Page 47 - FOP May 2019 Magazine

Mental Health Spotlight
Dr. Robin Kroll meets with police officers who are part of her officer-in- volved shooting group at her new Police and Public Safety Wellness Center in Edison Park.
The Road to Wellness leads here
Dr. Robin Kroll’s new center gives police officers a safe haven to build mental health
■ BY MITCHELL KRUGEL
■ PHOTOS BY JAMES PINTO
Beyond the classroom-like tables, the Police and Public Safety Wellness Center on North Avondale Avenue doesn’t necessarily look like the oasis for police officers that it has become. The pool table, the morning yoga, the massage therapist, the meditation, the modern kitchen and the atmosphere promoting total relaxation could be accou- trements found at some spa.
But inside the 5,000 square feet of Dr. Robin Kroll’s facility is an authentic wellness center. A true safe haven for police officers to address their mental health, they can drop in here for a wellness checkup or attend one of the groups designed just for the police.
From officer-involved shootings to suicide awareness to post-traumatic stress dis- order (PTSD) and to just general issues related to the job, there are weekly and even daily meetings and seminars as well as group and individual counseling. These mo- dalities offer the therapeutic styles to support managing the cumulative stress that continues to pile up on police officers.
The architect of this authentic wellness center is board-certified Police and Public Safety psychologist Dr. Kroll, whose BRAVE approach has fostered a program for P.A.D. (Police-Addiction-Depression). She has carved this new center into her Edison Park facility as an oasis for officers to break down barriers that block the pursuit of mental health and wellness.
“We want to offer a one-stop shop for officers to have many stress-management options to choose from,” Dr. Kroll declares with her anything-is-possible passion that has helped so many officers the past 15 years. “The comfort of being here is to be able to hang out and not feel so guarded that they can’t share their struggles.”
Monica Reyes, an officer in 014, comes to an officer-involved shooting group at the Police and Public Safety Wellness Center to deal with a 2015 incident in which she and her partner were fired upon. The shots caused ongoing tinnitus (ringing in her ears),
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