Increasing Resilience in Police and Emergency Personnel illuminates the psychological, emotional, behavioral, and spiritual impact of police work on police officers, administrators, emergency communicators, and their families. Author Stephanie Conn, a clinician and researcher as well as a former police officer and dispatcher, debunks myths about weakness and offers practical strategies in plain language for police employees and their families struggling with traumatic stress and burnout. Sections of each chapter also offer guidance for frequently overlooked roles such as police administrators and civilian police employees. Using real-world anecdotes and exercises, this book provides strengths-based guidance to help navigate the many complex and sometimes difficult effects of police and emergency work.

"Good policing is not impossible. The reactions that have been associated with stressors are not inevitable. Many officers retire in good physical and emotional health and 100 back on their careers with pleasure. In a situation where stressers have led to maladaptive behavior on the part of individuals or organizations, change is called for. Change must be constant, as social conditions in the world around us vary. The police represent a force for the order necessary for society to function. It is not an easy job, but it is one that is worth doing well."

The stress that comes with being a first responder has been known to lead to depression, anxiety, substance abuse, and suicide. However, few clinicians are informed about these health concerns and how to adequately treat them in this population. Therefore, there is an urgent need for practitioners to understand the latest information regarding treatments that will be useful to this specific population. Mental Health Intervention and Treatment of First Responders and Emergency Workers is an essential reference source that focuses on the latest research for diagnosing and treating mental health issues experienced by emergency personnel and seeks to generate awareness and inform clinicians about the unique circumstances encountered by these professionals. While highlighting topics including anxiety disorders and stress management, this book is ideally designed for clinicians, therapists, psychologists, psychiatrists, practitioners, medical professionals, EMTs, law enforcement, fire departments, military, academicians, researchers, policymakers, and students seeking current research on psychological therapy methods regarding first responders.

Coping with the Stress of First Responder Life “…a work of major importance that offers practical approaches to self-care and serenity for our first responders...” —Louise Harmon, author of Happiness from A to Z #1 New Release in Military Families The Mindfulness for Warriors Handbook is a new and expanded edition of Mindfulness for Warriors, providing an additional valuable resource for first responders. Ensuring their heads are in a healthy place is crucial. After 30 years in law enforcement, Kim Colegrove’s husband took his own life. This agonizing experience opened her eyes to the desperate need for an effective form of stress-relief and support for first responders like cops and EMTs facing trauma. A traumatic way of life. First responders have the incredibly difficult job of running toward danger while the rest of us run away. No training prepares them for what they see and endure. Kim understands what it’s like to watch someone go through that and is dedicated to helping first responders. A source of hope. In 2017, Kim founded The PauseFirst Project: Mindfulness for First Responders. She offers the PauseFirst block of training to organizations across the country; teaching techniques that help reduce stress, regulate emotion, and improve overall health and well-being. Her work to bring awareness is a tribute to both her husband and the countless other first responders struggling with the realities of their jobs. Inside find: Evidence-based practices to help first responders and families deal with stress Interviews with first responders who share stories of overcoming, surviving, and thriving Colegrove’s own raw and intimate story of her husband’s troubles and how she continues each day fighting in his memory If you’ve found encouragement from books like Bulletproof Spirit, Bullets in the Washing Machine, or I Love a Cop, you’ll find a further source of healing in The Mindfulness for Warriors Handbook.

When natural disasters and emergencies strike, the short- and long-term effects of these events on first responders—the very people society relies upon in the midst of a catastrophe—are often overlooked. Policing in Natural Disasters provides a comprehensive analysis of the major challenges faced by law enforcement officers during extreme crisis events. Terri Adams and Leigh Anderson examine the dilemmas police departments face as well as the impact of the disasters on the professional and personal lives of the officers. Case studies explore the response and recovery phases of emergencies including Hurricane Katrina, the 2010 earthquake and subsequent tsunami in Santiago, Chile, and the Superstorm Tornado Outbreak in 2011. Policing in Natural Disasters was inspired by the personal accounts of triumph and tragedy shared by first responders. It provides an understanding of first-responder behaviors during disasters, as well as the preparedness, mitigation, response and recovery policy implications for first responders and emergency managers. As first responders must frequently cope with stress, uncertainty, and threats to their health and safety during high-consequence events, Adams and Anderson provide lessons from first-hand experiences of police officers that can lead to better management in times of crisis.

"This second edition of I Love a Fire Fighter is, like the first, intended to raise awareness of the psychological consequences of being a fire service family. It is my objective to describe the subtle and obvious ways the demands of this unique occupation spill over to home and to suggest strategies that you-as a parent, a child, a sibling, a spouse, a friend, or a significant other-can use to manage the spillover and/or learn to live with it"--