2025 — The Family Crisis Center hosted its second annual Sexual Assault Awareness Seminar on Thursday to raise awareness about the issue in Northeast Arkansas.

The seminar was in recognition of Sexual Assault Awareness Month with the theme “Together We Act, United We Change,” which was consistent with the national theme led each year by the National Sexual Violence Resource Center. It was held at the First United Methodist Church in downtown Jonesboro.

“We’re doing our best to bring awareness about what sexual assault is and to ensure people that they have somewhere to go and someone to call if they are impacted by that,” said Family Crisis Center executive director Casey Kidd. “One of our biggest goals is to advocate and be there for survivors. So, we just want to do everything we can to help the community and provide support.”

According to Kidd, over 100 people registered for this event. In addition, about 30 Arkansas State University students attended.

The event provided registered participants the chance to network with mental health professionals and learn about some of the issues victims face, as well as other information.

Speakers included chief deputy prosecuting attorney for the Second Judicial District Jessica Thomason and owner/clinical supervisor for Retrospect Counseling and certified therapist Doug Strickland.

Thomason has been a practicing attorney for over 14 years and has held the position as assistant city attorney for the City of Jonesboro, as well as the City of Blytheville, before taking her current position. She is a graduate of Arkansas State University.

During Thomason’s session, she spoke about how prosecutors get involved, the services they provide, and the hurdles they face when prosecuting a sexual assault case.

One of the biggest challenges she noted was rape culture, which is when sexual violence is treated as normal and inevitable, and survivors are blamed and shamed.

“What do we do to change rape culture? This conversation: we talk about it. Our community gets wise to what it is and why it’s a problem,” Thomason said. “That’s how we fix that problem today, all of us, how we talk about rape culture.”

Later, Strickland spoke about the neurological aspects of trauma and understanding the impacts of trauma.

He graduated from Arkansas State University with an Ed.S. degree in psychology and counseling in 2014 and has worked across various mental health settings. He is a licensed professional counselor who has worked with children, adolescents, and adults impacted by mental illness, trauma and more.

As a veteran himself, Strickland said he knows all too well about the effects of PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder), having first become passionate about understanding the debilitating effects of mental illness after returning home from Iraq in 2007. He also spoke about how cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) can assist in treating PTSD.

“If we were going to heal from this with CBT, one might say, well, ‘How did you want to feel?’ Or it might come out like this: ‘One event does not define me.’ It provides a certain amount of healing,” Stickland said. “Your story will be ‘I used to think I was ruined, but now I know one event does not define me. I used to think I was ruined, but now I know [I’m not.]'”

If you or someone you know are experiencing domestic violence, sexual violence, and/or human trafficking, contact the center’s 24/7 crisis hotline to speak with an advocate at 870-933-9449 or visit the Family Crisis Center website for more information.