1st Edition

Increasing Resilience in Police and Emergency Personnel Strengthening Your Mental Armor

By Stephanie M. Conn Copyright 2018
    216 Pages 1 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    216 Pages 1 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    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.

    1. Are Police Resilient? 2. Critical Police Incidents: Reactions and Recovery 3. Secondary Traumatic Stress: Uncomplicated Strategies for Complex Trauma 4. Non-Operational Stressors: Catching the Sneaky Resilience Thief 5. Building Resilience: Mental Armor for Police Employees 6. Help to Be Resilient

    Biography

    Stephanie M. Conn, PhD, is a former police officer, as well as the daughter and wife of police officers, and currently works as a therapist in private practice, specializing in police stress, trauma, work-life balance, coping, and resilience. She began as a dispatcher/call-taker before becoming an officer with the Fort Worth Police Department and then earning her doctorate in counseling psychology. She has presented widely to emergency responders, sharing wisdom gained from her police experience, research, and therapy practice.

    "Written with heart, Dr. Stephanie Conn’s new book is easy to read and thoroughly researched. Dr. Conn has great credentials. She is a former law enforcement officer whose father was a cop and whose husband is a cop. This much needed positive and practical approach to strengthening resiliency in law enforcement officers also addresses challenges faced by police families, police administrators, and civilian employees."

    —Ellen Kirschman, PhD, author of I Love a Cop: What Police Families Need to Know, I Love a Fire Fighter: What the Family Needs to Know, and Counseling Cops: What Clinicians Need to Know (with Mark Kamena and Joel Fay)

    "Finally, a book about enabling first responders to be resilient, not just about listing their mental health challenges and overcoming them. It should be read by all who care about first responders and their families, who are the key to resilience."

    —Charles R. Figley, PhD, professor of social work and Dr. Paul Henry Kurzweg Distinguished Chair and Professor of Disaster Mental Health at Tulane University in New Orleans

    "Increasing Resilience in Police and Emergency Personnel is a milestone in the continued development of resilience among law enforcement officers and other first responders. Dr. Conn has provided a comprehensive discussion of resiliency and lays out a practical approach to first responder mental wellness. This book is an essential read for all first responders seeking to better manage the stressors associated with emergency services."

    —Jack A. Digliani, PhD, EdD, police psychologist

    "For police and emergency personnel responding to calls for service where human tragedy is often observed firsthand, I can think of no better book than this. In addition to addressing the complex problems associated with observation and participation in critical trauma and highly emotional stress situations, Dr. Conn also provides tools for building individual and personal resilience for police and emergency personnel. Nothing could be more important than safeguarding our first responders in a world too often marred by mass shootings, spree killings, and terrorist attacks. I highly recommend this book. It is a great read for police officers and emergency personnel everywhere!"

    —Robert W. Taylor, PhD, professor of criminology and public affairs at the University of Texas at Dallas

    "Dr. Conn does an excellent job integrating current research with best practices to provide a comprehensive understanding of key factors in professional resilience for police and other first responders."

    —Jeff Morley, PhD, registered psychologist and retired RCMP officer