Page 38 - FOP_Magazine_ February2019

Mental Health and Wellness Support
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A message from EAP
Professional Counseling Division CPD Employee Assistance Program
312-743-0378
Widely trained clinicians and addiction counselors available 24/7/365
Peer Support Team
312-743-0378
The peer support team includes 300 officers who have taken a 40-hour training
Call for help
Don’t let a traumatic incident affect your wellbeing
Each month, the Professional Counseling Division of the Department’s Employee Assistance Program (EAP) will provide a message to promote better mental health for officers. This month, Dr. Robert Sobo, director of the Professional Counseling Divi- sion, discusses dealing with the effects of a traumatic incident.
How many incidents are Chicago Police Offi- cers involved in during any given day that can be emotionally traumatic, difficult to experience and cause some harm if not consciously dealt
with and processed?
All of them?
A traumatic incident as defined by the Department’s Trau-
matic Incident Stress Management Program is an action which may result in an officer experiencing emotional or psychologi- cal distress ranging from mild to severe. Incidents include, but are not limited to:
• Firearm discharges.
• A duty-related activity in which another officer is serious-
ly injured or killed.
• The destruction of an animal.
• On-duty traffic crashes involving serious personal injury.
• Other serious personal injury incidents while in the per-
formance of duty.
• Bodily harm or death incidents based on the actions or
use of force of a Department member while in the perfor-
mance of his or her duty.
From having to rescue a child from deplorable conditions to
dealing with victims who have been murdered to collecting ev- idence that might be difficult to see or touch, the Department recognizes that its members may encounter situations that have the potential for an emotional or psychological impact. Officers involved in a traumatic incident are referred to the Em- ployee Assistance Program’s Professional Counseling Division for a debriefing to be held within 72 hours of the incident. The debriefing is designed to minimize the aftereffects and is not a critique of any action taken by the officer.
All communications between the professional counselor and the counseled officer are confidential and will not be disclosed except as provided in the Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Confidentiality Act. Communications between a counseled officer and a professional counselor are protected from discovery in federal cases under Federal Rule of Evidence 501.
The Professional Counseling Division ensures that officers don’t leave an incident without the ability to work through it. If a traumatic incident results in an officer having to go through a mandatory debriefing, the officer can’t be returned to duty until after he or she has been cleared by a clinician.
One of the great benefits of this is that if an officer has been
traumatized and needs treatment to process and recover from that incident, she or he can be kept off duty while all status and benefits stay intact. This can continue until Professional Coun- seling determines that the officer is not only recovered from the trauma but has also learned the coping skills needed to deal with the daily stress and trauma that he or she is exposed to on the job. The goal is to ensure that the incident doesn’t sow the seeds of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which can com- promise the officer’s wellbeing.
With the volume of traumatic events officers face on any giv- en day, the accumulation can induce stress, which puts wellbe- ing at risk. The Professional Counseling Division has a program to deal with vicarious trauma, the accumulated effects of stress on officers that can also jeopardize their wellbeing emotionally as well as their ability to function in all areas of their lives.
Professional Counseling runs open-ended, vicarious trauma groups. Usually, the groups aren’t larger than 25, and they are open to all officers, supervisors and specialized units. Districts that have a lot of issues can have clinicians do debriefings and groups onsite.
Access to treatment can also come through the Department’s Peer Support Team. These are members who are there day and night, right alongside officers. Sometimes, peer support mem- bers will make a recommendation to ensure officers get the services that they need and deserve to protect and restore their wellbeing.
Professional counseling can help officers who have been through a traumatic incident connect their feelings and behav- ior to experiences they have had at home, on the job and in all areas of their lives that might be impacting how they are func- tioning. Talking about the incidents emotionally and cognitively raises awareness, and with that insight comes the ability to start working on issues in order to change behavior for the better.
The important thing to understand is that nobody is immune to the effects of trauma because they are abnormal experienc- es. A traumatic reaction to something is normal, and it takes strength of character to be able to sit long enough to confront the incident and identify your emotions.
It’s not possible to manage all this trauma on your own. It can lead to self-medicating with drugs and alcohol, gambling or withdrawal. It impacts your ability to connect to others, ability for intimacy and relationships and with your family. It affects your ability to function on the job, which affects your safety and wellbeing.
38 CHICAGO LODGE 7 ■ FEBRUARY 2019