Alright.
Welcome everyone to today's webinar.
We're just allowing a few more folks to get into the room.
We're excited about today's topic.
A lot of information to share with you.
Just some housekeeping items.
So as you can see, someone just, wrote everyone in the chat.
That's actually an option that you'll have today.
So feel free to, chat amongst each other, share where you're from.
And this is also a space where you'll be able to ask any questions that you do have.
We'll allow for questions to be answered at the end of today's webinar.
And, you can also use the q and a function, which is more so, how we'll be able to filter through those questions.
So I'm pleased to have doctor Michael Ah with us today.
He's actually working for the Montgomery County Police Department, and, he has a lot of experience.
I have here his experience being with the Northern Virginia Mental Health Institute, the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, court services, and offenders supervision agency.
And, he also has a background in clinical psychology and a master of divinity.
And with just that, I'm sure that he has a lot of, different experiences in so many different areas of, the law and just, you know, the county level that I'm happy to have him here to share with us.
So, without further ado, I'll go ahead and allow for doctor Ah to speak, and I will mute myself.
Hey.
So thank you so much, miss Schramberger, and thank you, so much to, Divine Mercy University for having me.
It's, my name is Michael A.
I'm the psychologist, with the Montgomery County Police Department, and it's it's, it's an honor for me to be here with you, today and sharing with you some information about police psychology and working with law enforcement, and even some general questions and some general information about working as a psychologist, and working with law enforcement, working with first responders, and the kind of environment that we're in right now, with with COVID, and some of the some of the implications of working with this type of population.
But just it's, it's, it's always a joy for me to be amongst students, in providing as much information as possible.
I always found that even just myself as a grad student, it was always helpful for me to get a sense of what kind of the future holds.
As As a student in psychology, you know, we look at, you know, classes are great, but just, it was it wasn't always until, I got to see kind of firsthand, what the what the job looks what some of these, job opportunities look like for me.
And then some of the class material started to come to life even more.
So, it's always, I always consider a privilege to be, helping out in in any way I can with with students and young people who are looking to careers in psychology.
So so I'll be speaking with you today about just my own experience as a police psychologist, and some information about the Montgomery County Police Department and my work with them, and I'll be happy to field any questions towards the end.
So, the first thing I want to discuss is what is police psychology.
And the first thing I want to do that about police psychology is maybe dispel some myths about what police psychology is.
I mean, there's there's a lot of TV shows out there.
There's, we, you know, we we watch TV shows about, you know, like, there's there's there's there's there's there is a lack of, like, you know, TV shows about, like, serial killers and detective movies about going after these really dangerous criminals.
So we might there might be some, there might be some perception about police psychology being, police psychologists being the ones, going out and solving crimes, helping detectives, you know, profile killers, and going to crime scenes, and trying to figure out what happened, and what's going on with these really dangerous individuals.
So, that's, most that's probably not the real picture of what police psychology looks like.
I could tell you, with 100% certainty that, at least in my experience, that I do not help solve crimes.
I don't go out there, I don't go out to the actual crime scenes to look at, look at those, look at those situations and actually help these investigations.
So that's not what police psychology is.
So police psychology, what it is, is it's basically the simplest way to describe it would be, just you would you were acting as a clinical psychologist, working with law enforcement officials.
It's almost as if you're taking your work as a clinician and helping people, overcome certain certain issues with life, whether if it's, like, mental health issues or, whether if it's mental health issues or or life issues, and then you're you're you're helping them to, you're helping with these issues to help them do their job up to the best of their capacity.
So it it's just it's just it's just it's just general clinical psychology work, but you happen to be working with a very very specific population.
So, just to go over some of these points in the slide, it's basically practicing psychology with police officers, and it can, it can cover a diverse skill set.
So whether if it's like experimental psychology, research psychology, industrial org, these aren't requirements.
But, as you basically when you work in a very complex organization such as a police department or even something like when you work with the military populations or when you work with, let's even state hospitals, you are going to have to be some at least somewhat versed in how organizations work, in an organizational structure, and there's definitely going to be research involved in these works as well.
