Eureka hosts free brain science town hall on resilience, stress, trauma

Eureka is bringing brain science to the Wharfinger Building with a free town hall designed to make stress, trauma and resilience easier to understand. The seminar, titled Wait… Why Did I Do That? Turning Brain Science into Real-Life Resilience, is set for Saturday, May 9, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 1 Marina Way, and city officials say it is open to anyone, whether or not they have any background in neuroscience or mental health.

Rick Griffin, founder and CEO of Neuro Leadership Academy, will lead the session. The city says the talk will explain how the brain responds to stress, trauma and everyday problems, with the goal of turning complex ideas about brain chemistry into practical strategies people can use at home, at work and in difficult conversations. That practical emphasis is central to the event’s appeal in a county where mental health often overlaps with family strain, addiction, homelessness and emergency response.

The town hall is the seventh in Eureka Mayor Kim Bergel’s mental-health initiative, a collaboration with Crisis Alternative Response of Eureka, known as CARE. Earlier town halls were part of a quarterly series that focused on mental health, substance use and homelessness, and city leaders have framed the gatherings as a way to reduce stigma while widening access to education and resources. During Mental Health Awareness Month, that message is aimed squarely at residents who want information they can put to use right away.

The event also fits into a broader effort inside city government to strengthen crisis response. In March 2023, the city said it had hired a mental health clinician to lead CARE and work alongside the Eureka Police Department’s Community Safety Engagement Team, or CSET. Jacob Rosen, CARE’s managing mental health clinician, has said the long-term goal is to add more clinicians and case managers and eventually provide crisis coverage seven days a week.

Local interest in the topic is rooted in sobering numbers. In September 2023, reporting on the city’s mental-health initiative cited data showing about 29 percent of Humboldt children had an ACE score of two or more, nearly twice the state average. First 5 Humboldt says Humboldt County is one of two counties in California with the highest rate of residents reporting an ACE score of 4 or more. A county health assessment has also said Humboldt’s suicide death rate was 2.4 times California’s average.

That is why an approachable public seminar on brain science carries more weight than a routine lecture. For Eureka, the value is not only in learning how stress shapes behavior, but in giving residents a shared language for resilience, support and early intervention.