As the founder and CEO of Trance Personnel Consulting Group (TPCG) I am proud to be working with CopsAlive.com to help police officers and other law enforcement professionals learn to cope with the stress that you endure on a day to day basis.
TPCG has chosen a field thick with stress, trauma, denial, depression, overwhelming cynicism, abuse and suicide. Providing stress management and emotional survival tools to law enforcement agencies is not something that I take lightly. Never before have we encountered a group of people so steeped in all the many realms of societal dysfunction. These men and women are asked and expected to deal with worst case scenarios on a daily basis while many of us sip our morning coffee, contemplate our day, or tuck our children in at night. Of course there are other trauma-centric professions… dealing with situations beyond the layman’s comprehension, but often we give those professionals their due forgiveness. There exists this perception that Police Officers are there to serve; and should do so unscathed, without judgment or reproach, and with the ability to lead happy and productive lives. This is far from the truth.
As a country we offer very little in the area of emotional survival training for police. You are well equipped and trained to deal with firearms, new combat technology, hostage negotiation, interrogation, special investigations, crimes against children, etc. And all of this keeps you safe, keeps death-in-the-line-of-duty statistically low. But all the while numbers show it is suicide that threatens a cop’s life 2 – 3 times more than in any other profession. So with such blatant statistics, why is this still an area untouched, and often avoided?
“Vulnerable cops are weak cops, and weak cops are dangerous to themselves, their co-workers and society” is the internal mentality of law enforcement. You are not allowed to show vulnerability–or your human-ness. That will get you labeled, singled out, judged and often this will threaten your job security. So it is reinforced that to stuff one’s problems, deny them, form a calloused cynicism, is the way to stay productive and employed. Most seasoned officers who have subscribed to this process for most of their careers understand it’s killing them. . .literally.
It is TPCG’s mission to make mainstream and acceptable the powerful alternative methods one you as police officers use to pull out of this cycle and navigate healthier paths. It is far past the point of insanity for police agencies to recognize the suicide and depression rates, yet invest little time and money into addressing those issues in a preventative fashion.
Our work is often met with much resistance, mostly because to embrace this training is to admit a need or vulnerability. So our trainings are sometimes presented to police audiences who maintain their poker faces, who admit statistics make sense, yet deny they are part of those statistics. But it is the candid and anonymous feedback collected post-training that is the reason TPCG continues its work. Amidst the protection of anonymity come comments like, “If I had learned these tools years ago I might not be going to court later today for beating my wife.”, or “I’ve suffered through alcoholism, two failed marriages, and terrible relationships with my children. Had I known what to do with my stress my whole life could have been different.”
As long as police officers continue to admit such vulnerabilities and need, albeit anonymously, TPCG will continue to serve these officers in whatever way it can.
If you know someone in need of such training, please refer them to www.tpconsultinggroup.com and until then I will be adding my comments, suggestions and training ideas for your here on CopsAlive.com.
Please feel free to email me with your suggestions for these blog articles and training topics.
Email Lisa Wimberger by CLICKING HERE.
CopsAlive.com was founded to provide information and strategies to help police officers successfully survive their careers. We help law enforcement officers and their agencies prepare for the risks that threaten their existence.
We do this by Helping Law Enforcement professionals plan for happy, healthy and successful lives on the job and beyond. We think the best strategy is for each officer to create a tactical plan for their own life and career.
