Page 30 - FOP August 2019 Magazine

Professional Counseling Division CPD Employee Assistance Program
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Peer Support Team
30 CHICAGO LODGE 7 ■ AUGUST 2019
Mental Health and Wellness Support
A resource guide for Chicago Lodge 7 members
Stop the Stresses
The Stress Management Seminar has become one of the best avenues for Chicago Police Officers to improve their mental health and wellness
n BY MITCHELL KRUGEL
n PHOTOS BY JAMES PINTO
Stress management and stress reduction for Chicago Police Officers on this day begins with Life Savers. During the Chica- go Police Department Stress Management Seminar, Hartgrove Behavioral Health System’s Daisy Gomez directs the 20 Lodge 7 members in attendance to take one of the old-time candies out of the roll.
“What does it feel like?” she asks. “Hard? Sticky?”
One officer responds, “Smooth. Soft like a baby’s bottom.” Gomez then prompts officers to pop one in their mouths and
slowly start to chew.
“What does it taste like?” poses Gomez, Hartgrove’s educa-
tional clinical services coordinator. “Savor the flavor.”
On the first day of the two-day seminar, this “mindful eat- ing” with a Life Saver models behavior that can be essential on the job for Chicago Police Officers. They also practice tac- tical breathing, meditation and yoga to find ways to calm their minds and bodies. Much-needed ways in a job that one officer in the seminar, Latasha Paterno from 007, characterizes as be-
ing inundated by stress.
Consensus from all officers attending this July 25-26 session
at Hartgrove’s facility on the West Side indicates that the month- ly Stress Management Seminar has become one of the efforts from the Department that really helps their mental health and wellness. Facilitated by the Chicago FOP as part of the chal- lenge Lodge 7 has made to the mayor, the superintendent and the City to improve its mental health support and resources, the Stress Management Seminar is booked through the end of 2019. There is so much demand that second sessions have been added through September, at least. Some members are attend- ing every year.
Clearly, this event is fast becoming a lifesaver.
“Officers are calling us, saying, ‘How do we get in? We want to get in,’” reports Officer Al Ferreira, the peer support program manager for the Department’s Employee Assistance Program (EAP) who coordinates the Stress Management Seminar.
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The peer support team includes 300 officers who have taken a 40-hour training