Mental Health and Wellness Support
Advice from professionals to promote better mental healthcare
The Power of Positive Thinking Simple truths
Dr. Eugene Stefanelli
NJ State PBA Coordinator of Clinical Services Cherie Castellano, CSW, LPC
Program Director, Cop 2 Cop
It’s good to have people around you who you can share
your goals with. If you find somebody who shares those same
thoughts, spend more time with them.
The more that you get encouragement from other people,
the better you will feel about yourself. In turn, you will reinforce
their thoughts and feelings.
The job is extremely stressful, so it’s important for you to
keep that environment and keep out the negative people. You
have to think positively to offset the cumulative stress that de-
velops with law enforcement officers.
The best thing to do is surround yourself with those people
who are more positive. They will help you stay more positive,
which is no easy task. It’s about having close relationships with
people who will give you support.
Officers can find therapeutic value from close friendships
that provide a lot of support. Your spouse and siblings are a
great source of support. Keep and strengthen those connec-
tions. Try to spend as many hours a day as you can with family,
colleagues and friends as your support system. Work out with
those friends. Take a walk with your spouse or a sibling to moti-
vate you to be positive. For more than 20 years, I have listened to cops talk about
the impact of stress and trauma on the job. But there is a sim-
ple truth. Amid the plethora of resources and guidance avail-
able, it comes down to one simple question: What are you
willing to do about it?
The reality of change seems to start with you and your faith.
A number of studies have shown associations between at-
tending religious services and living a long life, and one found
that regular service attendance was linked to reductions in
the body’s stress responses.
So when the job or life knocks you to your knees, pray. In
whatever way you can, make faith a simple truth to develop in
your life and mental and physical health improvements will
follow. At Cop 2 Cop, we have added clergy of all faiths to our
network, so if you need spiritual direction or clergy to confide
in, we can connect you. Then it’s up to you to trust that your
faith is the first step to living your best life.
The What-If factor Mental Toughness
Ken Burkert
NJ State PBA Volunteer Peer Liaison
Retired member, Union County Corrections Offi cers
Local 199 Annie Weymouth, LMHC, CAP, CCJAP, CSAT
Program Director, First Responder Program
The Florida House Experience
The “what-if factor” creates a paranoia for seeking assistance,
the so-called stigma.
What if my department finds out that I went to seek assis-
tance for mental health or substance abuse? What if I get treat-
ment and then get sent to fit-for-duty evaluation?
The truth of the matter is that returning to work from treat-
ment for mental health issues or substance abuse can be per-
ceived as a proactive approach to working on your issues. You
will come back with a letter stating that you are fit for duty.
Second, the PBA hired a clinical professional and established
a peer assistance response team back in 2008 to provide a pro-
active approach. Reaching out to a peer advocate whose job is
to direct you to a professional who can do an assessment will
help protect you and give you the opportunity to get the help
you need.
Third, under the American Disabilities Act, you are protect-
ed if you ask for help before your employer forces you to do so
based on reasonable suspicion or making a mistake outside the
workplace, which can lead to your department forcing you into
treatment. That happens a lot when officers don’t take a proac-
tive approach. Mental toughness requires the ability to increase your ability
to pay attention and focus. Mental toughness is not endurance.
Mental toughness is not avoidance or deflection. Mental tough-
ness requires a developed level of attention and focus on your
internal arousal levels. Internal arousal levels are those buttons
that when pushed, are typically followed with a sharp tongue or
a crisp punch.
Meditation is a natural way to develop focus and attention.
The amount of time you dedicate to meditation will bear out
how successful or how undisciplined you are. Meditation will
clearly show you how undisciplined you are by the number of
times your mind drifts during meditation. Navy SEALs utilize it
in their training to ensure cohesiveness within the unit. There
is no reason any first responder agency should not use it for the
same measure.
Purposefully practicing mindful meditation increases neu-
ral-plasticity, the brain’s ability to learn and retain information.
Neural-plasticity leads to easier development of new neu-
ral-pathways. New neural-pathways are the foundation of new
thinking and reactions, and new thinking and reactions give
way to the breaking of toxic thoughts and/or behavior. Other
by-products are increased memory, improved sleep and clarity
of decision-making.
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NEW JERSEY COPS
■ FEBRUARY 2019