Stress and trauma look different for everyone. Managing and preventing stress and trauma through self-care and resilience is likewise unique for each individual. This session acknowledges these differences by retelling the stories lived by those who worked as and with first responders and exploring the various tool that can be utilized in building resilience and establishing self-care.
This webinar is presented by a panel of speakers comprised of Retired Major Darren Ivey, formerly from the Kansas City, Missouri Police Department who developed and taught the training program Building Resilience: Surviving Secondary Trauma; Retired Colonel Brenda Dietzman who previously served with the Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office and is currently a resource speaker and IADLEST-certified instructor on topics related to resilience, leadership, and developing women leaders; and Retired Detective Wendy Hummell, a seasoned law enforcement officer with over 24 years of experience and currently serves as the Health and Wellness Coordinator for the Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office.
Specifics of their discussion include:
- The reality that trauma is trauma regardless of the way it was inflicted and how the individual chose to process it.
- The different stories that the panel went through in their law enforcement careers that led them to a vocation revolving around holistic wellness.
- What resilience is, what it looks like and means to different people and the carrot, egg, and coffee bean analogy to better understand resilience.
- The internal and external resources that support resilience that people must have present in our lives.
- The three-pronged approach to build resilience through preparing for, coping with, and growing through adversity.
- The concept of post-traumatic growth and the typical manifestations of which.
- Different ways to build resilience through connecting with ourselves and others, awareness, positive stress, time, talk, exercise, diet, quiet, therapy, and sleep.
- What wellness is, its different areas that each must be fulfilled through education and practice, and how it is the next step from resilience where we thrive instead of just survive.
- The common wellness programs made available to first responder agencies and why these don’t quite capture and provide the essence of holistic wellness.
- Law enforcement retirees’ need for wellness resources to manage all the trauma accumulated throughout one’s career.
- The importance of preparing early for one’s retirement and key things to do and consider before retiring.
- The agency and administrator’s role in fostering wellness and resiliency within the personnel.
- What trauma-informed and resilient leaders must do to champion wellness initiatives within the organizations they direct.
- How peer support teams can shape the organizational culture by encouraging wellness and mental health initiatives and removing the stigma of getting mental health support.
- The benefits of peer support programs to the entire workforce, their families, the agency, and the community.
Questions from the webinar participants and topics addressed by Wendy, Brenda, and Darren are about:
- The best advice to foster wellness and resiliency for those just starting out in the field.
- Assisting others in developing resilience.
- Dealing with organizational betrayal and moral injury.
- Practicing discernment when choosing online resources to avoid disinformation.
- How to best manage public scrutiny in the media and within the community after a critical incident.
- Chaplains’ role in resiliency building and wellness efforts.
- The advantages of having culturally competent service providers instead of just generic therapists or counselors.
- Taking time off away from the routine of life for healing.
- Making peer support available to both sworn and civilian employees.
** If you have a question that you would like answered, please submit them through our online form and they will do their best to answer it anonymously during the presentation.
Other Webinars with this Speaker:
- Jan 18: Finding Your True North: Letting Your Purpose Guide Your Career
- March 15: Recruiting and Retaining Women: Strength through Diversity
- May 26: Resilience Tools and Ideas for People Who Have Stories: A Panel Discussion (this webinar)
- July 26: Leading at Any Level
- Sept 8: Women in Leadership
- Nov 3: Women in Leadership: A Panel Discussion about Opportunities, Hurdles and Benefits
Resources and Handouts
- Handout: Self Care Planning worksheet
- Resourced Referenced: Balance Wheel
- Resource Referenced: ACES Quiz and information
- Webinar Referenced: How to Improve Sleep Hygiene and Reduce Your Fatigue with Dr. Lois James
- Webinar Referenced: Police Fatigue: Strategies for Managing Fatigue and Promoting Sleep Health with Dr. Lois James
- Book Referenced: The Empathetic Workplace
- Podcast: Guns and Yoga
Audience Comments
- “I totally loved all of the speakers! This was an important subject matter, in these trying times, it’s relevant to learn coping mechanisms on resiliency and the importance of wellness, having a healthy and sound mind, body and soul. Kudos to all of the 3 speakers today, I’m grateful they shared their wisdom and knowledge and personal stories in regard to resilience. And to the Justice Clearinghouse: THANK YOU! I always look forward to subscribing to all of your webinars, and I enjoy them all!” 🙂 Nicole
- “The entire webinar was excellent!” — LaDonna
- “I have recognized the importance of those individual pieces in my personal life, but it’s nice to hear the concise explanation pulling all the pieces together and the significance of the impact on work as well. Burnout in this career has a massive ripple effect through the community and families… more than people realize. Thank you for this training, specifically these panelists.” — Kelli
- “All the information was very informative.” — Sandra
- “I think anytime Brenda is part of a webinar, there is something new and valuable to learn. If not new, then repetition is a great part of learning. I’ll have to dig a little deeper to see which webinar has gone over this topic already… but a webinar focusing on how to handle burnout within the law enforcement field, ESPECIALLY amongst leaders would be beneficial. The leadership in our agency is improving and the staff is being recognized as individuals, but what happens when our leaders get burnt out?” — Tricia
- “Very helpful – thanks for sharing your experiences and tips – very much appreciate it!” — Wai-Ping
- “I greatly appreciated the entire webinar and the speakers. It was a great session. One of the take-aways I got from this was the “Organizational Betrayal and Moral Injury.” Being a part of our agency peer support team, I see this many times over, and now have a better understanding of how to assist our staff. Thank you so much for the time and effort to make this information available to so many of us.” — Denise
- “GREAT, GREAT Presentation. Hits home.” — Gene
- “The leadership approach to resiliency provided a perspective that was valuable to me even as a non-supervisor. It was about creating a culture, and that is something I can contribute to as well.” — Alicia
- “Self-care from day one on the job.” — Amanda
- “I attend many of these types of JCH sessions. This was amongst the best. Super validating and informative. When it had an L.E. slant given the experiences of the presenters, the corrections element was not ignored. Solid crossover. Thanks.” — Rob
- “Excellent presentation and speakers did an excellent job.” — Sabrina
- “The importance of educating on this topic. It’s shifting cultural beliefs, that are deeply engrained.” — Tanya
- “You have to take care of your wellness. I liked the tips each one gave and it’s good to see that first responders like myself, are becoming more aware of secondary trauma and how it affects our lives as well as our families. Also, the tip on retirement was good since I’m getting close to retirement myself.” — Traci
- “Love Wendy, Brenda, and Darren. Always try to watch when they are presenting.” — Glenda
- “I am a licensed clinical mental health counselor and now work as a Victim Specialist for the county I live in. There were SO many great nuggets of truth, but I will be focusing on being quiet and making time for self-care. It is just as important as the other things I focus my energy on.” — Andrea
This webinar was pre-approved for 1 CEU credit by the National Advocate Credentialing Program (NACP)® and the DoD Sexual Assault Advocate Certification Program (D-SAACP). Founded in 1975, the National Organization for Victim Assistance (NOVA) is the oldest national victim assistance organization of its type in the United States and is the recognized leader in victim advocacy, education and credentialing. To learn more about NOVA, visit trynova.org.