But the primary work is definitely clinical psychology, and that you don't have to have any specialization in industrial org or research or anything like that, although it helps.
And you will be you will be covering some information related to those fields.
And and so you're just basically applying your clinical expertise, to police officers.
So some of these, so the last point here is that these services can include, in addition to providing clinical general clinical services, there's also there's elements of, basically just pre employment assessments is, something that psychologists do.
Educating and training is also a big part of it.
Evaluating job tasks and duties.
So if there's a new program that that's month that, maybe the the police department wants to roll out, then then psychologists can certainly, jump in and provide their expertise in what some of those tasks would look like from a psychological perspective.
And a fitness for doobie evaluations are also something that clinical psychologists can do.
So if there is, if there is some questions about an officer's ability to return to work because of a health related or not a health related issue, then psychologists would step in and and provide that service.
So there's a there's a pretty wide range of services that's provided to to the police department.
But in terms of my my own work with the Montgomery County Police Department, we are called the Stress Management Team.
And and these are the, this is just the the basic background of what we do.
We provide confidential and free psychological services to the police department and their immediate family members.
So that's that's a big kicker right there.
Not all counties may do that.
Not all police departments may, reach that that wide in terms of the services, but basically, our team, is designed to cover cover, police officers and their family members as well.
And, it's and it's basically just a wide range of expertise.
So whether it be, whether it be for something like trauma related work, it could just be even, it could be work related, it could be home related.
If if an immediate family member, let's say for, let's say an officer has a teenage daughter or teenage son or maybe, or or or the officer's wife or husband is having some issues, then we would we covered, we cover services for them as well.
So it doesn't have to be related to the police officer's work.
So we're just the psychologists available to police officers.
It's it's not it's not we don't we don't fit into any kind of a specific service, service kind of a, I guess, category.
And so confidentiality is also something that we emphasize in our services, because in an organization like this, and just, psychologists in general, it's it's always good to talk about confidentiality.
But basically all our services are confidential, And so if an off if a police officer work to seek our services, then then we the psychologist wouldn't be reporting to the police leadership about that officer who visited our office.
And, they're so we're independent from that, and it would it would just the the limits of confidentiality are pretty much, on standard with, with the laws of of Maryland, and with the APA in in protecting the the officers from, certain consequences of of, of a breach of confidentiality.
So let's say, for example, if supervisors in the police department can certainly recommend, that officers if a officer that they supervise, they could certainly recommend those officers to see a psychologist, to help address maybe some issues that they're seeing.
But, as psychologists, we are not obligated to report back to that supervisor, whether they even made that contact with us or not.
So so, like, let's say a sergeant might say, hey.
Might call me and say, hey.
I I I I'm having I'm having some difficulties, or this officer that that's in my district is having some difficulties.
I think it might be helpful for him to go see you or her to go see you.
And I'll be like, okay, well I'll keep an eye out.
But, that sergeant could call me back and say, hey did this person see you?
Then I, I would not, I would not I would tell them that I can't tell them whether that that person can consult me or not, because that's that would be a breach of confidentiality, from a client clinician perspective.
So we so there's no we wanna we we try to assure these officers as much as possible that that they wanna they, if they have any concerns about, them seeing a psychologist or, so or any kind of personal issue or mental health issue that it doesn't go back to leadership, which then there might be some concerns about what kind of consequences to their career that that might occur because of that.
So confidentiality is a big thing for us.
And then here are the specific services that we provide.
So the first is counseling, so just general clinical counseling, clinical therapy work, that that consists of most of our work.
So what, and we'll cover what some of the specific issues that we address, later, in a later slide.
Mental health consultation is probably our second most, request to service.
So whether if it's questions about another officer's potential issues that they might they might notice.
So if it's, if it's through a supervisor, let's say if, if a supervisor were to have some concerns about an officer mentioning maybe, like, a suicidal thought, or if, if if they notice some some behavioral indicators from another officer that there might be some, difficulties that need to be addressed, or that might be helpful.
