When Justice Isn’t Enough:

P.E.T. uses immersive VR and biofeedback to confront cruelty at its root—ethically, measurably, and without retraumatizing victims.

It isn’t revenge. Not even close. It’s about prevention—justice that stops harm before it happens again.

That’s where P.E.T., or Psychosensory Empathy Training, comes in.

Seven years ago, it was just pages in a notebook. At the time, virtual reality and haptic biofeedback weren’t even part of my vocabulary. Back then, the idea of letting an offender safely, measurably step into their victim’s perspective was something people argued about online, but never actually built. The tech simply wasn’t ready.

Now it is. And for the first time, it can match the precision needed to do this work ethically and effectively.

Though I hold multiple degrees in forensic disciplines, my background isn’t just academic. I know what it’s like to be on the receiving end of harm. That lived experience, paired with decades in the field—working in forensic psychology, criminology, trauma therapy, and consulting on real criminal cases—has shaped how I look at both harm and prevention. I’ve studied offenders to uncover the patterns driving their actions. I’ve trained police, court officials, and clinicians on offender psychology. And I’ve sat with victims, listening to what they carry, seeing how rarely the systems in place demand any genuine empathy from the people who caused it.

P.E.T. is not punishment disguised as therapy. It’s not humiliation or public shaming. It’s not another “check-the-box” class offenders can coast through. Those approaches don’t just fail—they can make things worse, turning victims into props and letting offenders walk away unchanged.

Instead, P.E.T. uses trauma-informed VR simulations combined with live biometric feedback. Each participant is connected to sensors that measure heart rate, breathing, and skin conductance in real time. These sessions create controlled, realistic experiences that trigger physiological empathy—the kind you can measure, not just guess at.

Here’s the science in plain language: when the brain believes it’s experiencing something, it stores it like it really happened.

That’s why trauma embeds itself so deeply. P.E.T. takes that same mechanism and flips it, pairing the memory of harmful actions with a direct, bodily understanding of their impact. It’s about teaching the nervous system what the victim’s nervous system went through—without ever using the real victim’s story.

For survivors, that matters. No reenactments. No testimony. No reliving personal trauma. The safety of the innocent comes first.

It also gives courts and rehabilitation programs something rare—a way to verify if empathy has actually developed. Words can be rehearsed. Apologies can be faked. But biometric patterns over time? Not so much.

Whether the harm was aimed at a child, a partner, an animal, or any other vulnerable person, the common thread is the same: the absence of empathy. That’s the gap where cycles of cruelty survive. P.E.T. is built to close that gap before it becomes another survivor’s reality.

Now that technology can finally meet the original blueprint, it’s ready to be built exactly as intended—immersive, measurable, and adaptable to both juvenile and adult systems.

For survivors, the thought of an abuser truly feeling what they caused is complicated. It’s validating, but it doesn’t undo the past. Still, it’s a kind of justice the current system doesn’t offer. It turns “you’ll never understand” into “now you do.”

P.E.T. isn’t theory anymore. It’s designed, tested on paper, and ready for real-world use. It’s grounded in neuroscience, behavioral science, and trauma-informed practice. And it exists because survivors shouldn’t have to carry the full weight while offenders walk away unchanged.

👉 For more information on how we can prevent more victimization together, text PETVR to 707070 or visit https://www.pledge.to/PET-psychosensory-empathy-training