HEALTH & WELLNESS
When you decide you need
help, we are here
It seems to me that over the years, we have writ-
ten about officer suicides and the challenges cops
face, but what about your decision to get help? Ac-
cording to national experts, healthy decision-mak-
ing can be difficult when you’re living with any
type of mental health challenge, based on the con-
nection between depression and indecision. Men-
tal health challenges impact our thoughts, feelings
CHERIE
and behaviors; each one of these plays a role in
CASTELLANO
decision-making. To make healthy decisions, we
Cop2Cop
rely on our rational, organized thought processes,
balanced emotions, and actions that support our
decisions. However, mental health challenges and stress can in-
terfere and make facing a big life choice overwhelming.
I think there are two truths to consider when thinking about
why cops do not get help. One is the cultural macho “image
armor” thing, where you rescue everyone else so you need to
always be strong. That means you are uncomfortable being vul-
nerable in any way, especially to get help. The other is the fact
that as human beings, you are impacted greatly by the cumu-
lative vicarious trauma and stress in your everyday job, so you
almost become numb to the signs of post-traumatic stress and
depression. These both impact your decision-making.
That said, mental health challenges don’t render people un-
able to make decisions. Life gets in the way, and cops often wait
until it becomes a crisis.
Many people have found these strategies for healthy deci-
sion-making to be useful:
• Break a big decision into small pieces, and examine them
one by one. How do you feel about a particular option?
What consequences, positive and negative, can you fore-
see? What actions are needed?
• Whatever life decision you’re facing, reflect on it. Where do
you want it to take you? What are you truly looking for?
• Consider yourself and your life. Whatever choice you’re
facing, does it fit well with other important aspects of your
life, such as who you want to be with, how you want to
spend your time, and where you want to live?
For healthy decision-making, breathe deeply and look at the
little pieces in the big picture.
Ask yourself in 2019: what healthy decision-making strate-
gies do you use when you’re facing a life choice?
Here is some information to guide you when you decide what
is best for you. But remember — any help is good. Just get help.
How to use Cop2Cop (call 866-267-2267)
• Stressed-out cops use Cop2Cop for peer support counsel-
ing. Officers who need to vent confidentially and can relate
to other cops. We have a Cop2Cop Provider Network for re-
ferrals, too.
• Cop2Cop Crisis Unit for traumatic and critical incident re-
sponse.
• Cop2Cop Crisis Debriefing/Psychological First Aid Team
and peer support for traumatic incidents (shootings, sui-
cides, deaths, accidents, media-defusing/debriefing/fol-
low-up).
• Cop2Cop suicide prevention and intervention: Our Ques-
tion, Persuade and Refer (QPR) training uses the “buddy
system” to help each other. Call 24/7 for help from a “live”
professional.
• Peer support for officers battling addictions, including Bot-
tles & Badges meetings.
• Cop2Cop Wounded/Disabled Officers Group: Wounded
Officer Peer Support Group meets monthly.
• Cop2Cop Health & Wellness project – peer coaching for
physical health issues.
Cop2Cop’s unique features
• The only legislated law enforcement peer crisis interven-
tion hotline in the U.S. We have more than 80,000 Cop-
2Cop helpline contacts, and we have averted more than
300 potential law enforcement suicides.
• Reciprocal Peer Support: A national “Best Practice in Peer
Support,” Reciprocal Peer Support as a peer model has re-
ceived national recognition as the emerging program in
the U.S. The program was named a “National Best Practice
in Peer Support” by the Department of Defense Center for
Excellence, The New York Times and the FBI.
• Cop2Cop Peer Prevention and Suicide Prevention Out-
reach & Training: The Cop2Cop staff is trained in the gate-
keeper model – QPR for law enforcement. We train 2,000
officers annually. In addition, we piloted a Cop2Cop resil-
ience training module to build on strength and self-care.
• Cop2Cop Peer Intervention: Staffed by retired cops, Cop-
2Cop Peer Supporter Counselors ensure confidentiality.
We also have “cop clinicians,” who are both licensed clini-
cians and retired law enforcement officers. The Cop2Cop
staff collectively has more than 360 years of law enforce-
ment experience.
• Crisis Unit/Psychological First Aid: Utilizing the Interna-
tional Critical Incident Stress Foundation (ICISF) training,
our Cop2Cop Crisis Response Team offers psychological
first aid and critical incident stress debriefings.
• Cop2Cop Wellness Grant: Cop2Cop staff are targeting of-
ficers with chronic disease to offer wellness and health
coaching for integrated care.
• Cop2Cop High Risk Officer Project: Following the Gover-
nor’s Task Force on Police Suicide report in 2009, we es-
tablished targeted high-risk population programs (i.e.,
corrections officer programs, wounded officer programs,
substance abuse programs, using data analysis, training
and peer support).
www.njcopsmagazine.com
■ JANUARY 2019 71