Well, so so if they can't actually make somebody go go seek seek help, then they might come to us and ask, well, how do I how do I best, show my support to this officer?
And and, and if it's and what are the signs that we should look for that this is some this is, this is an issue that's that's bigger than maybe, my that officer's area of expertise in trying to help, help that officer.
So basically, it's like, well, you know, what what signs do I see?
What signs should I look forward to to tell that if this person is really actually, pretty seriously suicidal?
Or if this person is really, like severely depressed.
And so what how do what are these and what are some other indicators that I should be looking for?
So those are those are the types of consultation calls that we might get.
And then the next one is something called the traumatic incident program.
So that this is something that's initiated, with the police department here when an officer involved shooting occurs.
That, what happens then is that we get everybody involved in that incident.
So, even, to the officer that was directly involved in the shooting, and then even down to the per the officers that provided backup, the and and all the way down to the emergency communications, communications, communications, operator.
So the 911 so we want so, so, basically, they're they would be required, in this case, to make an appointment with the stress management team.
And so basically, they would be they would call me or they call the or, another psychologist in the stress management team.
And what what what that consists of is that we would ask them questions of some some questions about how they've been, how how have how have they been since the incident, asking some specific questions about maybe some reactions that they might be having, some physical reactions, maybe some some some reactions in their in their mind, some thoughts, or maybe some if they've have if they've been shown any signs of maybe depression or traumatic stress or anxiety.
So we would ask some of those questions, and provide a recommendation on when when it might be good for them to return to work.
So so I I mentioned that, that they are required to do so.
And the only, all the only information that that the administration will get is just that the fact that they met with us.
There wouldn't be any information about, oh, this this, this client was exhibiting anxiety, or this this client was, tearful, this client, was very angry.
None of those that information would be shared.
So just to make sure that the confidentiality is still protected.
But the reason why this is required is because, something like an officer involved shooting is a very, very, it's it's it's a very big deal in terms of the potential trauma, traumatic reactions that it that could occur to everyone involved.
So so we we wanna make sure that nobody falls through the cracks when something like this happens.
And and we wanna make sure that if if somebody does have an adverse reaction to enough officer involved shooting, even down to the the the communications, the the nine one one dispatcher who was who was directing the whole situation to the officer who was directly involved to the people providing backup.
The the the trauma could be something that affects everybody involved.
So we want if it does affect them, we wanna make sure that they're they're informed about some of the traumatic reactions that could take place.
And if they feel like they need some additional assistance based on their reactions to that incident, we wanna make sure we provide that assistance as soon as possible.
So just we're making sure that nobody's falling through the cracks, and we want because and and this is all done with the purpose of officer wellness in mind, to help them build resilience, which we'll also be talking about.
And then there's also something called the disciplinary diversion program, where instead of if an officer is having some difficulties, instead of putting them through the disciplinary process, maybe there could be an initiation of, well, why don't you go see stress management, and and see if things improve from there as opposed to going straight to the disciplinary action.
So again, it's confidentiality.
It's a it's a priority, so we want to be reporting back about what what the contents of those sessions were.
It's just the fact it's just the fact that they didn't meet with us.
And then, we also have a peer support team.
So these the peer support team consists of officers who support each other.
So it's it's an organized group, a team within, the police department, consisting of all all officers who are ready and on standby to provide just, just emotional support and any kind of other support, to to fellow officers who are having difficulties.
And so the stress management team, the psychologist will be providing the clinical supervision, clinical guidance to them as well.
And the education training, year round, we're always trying to cater our trainings to the current issues at hand with law enforcement.
But that is also a major role that we play.
And so some of the examples of issues that we address, so these would be pretty, these would be mostly aligned with the general population.
But then again, it's there are specific, ways that these issues manifest themselves in in law enforcement.
So this, so that's where some of the specialization comes in.
But, but in terms of, the the difficulties that law enforcement, first responders go through, it's it's very similar to just, you know, similar to you and me.
