Media Kit

SEX SIGNALS

One of the most popular sexual assault prevention programs on college campuses. A two-person team of highly-trained educators uses an unorthodox, humor-facilitated approach to examining our culture, sex, and the core issue of bystander intervention.

SEX SIGNALS: MILITARY

Catharsis Productions is proud to assist the United States Army and the Office on Sexual Harassment and Assault Response and Prevention (SHARP) in their training efforts. Sex Signals is a key component of the U.S. Army’s I.A.M. Strong Sexual Assault Prevention Campaign and the Secretary of the Army’s effort to eradicate sexual assault. It has been performed over 1,000 times to soldiers and has been a part of basic training since 2011.

BEAT THE BLAME GAME

Victim blaming: the greatest barrier to holding rapists accountable and giving survivors the critical support they need. This program plays back the most common reasons why people blame the victim and support the alleged perpetrators, and then dismantle those arguments through an application of myth-busting logic.

BEAT THE BLAME GAME: MILITARY

Victim blaming: the greatest barrier to holding rapists accountable and giving survivors the critical support they need. This program plays back the most common reasons why people blame the victim and support the alleged perpetrators, and then dismantle those arguments through an application of myth-busting logic.

THE HOOK UP

Hooking up can often sound like harmless fun, but it can also be a cover for some very unhealthy behaviors. This engaging discussion pulls back the covers on hooking up, clarifying when it’s actually sexual violence and how bystanders can protect potential victims from predators. It’s an unflinching, fun, and transformational approach to a hot-button topic on virtually every campus.

GOT YOUR BACK

The hook-up culture is now a part of our social landscape, and as such, exists on military installations, too. Unfortunately, this culture can camouflage the behaviors of sexual predators, making it difficult for good people to intervene and leaving victims to deal with the aftermath. This program helps reveal the strategies of those bad actors, and helps the men and women of the military fight another enemy: the serial predator.

THE FORCE OF AWESOME INSTITUTE

This intensive program takes prevention educators from good to great, sharing the most relevant research in the fields of education, psychology, sociology and moral development. We teach participants how to use that research strategically and actionably, giving them the ability to translate their causes into purposeful actions that may be immediately taken by their audiences.

U GOT THIS

Redefining how students engage with online training, we’ve partnered with Jellyvision, the online software development company best known for creating the You Don’t Know Jack games and infused our signature tone and humor with their technology.

NSFW (NOT SUITABLE FOR WORK)

This program is a perfect part of your tool box to dismantle bias culture, help employees learn to recognize bias and create a more equitable and healthier working environment for everyone. Participants will walk away understanding why people have stereotypes and make bias statements, how to recognize a bias statement and how to respond in a productive manner to make positive change and how everybody can work to create a more respectful, equitable and more productive working environment for everyone.

DR. GAIL STERN, FOUNDER AND CHIEF VISIONARY OFFICER

Dr. Gail Stern is the co-founder of Catharsis Productions, co-author of the non-stranger rape prevention program Sex Signals, and author of the programs, Beat the Blame Game, and Teaching Rape as a Moral Issue. She has been a SME for the White House and each branch of the Armed Forces on issues related to sexual violence prevention.  

Dr. Stern and colleague Heather Imrie are the co-creators of the innovative Force of Awesome Institute, a program for violence prevention educators that enables them to design and deliver more effective presentations in their own communities. Based on Dr. Stern’s and Ms. Imrie’s extensive research and experience, the Institute incorporates a combination of lecture, group work, and coaching, effectively transferring the training capacity to participants. 

A large part of Dr. Stern’s expertise strays from traditional prevention education. She began performing stand-up and improvisational comedy at the age of fifteen, and continued performing throughout her college and professional career. In the early 90s, she was asked to utilize this skill when training over 800 Chicago Police sergeants on “cultural sensitivity.” She discovered quickly that the strategic use of humor enabled her to connect with her audience, not only in building rapport, but also in enabling them to hear challenging information. This experience fueled the rest of her academic career, and she focused her studies and research on using humor to reduce emotional and cognitive resistance to challenging issues.  

Dr. Stern is also the creator of the sexual assault prevention programs, Beat the Blame Game; Sexual Violence Prevention as a Moral Issue; The Canary in the Mineshaft: What Rape Jokes Signal About Our Culture; and, Fight Fire With Funny: Using Humor to Reframe Rape as a Moral Issue. Dr. Stern served as the director of the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) Campus Advocacy Network from 1991-1998, providing crisis counseling and court advocacy to victims of violent crime.

CHRISTIAN MURPHY, FOUNDER AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

Christian Murphy oversees the strategy and implementation of the company vision, mission and core values. Mr. Murphy focuses primarily on the aesthetic and creative content of the programs. Mr. Murphy co-wrote and co-produced the U.S. Army sexual harassment video “Amateur Night,” with Dr. Christopher Kilmartin which is now seen as part of the sexual harassment refresher course for U.S Army Soldiers. Mr. Murphy worked as a professional actor for over 25 years and is an award-winning playwright. He served as the co-chair on the MEN (Men Endorsing Non-Violence) subcommittee for Illinois Coalition Against Domestic Violence and co-created its highly successful Male Ally Pilot program for students at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Mr. Murphy received his Bachelor of Arts degree with concentrations in the Program of Liberal Studies and Theater from the University of Notre Dame. He recently completed an Executive Masters of Business Administration degree also through the University of Notre Dame.

HEATHER IMRIE, DIRECTOR OF PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT AND EFFICACY

Heather received her M.Ed. in Educational Leadership from the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) in 2008 and is currently working towards her PhD in Educational Psychology. She has created and presented sexual assault, domestic violence, stalking, sexual harassment, hate crime, systems of oppression, victim blaming and bystander intervention training to crisis centers, universities and military installations around the world. She is the creator of various anti-violence programs most notably Got Your Back/The Hook-Up. She is the co-creator of the Force of Awesome Institute, a program that incorporates active coaching and curriculum analysis for violence prevention educators. She has created and implemented anti-sexual violence & bystander intervention training for the U.S. Navy, U.S. Army, U.S. Air Force, Wisconsin and Ohio National Guards and various Colleges and Universities. She is the former Associate Director of the Campus Advocacy Network (CAN) at the University of Illinois at Chicago. In her role, she was a key player in the development and implementation of all of CAN’s anti-violence educational and advocacy initiatives which included, but are not limited to; advocacy, safety planning, resource and referral coordination, policy creation, internship programs, anti-violence and social justice media campaigns, anti-violence and social justice programming, workshops and training.

“The performers were engaging and flexible…from a staff member perspective, it empowered me to engage more in the difficult conversation on a day to day basis.”

—Jen Baichi, Co-Chair for Wellness Council, Johnson& Wales University – Denver Campus (Sex Signals)