Law Enforcement / First Responders
Officer Wellness Program
Law enforcement is a stressful and demanding profession. Law Enforcement Officers are at increased risk for a myriad of physical, emotional, and relational challenges. The Officer Wellness Program is designed to bring awareness of the risk factors associated with a career in Law Enforcement. It is a three-fold approach: educating officers, administrators, and the community about the risk factors associated with these professions. Through the program, Law Enforcement Professionals learn about common mental health risk factors, divorce rates, suicide rates, and shortened life expectancy.
The program is co-instructed with Law Enforcement and culturally competent mental health clinicians. Both officers and clinicians share personal stories, intertwined with evidence-based research. Pairing Law Enforcement with mental health clinicians helps break the stigma surrounding seeking mental health care and treatment. In addition to stigma, there is a culture of silence that exists in the Law Enforcement community. To model the importance of talking about the struggles and challenges in this profession, both Law Enforcement professionals and clinicians share personal stories, intertwined with evidence-based research. This allows officers to hear and see presenters being vulnerable, giving a name and a story to their experiences; it’s real talk about the pressures of the job.
Just as important as understanding the risk factors, Law Enforcement professionals are provided with the tools they need to mitigate these risk factors. The Officer Wellness Program uses the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMHSAs) 8 Dimensions of Wellness to help officers create and implement their own wellness plans with a focus on achieving optimal work-life balance. The program gives officers the resources needed to engage in self-care activities related to each of SAMSHAs 8 Dimensions of Wellness.
The Officer Wellness Program is designed to be incentive-based. Officers who participate in and complete the program are given incentives by their administration. Due to funding and budget restrictions, these incentives often come from local businesses. The final component of the program is teaching officers and administration how to connect and collaborate with their communities for incentives. It’s a win-win for everyone involved. Officers develop a sustainable self-care plan that allows them to shift from surviving to thriving in their work, administrators can demonstrate that they care about their staff and are invested in their wellness, and communities are educated about the risk factors that exist for Law Enforcement, perhaps offering a different perspective of the Law Enforcement professionals that serve their community.
The Program utilizes three different PowerPoint Presentations and has a complete participant manual that provides participants with all the materials they need to start their own Wellness Program independently and/or bring it back to their agency. This includes psycho education about the different types of mental health treatment, emergency contact numbers, SAMHSA’s 8 dimensions of wellness personal assessment, and SAMSHA’s step-by-step guide to wellness.
Behind the Badge: Conversations with the Community About Law Enforcement
This workshop is intended for professionals working with Law Enforcement, family, and community members. Law enforcement is a stressful and demanding profession. Law Enforcement Officers are at increased risk for a myriad of physical, emotional, and relational challenges. This workshop provides a compassionate and courageous examination of the Law Enforcement culture. It is a shift from the mindset of ‘what is wrong with you’ to a trauma-informed examination of ‘what is happening’ for Law Enforcement Officers. This workshop is co-instructed by Law Enforcement and culturally competent Mental Health Clinicians. Participants are offered a compassionate examination of the struggles and challenges in Law Enforcement. Mental health risk factors, exposure to trauma, an overview of ACEs, ACEs specific to Law Enforcement, divorce rates, suicide rates, and a shortened life expectancy correlated with a Law Enforcement Career are examined. Law Enforcement professionals and Mental Health Clinicians share personal stories, intertwined with evidenced-based research and statistics. Participants will hear and see presenters being vulnerable, giving a name and a story to their lived experience. It’s real talk about the stressors of the job. Our hope is that participants will recognize that there is more that unites us as human beings than divides us when we connect to the common humanity, vulnerability, and resiliency in all of us.
This 1.5-hour workshop is intended for professionals working with Law Enforcement, family, and community members. This workshop provides a compassionate and courageous examination of the Law Enforcement culture. It is a shift from the mindset of ‘what is wrong with you’ to a trauma-informed examination of ‘what is happening’ for Law Enforcement Officers. This workshop is co-instructed by Law Enforcement and culturally competent Mental Health Clinicians. Participants are offered a compassionate examination of the struggles and challenges in Law Enforcement. Mental health risk factors, exposure to trauma, an overview of ACEs, ACEs specific to Law Enforcement, divorce rates, suicide rates, and a shortened life expectancy correlated with a Law Enforcement Career are examined. The aim of the workshop is to help participants recognize that there is more that unites us as human beings than divides us when we connect to the common humanity, vulnerability, and resiliency in all of us.