So difficulties on the job, anger issues, chronic pain could be something that's unique to law enforcement, and and for cis law owners because of the physical nature of their job, marriage issues, anxiety, difficulty coping with stressors, substance abuse.
So, but when it comes to the type of stress for law enforcement, that's when things get a little bit, things get more or less unique, because, I mean, the traumatic stress is definitely, something that exists in law enforcement, because they, day to day go through at any given moment for them, they could experience something really, really traumatic, right?
So whether if it's responding to a car accident, and, and, and seeing just, you know, body parts severed, or whether if it's responding to a call where, they might respond to a domestic violence call where actually the person might have been killed, or maybe even a child abuse call, and they they witness a child status.
These are these are what we would call critical incidents where, where something really, really severe happens.
So something similar to the traumatic response program, where it's critical incidents are something that we would consider to be on the on the higher end of the traumatic spectrum.
So again, death, murders, dead children, or abuse, child abuse, domestic abuse, things like that are pretty, are a big deal.
So that's when the oftentimes the peer support team would go in, to, what's called a roll call, basically, when when, when the the officers get together at the start of the shift to go over the agenda for the day and and and and any kind of administrative issues.
So, so so the psychologist might go on go there during that during that shift meeting, or the peer support team might go there and say, hey, like, look, you know this was something that you encountered today, and we're here to support you if you need it.
And then compassion fatigue has definitely been a a big topic of focus, especially in the last couple years, with COVID going on.
And with just a lot of, a lot of just, issues coming around.
And even just, with all the stuff, all the negative news about police officers, and, you know, making national headlines, that's, that's certainly the elephant in the room.
That's always kind of there, and when it comes to talking about law enforcement.
So oftentimes, the officers can feel pretty burned out, from, from their work, from from all the negative, the negativity they receive from the public.
So when we when I mentioned something like cumulative stress, it's certainly, one of the bigger issues, that we try to address in law enforcement.
Just because, it's not sometimes it might be that big incident that causes, causes an officer to, basically, to for them to kind of reach, the end of their the end of their tolerance level for their own stress.
But oftentimes, in my own personal experience, one officer actually described to me as it could feel like a death by a thousand paper cuts.
And so what that means is it's just every single day going out there, they just receive, you know, whether if it's just, encountering something really negative just from every single encounter that they incident that they go into.
And then social media is is very, very negative towards them.
And then the news isn't kind to them either.
And and maybe on top of that, maybe they're having some difficulties in the home and maybe some work related stress.
So all these are just it might not be something so all of these things might not be that one incident that that puts them over the edge.
But over, let's say, a period of two weeks, over a period of having having these little experiences over and over over a period of two months, two years, twenty years over the career.
That that's that's what we mean by death by a thousand paper cuts.
And at some point, at some point, it just becomes too much all that accumulation.
So so that that's something that that's that's the big type of stress that officers may feel at some point in their careers as well.
And so when we look at general stressors for first responders, these are also, law enforcement will also be included in this.
So these are just management issues, especially when when we work with complex organizations such as, law enforcement and county, basically government, even with military organizations or or any of those large organizations, there's always going to be management issues.
Because, you know, one person at the top makes a decision and it's kind of all the implementation has to, has to trickle down into all the the rank and file.
So there's always going to be some kind of, conflict with that, to some some degrees.
Equipment could be, a stressor, the lack of equipment, or maybe some, lack of updates, or just yeah.
So just first responders all around use a lot of equipment, and so that could be a stressor.
Over time definitely has been a an issue for first responders, during the during COVID, just because when when one person has to quarantine, for fourteen days because they've been they've tested positive, or they've been exposed to somebody who tested positive, that pretty much affects the entire shift.
And so somebody has to fill in that time, or somebody has to fill in that, that time, the work time, right?
So sometimes officers, first responders, paramedics, and medical workers certainly, have been put in situations where they're putting in a lot of overtime rotating shifts.
