About Katherine
Katherine Thompson, PhD, PA-C, is a forensic psychology researcher, physician assistant, and nationally recognized educator whose expertise focuses on intimate partner violence, coercive control, and nonfatal strangulation. Her career centers on understanding how violence operates as a system of power — particularly forms of abuse that leave little visible evidence but carry profound psychological and physiological impact.
With nearly two decades of experience in direct victim services and medical forensic response, Katherine has worked extensively with survivors of sexual assault and intimate partner violence. She has helped develop clinical education, forensic examination programs, and trauma-informed systems within healthcare settings. Her work emphasizes the role of healthcare professionals in identifying hidden abuse, responding to strangulation injuries, and improving systems of care for survivors.
Katherine is an award-winning educator with extensive experience in physician assistant and interprofessional healthcare education. She has presented nationally on trauma-informed care, strangulation response, and violence-related healthcare practices. As a research fellow focused on trauma-informed systems, she leads research examining provider knowledge, systemic gaps, and the broader implications of nonfatal strangulation within abusive relationships.
Her forthcoming book, Stolen Breath, explores strangulation as both a medical and social phenomenon — tracing its role in coercive control, cultural normalization, and the mechanisms through which breath, fear, and silence become tools of power.
Katherine’s work sits at the intersection of research, education, advocacy, and systems change. She speaks to medical, legal, academic, and community audiences and consults on violence response, training development, and trauma-informed systems.
Stolen Breath: How a Deadly Act Went Mainstream
When we refer to strangulation, it’s at extremes, tied to obvious acts of violence, but that isn’t the whole story. Stolen Breath: How a Deadly Practice Went Mainstream examines how strangulation has seeped out of explicitly dangerous relationships and into the cultural fabric of modern society: showing up over and over again in our adolescent populations, in modern dating, in hookup culture, in online spaces, in pornography, , and in kink communities (where it’s as close to informed consent as it can be, and still, our systems are failing to keep people safe).. Our conversation has long asked how we end up in violent relationships, but now, we’re asking what contributes to our normalization of an ostensibly violent and controlling act? How have we let something so dangerous into our consensual spaces?
Stolen Breath is an investigative work that reveals how a dangerous and poorly understood act, nonfatal strangulation, has become embedded in both violent and ostensibly consensual relationships. Blending testimony from survivors, personal witness, forensic medicine, criminal justice, and trauma psychology, the book reveals how strangulation operates as a powerful tool of domination in multiple spaces, leaving little visible injury and inspiring intense fear.
Sample Lecture Topics
Intimate Partner Violence and Coercive Control
Background and description of victim-offender interface in violent relationships.
Comprehensive discussion of mechanisms of coercive control and how coercively controlling relationships are created and maintained.
Thorough evaluation of the psychology of intimate partner violence from the perspective of both the victim and the perpetrator.
Neurobiology of Trauma and Stress Response
Background in types of stressors and impacts of exposure to stress.
“Good” stress versus “bad” stress versus “toxic” stress.
Physiology of stress exposure, both immediate and long-term.
Sequelae of stress exposure, including discussion of broader studies (Holocaust, 9/11, Armenian genocide, etc.)
Adverse Childhood Experiences and Long-Term Sequelae
Background on adverse childhood experiences, including the types of ACEs and the graded exposure to ACEs.
Discussion of potential sequelae from ACEs.
Overview of factors positively impacting likelihood of sequelae from ACEs (7 Cs Model).
Nonfatal Strangulation
Review of anatomy and physiology of strangulation (any level of knowledge from lay person to medical professional).
Discussion on detection and management of nonfatal strangulation.
Discussion of potential sequelae from nonfatal strangulation.
Trauma-Informed Leadership, Care, and Practice
Presentation of scaled systems of trauma-informed care and leadership, from lay people to healthcare systems.
Description of easy ways to incorporate trauma-informed principles into your practice and profession.
Discussion of the profound benefits of creating and maintaining trauma-informed systems.
Expert Witness
Trial-tested expert witness with over 75 trials of varying size and complexity.
Experienced in case review and report generation.
Example topics:
Nonfatal strangulation
IPV dynamics, psychology, and impact on victim behavior
Coercive control in violent relationships
Impact of trauma on memory and victim behavior