When the Story Comes in Pieces: Trauma-Informed Interviewing with Bryan Barlow

What happens when someone remembers the sound of an impact—but not the details immediately before it? When they recall pieces of an experience out of order? Or when their emotional response doesn't look the way we expect it to?

Those gaps and inconsistencies can be easy to interpret as deception. But trauma can fundamentally influence how people experience, process, store, and retrieve information.

In this episode of Truth Be Told, Dave Thompson, CFI sits down with Bryan Barlow, CFI, Staff Instructor and Professional Standards Lead at Wicklander-Zulawski & Associates, to explore the science and practice of trauma-informed interviewing.

Drawing from Bryan's experience as a Chicago Police detective, trainer, and interviewing practitioner, they discuss how trauma can affect memory and behavior—and why investigators need to be careful about imposing their own expectations on how someone "should" remember or respond to an event.

The conversation explores why memory isn't always chronological, why delayed reporting or gradual disclosure shouldn't automatically be interpreted as deception, and how safety, patience, rapport, empowerment, and even silence can improve an interview.

Dave and Bryan also examine the broader application of trauma-informed practices across law enforcement, human resources, workplace investigations, healthcare, security, fraud investigations, and everyday human interactions.

And the responsibility doesn't end with the interviewee. They also discuss the cumulative impact that repeated exposure to difficult stories and investigations can have on investigators themselves—and why self-care must be part of the conversation.

Trauma-informed interviewing isn't about excusing inconsistencies or abandoning investigative curiosity. It's about understanding what else might explain what we're seeing before we decide what it means.

Because sometimes the most important question isn't, "Why doesn't this story make sense?"

It's "What might I be missing?"

About Wicklander-Zulawski & Associates (WZ)
Wicklander-Zulawski & Associates (WZ) is a global leader in investigative interviewing training, helping law enforcement, human resources, loss prevention, and corporate investigators conduct more effective, ethical, and reliable interviews. WZ provides training in evidence-based investigative interviewing, trauma-informed interviewing, workplace investigations, rapport development, and other evidence-based approaches designed to improve communication and decision-making.