So long Montgomery County law enforcement that they we go by shift work, and so some sometimes sometimes somebody might be, somebody might be told to to change to an overnight shift when they when they've been used, when they've been working in a day shift for an x amount of years.
And so then that changes the whole, scheduling dynamic with with family and with other things that they have going on.
And change in duties is also definitely a stressor as well.
And then, other some individual factors, family issues can definitely contribute, and especially with COVID as well.
When you're a first responder, going out there and just encountering all sorts of stress because of the kind of things you have to enforce, the things the kind of, the people that you have to, to interact with, who may be, who may be contagious and whatnot, and so you just don't know.
And And then you have all the stress around it, and then so you come home, and then sometimes maybe a little bit, maybe even just a little bit of a family stress could sometimes feel really really big, because because of the amount of stress that you you have to endure at work.
Financial problems, kind of go in hand in hand with the second job.
So, I mean, for for us living in the the DMV area, whether if it's a Fairfax County, Montgomery County, Howard County, you know, living cost of living can certainly be at a pretty high level.
So people, it's it's not uncommon for first responders, because of the shift work, they're able to manage maybe a second job, maybe on their on their off days, to help supplement their income.
Because the the county that that they live in, quite frankly, does the cost of living is just too high, to be sustainable, to live on their on their salary.
So, it's it's certainly a thing that it's certainly a issue that exists among first responders and depending on the location that you live in.
So, that might be a cause of stress as well, and a health problem.
And then all of these things can certainly lead to health problems as well.
So going along the themes of, working with so as clinicians, what is it like to work with first responders these days and who in this COVID-nineteen environment?
And so I did mention a little bit before about the unique challenges of being a first responder and COVID, and I wanted to talk a little bit more about that.
So, one thing of at least in terms of the law enforcement end is that these COVID nineteen policies are changing nonstop.
Right?
And every month from a week to week basis, something could change.
And so it's up to the law enforcement officers to enforce those laws.
But then if they're constantly changing, then it just it just becomes a source of stress because, well, one day we're you're telling, you're telling citizens that you you can't do x y z, and the next week you you let them go because they can do x y z, and then suddenly the week after that you can't do it anymore.
And so that's, again it's just a way and that's and that's always been a general issue, the source of stress for law enforcement in general.
Just always keeping up with the laws and changing laws and the ebbs and flows of that.
And certainly there is a push and pull, in their work life balance.
And even just, even just the kind of stress that they might feel, I, certainly, in the beginning when when COVID first hit, there were instances where, you know, first responders have had to decide whether to quarantine themselves away from their families, because they were exposed to people outside in their first responder work, and they were exposed to people who were positive.
And then, so it's they had to decide, well, do I go back home, or do I do I quarantine myself somewhere else?
And so that's a separation from the family, and the isolation that they might, that that comes from that is definitely a source of stress for them.
And and so that's those are the type of contexts that the clinicians are the type that the type of stress that clinicians have been have been trying to trying to assist.
And then there's also this cultural competence piece, and the bubble of trust, right?
So as a, as a as a clinician who works with these first responders, there there certainly is a cultural element to it where, maybe it's not it's not something that you would see in a typical workplace, that's that's outside of the first responder bubble.
So, certainly during the these COVID, these times of COVID-nineteen issues, death is a topic that comes up frequently.
And so if, as a clinician, we there is a certain element of understanding the culture, you know, so if we're uncomfortable with the idea that somebody's constantly talking about that and seeing bodies and dealing with that, especially if you work with first responders or current medical, medical professionals, then, then the then in terms of the building rapport, if you if you are uncomfortable hearing about these things, then, then it's certainly, there's that element of maybe it'll be more difficult to build that rapport with that first responder, because they, you know, because they themselves feel might feel uncomfortable with the fact that, they deal with so much debt.
And then so and maybe they're they're already having enough trouble talking to their families about the fact that they see death every single day.
And so then if the clinician is sitting there cringing because they're, you know, there's so much talk about death, then it's a little bit difficult to build that and build that rapport.
