Effective campaigns prioritize the safety and privacy of the storytellers above all else. Challenges and Ethical Considerations

When we hear a survivor story, however, something different happens. The brain lights up like a Christmas tree. Not only do the language centers activate, but so do the sensory cortex, the motor cortex, and the frontal lobe. Listening to a survivor describe a specific moment—the smell of a hospital room, the sound of a car crash, the texture of a hand reaching out to help—causes the listener’s brain to mirror the experience. We don’t just understand the story; we feel it.