ASSERT invited to teach regular classes at Casa Valentina
9 September 2011Starting in November of this year, ASSERT Empowerment and Self Defense will begin teaching its Empowerment and Life Skills curriculum to a very special group of young women and men. Casa Valentina, a non-profit organization that addresses the unique, gender-specific needs of young women transitioning from foster care to independent living, has invited ASSERT to join them in their efforts of preparing their young ladies and gentlemen transition from Foster Care, getting them ready to go out into the world and find success.
“We are extremely honored and excited to participate in Casa Valentina’s work. Our empowerment curriculum is a perfect fit to the needs of the Residents at Casa Valentina, and its sister organization Emmaus Place,” ASSERT’s Chief Instructor and co-creator, Cat Fitzgerald, explains.
To find out more about Casa Valentina/ Emmaus Place and their work, volunteer, or offer support, you can visit their website: http://www.casavalentina.org.
Posted in News, News - Florida, News - Miami, News - United States | Leave a commentAdrenaline
18 July 2011ASSERT stands for Adrenaline Stress Strategic Emergency Response Training, or, in other words, training designed to help you respond quickly, effectively and easily in an emergency situation while under the effects of Adrenaline. So the question is, do you know what Adrenaline really is and how it affects your ability to function?
Let’s start by talking about what Adrenaline is. The website Medicine.net defines it as:
A substance produced by the medulla (inside) of the adrenal gland, adrenaline (the official name in the British Pharmacopoeia) is synonymous with epinephrine. Technically speaking, adrenaline is a sympathomimetic catecholamine. It causes quickening of the heart beat, strengthens the force of the heart’s contraction, opens up the bronchioles in the lungs and has numerous other effects. The secretion of adrenaline by the adrenal is part of the “fight-or-flight” reaction that we have in response to being frightened.
While Epinephrine is used for medical purposes, including during cardiac arrest, anaphylaxis, Croup, and in various anesthetics, our concern is the natural production within the body.
Epinephrine is a hormone, acting on all of the body’s tissues, and is released during times of severe stress, such as when we are frightened or even angry. As the quote above mentions, it is also an integral part of our Fight or Flight instinct (face the threat or run from it). Under the effects of adrenaline, people have been known to demonstrate seemingly superhuman strength and speed, things that under normal circumstances the person could never have done. By the same token, Adrenaline can also incite the Freeze (inability to act) or Acquiesce (give in or negotiate) response, two additional options recently added to the Fight or Flight instinct.
A sudden fright or threat can immediately create an adrenaline dump within your body in preparation for the coming actions. In so doing, your body does the following:
- Increases your Heart Rate
- Increases your Rate of Respiration
- Triggers Lipolysis for Increased Energy
- Decreases Blood-flow to Non-Essential Systems (those not necessary for immediate action)
- Increases Blood-flow to Muscles
- Dilates Pupils
- Elevates Blood Sugar
- Suppresses the Immune System
- Slows or Stops Digestion
- Loss of Finite Motor Skills (Varying degrees of inability to perform detailed movements, motor skills, or finite tasks)
- Auditory Exclusion (Varying degrees of hearing loss)
- Tunnel Vision (Varying degrees of loss of peripheral vision)
- and a Dis-inhibition of Spinal Reflexes.
There are additional perceptual and Psychological effects:
- Distorted Time Perception
- Loss of Memory
- Loss of Rational or Critical Thinking.
Your body prepares for action; however, your body goes through the very same preparation whether you are startled by a friend playing a practical joke or face a situation that represents clear and present danger to yourself, your family, or your loved ones. The question then becomes, what do you do next? If you are ready to find out, check out one of the ASSERT classes near you.
Posted in Anxiety, Empowerment, Fear, Quick Facts, Self Defense | Leave a commentThe Problem of Domestic Violence
13 July 2011In the United States, domestic violence accounts for about 20 percent of the nonfatal violent crime women experience and three percent of the nonfatal violent crime men experience. Harm levels vary from simple assault to homicide, with secondary harms to child witnesses.
-Department of Justice Domestic Violence, January 2007Posted in Crime Statistics, Did You Know?, Quick Facts, Statistics | Leave a comment
The Official Definition of Bullying
13 July 2011Posted in Crime Statistics, Did You Know?, Quick Facts, Statistics | Leave a commentBullying has two key components: repeated harmful acts and an imbalance of power. It involves repeated physical, verbal, or psychological attacks or intimidation directed against a victim who cannot properly defend him- or herself because of size or strength, or because the victim is outnumbered or less psychologically resilient.Bullying includes assault, tripping, intimidation, rumor-spreading and isolation, demands for money, destruction of property, theft of valued possessions, destruction of another’s work, and name-calling. In the United States, several other school behaviors (some of which are illegal) are recognized as forms of bullying, such as: • Sexual harassment (e.g., Repeated exhibitionism, voyeurism, sexual propositioning, and sexual abuse involving unwanted physical contact); • Ostracism based on perceived sexual orientation; and • Hazing (e.g., Upper-level high school athletes’ imposing painfully embarrassing initiation rituals on their new freshmen teammates).-Department of Justice, The Problem of Bullying In Schools, May 2009
Domestic Violence
13 July 2011- The legal definition of battering varies from State to State.
- As defined by many intervention providers, battering is a constellation of physical, sexual, and psychological abuses that may include physical violence, intimidation, threats, emotional abuse, isolation, sexual abuse, manipulation, the using of children, economic coercion, and the assertion of male privilege (such as making all major family decisions, or expecting the woman to perform all household duties).
- Only some of these behaviors — most commonly assault and sexual assault — are illegal.
- The majority of batterers arrested are heterosexual men.
- Between 5 and 15 percent of those arrested for battering are women.
- Among females arrested for battering, many are thought to be “self-defending victims” who have been mistakenly arrested as primary or mutual aggressors.
- A small percentage of those arrested for battering are gay or lesbian.
- According to the 1992 National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS), over 1,000,000 women were victimized by intimates (boyfriend, girlfriend, spouse or ex-spouse) compared to 143,000 men.
- In murders where the relationship between the victim and the offender was known, 26 percent of female murder victims were killed by intimates while 3 percent of male murder victims were killed by wives or girlfriends.
-Department of Justice, Batterer Intervention: Program Approaches and Criminal Justice Strategies, Feb. 1998
Posted in Crime Statistics, Did You Know?, Quick Facts, Statistics | Leave a comment ← Older posts