So there's definitely a cultural element to that.
So I'll be talking a little bit more about, just about the the unique qualities about what if you're thinking about becoming a police psychologist or psychologist that works with first responders.
And those are the things some of the things to think about.
So, resilience is something that we encourage as clinicians.
So this is something that even goes back to my days at Walter Reed, working with working with, service members, military service members.
Resilience is something and just in mental health circles this is a very very important term to learn, and to encourage anyone that you work with who are who might be under a lot of stress when you work with people who are under a lot of stress.
And so resilience is basically, but at least the functional definition is it's both being, strong and flexible being able to take the hits, but not being not letting those things, not letting those things, put you in a in a overly negative place.
So it's not so much that you resist, these negative experiences, but you allow yourself to feel these negative experiences, but you, you let those kind of, the bounce you let those things pass after you feel those emotions.
So one example that I always like to give is just the the comparing the the oak tree with the bamboo tree.
So if if the oak tree resists the wind, then it's gonna break.
And otherwise, so we encourage people to be like the bamboo tree where you you bang with the wind, but you bounce back.
And so because stress is going to be something that happens no matter what, and so when it when it happens, then we draw upon our resources to, to be able to handle to be able to to be able to cope with it and to be able to to address it in a healthy way, as opposed to resisting it, and then not in alignment, and then repressing it, and then breaking when it becomes too much.
So here are some of the, ways that we encourage officers and first responders to to build their resilience.
So these are all just ways to help, we don't we acknowledge the fact that work related stress is there.
We acknowledge the fact that certain things related to work, can't be changed, and it is always going to be a source of stress until someone so maybe some, some administrative things change, or maybe some, some things change maybe within the work environment itself.
But then what we can control then is the way that we manage our time, the way we manage our our social network resources, not necessarily social network, in the on like Facebook kind of sense, but like the friends that we have around us.
So whether if it's, we're looking at social support, or whether if it's using our free time to do things that are healthy for us and helps us to recover from the work related stress, or and then and whether and if we have spiritual values, always looking looking to find ways to draw upon our our our spiritual connections to, to be able to, to overcome some of these, really, difficult stressors.
So, so then I want to I want to talk a little bit about becoming a police psychologist, if you're interested in working with first responders, or if you're interested in becoming a police psychologist.
So at least in Montgomery County, you're required to have a PsyD, or a PhD.
So you have to have a doctorate's degree, as a psycho and licensed, as a clinical psychologist.
There's certainly exceptions to some agencies, so it's going to vary, from police department to police department on their minimum requirements.
So there are instances where you could also be a licensed clinical social worker, and work as a therapist, working with first responders or police officers.
So you I would recommend that you look into all the the, the departments that you are interested in working in, what their requirements are.
But, but some, hands on things that you can do now or I don't know about now because, just because of what the policy has changed about just direct contact with, police officers.
But you could look you could reach out to local police agencies.
There's something called a citizen's academy, where citizens are invited to join a class, where officer police officers will provide education on what it what a police officer job looks like, and some of the, some of the things that they do on a day to day basis.
And there's some also something called a ride along, where you could ask, where where you could ask, to basically spend a few hours riding alongside a police officer in their patrol car.
So you so and you're just basically shadowing them, and do doing their work in the daytime.
So with, so basically, the the shifts could vary also as well with that.
Sometimes, there are certain shifts that aren't as active as other shifts.
So so like an evening shift or night shift might see more activity, from police officers than a day shift, but I mean you can never tell these things.
Sometimes day shifts get pretty hectic as well, but you'll, you know, you'll see firsthand, them, you know, making a traffic stop.
Or if there's something suspicious going on, then you'll, you'll, you'll, they'll probably ask you to stay in the car, but then they're gonna go and and and have the interactions with with, an individual, and you get to see all that in person.
And they'll, you know, it's a good it's a really good way to ask them questions about their work, and just see these things firsthand.
And then if you're already a licensed clinician, there's definitely opportunities to provide, teaching classes something like maybe the Montgomery County Crisis Center.
