Course Description:
All mental health professionals know that we need to understand the cultural setting of our clients to provide the most effective interventions. This is also true for working with First Responder’s. For the purposes of this training, First Responder’s are identified as those individuals who work as: Dispatchers, Law Enforcement Officers, Correctional Officers, Firefighters, and Emergency Medical personnel.
There are some issues/stressors that cut across all of these professions, but also some that are more unique to the specific group. This course identifies the cultures of each profession and their unique stressors. The various CISM courses teach a variety of group approaches to crisis intervention, but what about the follow-up if an individual comes to us for assistance not related to a Critical Incident? First Responder’s can have a variety of life issues including marital problems, family issues, depression, substance abuse struggles, PTSD, etc. We need to understand the unique stress of their professions and how those might impact their non-professional lives in order to offer the most effective help.
This class will provide information about first responders’ cultures and opportunities for discussion regarding adapting our clinical approach to meet the needs of first responder’s.
Program Highlights:
- First Responder cultures
- Unique stressors in the First Responder world
- The “functional dysfunctionalities” that work for First Responder’s on the job
- The “resistance, resilience, recovery” continuum
- Intervention skills and resources that are relevant to First Responder’s
Course Length: 1 Day (7 Contact Hours)
Intended Audience:
Any mental health provider who would like to know more about the Uniform Services culture and has a desire to work with this population.