I believe they they have some classes that are taught by clinicians on trauma and working with working in a in a crisis setting, but just volunteering is always something that helps, you to get kind of your foot in the door.
I remember, just, one of somebody who, back in the day, when there was the Oklahoma, Oklahoma State Building, bombing, and there were a couple psychologists that I met, just recently who basically said this happened.
And I just went there and asked them, like, what can I do to help?
And so that pretty much kicked off their career, in working with police officers.
And they just made themselves available to help, and the rest is history in terms of how, how they've been able to work with police officers and assist, assist their assist their work, through the through the years.
And then just self assessment and kind of examining yourself whether you think it's something that interests you or if it's something that you might want to stay away from, just because it is it is a very it could the topics that that are discussed can get pretty heavy, and and you will hear about that, you will hear about, some, you know, gruesome details sometimes about things that the officer went through.
And and also there's also that cultural element to it as well.
The way that officers might describe certain things might not be something that you're used to, but, it's all part of that cultural competence piece as well, such as maybe like a dark sense of humor, or anything like that.
So just, things, so things to think about for sure.
And then, some other examples of psychology jobs in law enforcement.
There's certain the correctional services has jobs available for counselors, a case managers working whether you're working with correctional population, law enforcement populations, victims advocates, police and fire psychologists, a crisis response team members, then employee assistance program.
So while you might not necessarily have to have a county job with the police department, there are certainly cases where private practitioners might have a, have some kind of a contract in place with a county government.
So if you're a private practice person and you have, some sort of a contract to work with the county workers, including police officers, as part maybe as part of their employee assistance program, then that might be a way to work with first responders.
So there's, you know, so you don't necessarily have to have like a direct job as a quote unquote police psychologist.
There's always opportunities to do so.
And I would also suggest that, in terms of specific skills, as a clinician to build, I think just going as building as Y as diverse of a skill set as a clinician is probably the most helpful because, working with first responders at least with Montgomery County because we cover families as well.
Couples therapy is something that we we provide, relatively frequently.
Family therapy, individual therapy, group therapy, all of those things are covered.
So, and so and work addressing trauma, substance abuse, depression, suicide, suicide management, those things are, again, very wide.
So it would be helpful for to learn just the wide range of skill sets as a clinician.
So just some, some things about clinical work and COVID-nineteen as well.
So as clinicians, there's definitely been a COVID-nineteen has certainly affected clinicians and health care workers.
So just looking at even just physicians alone, there's a higher rate of suicide, higher rate of burnout.
Just if you were at the APA conference last, a couple weeks ago, was it last week, the COVID-nineteen was pretty much the the hot the major topic and how it's how it's been affecting clinical work and and education for psychology students as well.
But, so I anticipate that there will be more and more statistics, more and more articles to come out about how how specifically psychologists have been affected by COVID-nineteen.
But just from an anecdotal perspective, I can tell you that, that psychologists have been, have been for sure dealing with just being overworked and asking to stretch your boundaries, because of the demand for clinical services, especially when it comes to assisting frontline, first frontline, first responders and health care workers too.
So if you are a psych if you are a psychologist working in a hospital, for example, I know that they have been asked to, on top of their current case though, they've been they're being asked to provide clinical services to their, their co workers because the nurses and nurses and the doctors, the physicians are under so much stress and so much burnout that they also need therapeutic services as well.
So then that raises all sorts of questions about about, you know, about ethics and all that.
And so, and so I know that the APA has been and has been working hard to provide guidelines for those things, but, so clinicians have been under a lot of a lot of pressure as well, and when as people who are assisting those frontline workers.
So so something to think about then is, so yeah, so these are all so think about just, how you might be, in the future, how when because you are you are just, you know, as you think about your careers, soon, about how you're going to take the direction that you'll be taking your careers as clinicians and health care workers, these are things to think about especially when you look at the kind of world that you'll be entering into.
So these are just self care, could be something that leads to stress and burnout, caseload management is going to be a major factor to think about, being working a lot of hours, and then just the compassion fatigue is another thing as well.
Just, folk always feeling like you have to focus on other people, and then that might end up, neglecting yourself and and and end up getting, into poor self care.
So these are things to think about, and then so here are ways that you could start building your self care, now and building that resilience for yourself, so you can you can go out there and be ready to serve those who are out there and doing the the really, really, stressful work and keeping the keeping our, keeping our keeping our society safe, keeping people healthy, keeping people, you know, basically keeping the world running, to be frank.
So, you know, we want to if you're if you want to be out there helping those people, then, you know, we we we always we have to be, healthier ourselves to provide help to those people.
You know, so I think just think about, like, the kind of self care advice or recommendation that you would give to these first responders, and then we want to practice what we preach.
So whether if it's just being able to engage in our own self care through our stress management, just deep breathing exercises, mindfulness exercises, and making sure that we balance our time with healthy activities, and practicing our own kind of, a positive, positive self talk and things like that.
So, it's never too late to get started on self care.
And so these are, just to, just lastly, these are just some examples of resources that are available to police officers in Montgomery County.
So these are numbers that they can call in addition to the stress management team.
So, so basically the goal is for officer care and officer wellness, and helping helping them, so that basically helping those, in the front lines, and so that so that they can they these stressors don't affect them, to a point where where it might affect their personal lives, where it might affect their work.
And just, we want to make sure they're, that, you know, these these stressors don't they're able to be resilient to these stressors.
Okay.
So, I want to, leave it over, to some some questions and answers, and guess I will, yes.
I'll I'll, have, either, miss Schamberger or somebody can moderate some of the questions that I can answer for you.
Alright.
And first, we want to thank you for taking the time to do this, doctor Ah.
We know that you're busy and, you know, the times are changing, so we appreciate, you for joining us today.
And, I do wanna make a note that, we'll allow for fifteen minutes of question with with doctor Ah.
He does have another obligation, following this.
So if you do have your questions now, don't hesitate to put them in the chat, or write down his email address or phone number so you can contact them if the time doesn't allow.
And we also have, staff from DuVernworks University.
If you wanna learn more about our our programs, we're here to answer any questions.
So we'll be able to stick around just a little bit longer if that is the case that you're trying to figure out how your education can help lead you to working with law enforcement.
So in order of the questions that have come in so far, the first one was about the traumatic incident program.
Is it individual or is it held as a group?
Oh, that is, it's individual.
Yeah.
So thank you for that that question.
So it's, it's yeah.
So I'm glad I wanted to clarify that.
So it it would be all done one on one.
And so that's that's again to to protect protect the confidentiality.
Okay.
Awesome.
The next question I have is how do you handle law enforcement clients who have displayed instances of police brutality in the past, especially racially driven?
Okay.
Let me just get to so can I'm gonna I'm gonna pull up the chat as well so I I get the, I can read the question specifically.
I'm sorry.
Can we repeat that question one more time?
So how do you how do you how do you, okay.
Yes.
I'll just I'll just hear it again.
How do you handle law enforcement clients who have displayed instances of police brutality in the past, especially racially driven?
K.
How do you handle so that would be, so how do you handle a client a a law enforcement client who have displayed police brutality in the past, especially if it's racially driven?
So what I could talk what I could say about that is is that we the the primary focus is to address, address so it's not it's not basically, as as clinicians, we're helping to, we're helping to we're we're helping the officers to be able to, basically navigate and navigate through the stress that they're experiencing through that.
Right?
So, basically, if it's if it's something about, like, providing, it's so there's a we're talking about two separate things here, I think, because there is an element of training that comes, with, with topics like, with topics like encountering, like, what's the what's the term for it?
Like diversity training, right, or maybe something like implicit bias type of training, to address the the police brutality, you know, some of these issues where there might be police brutality involved.
And so that would be a separate thing.
And so it's it's it's it's, so it's a it's a rather challenging, kind of a line to try to try to navigate through as a clinician because you don't want to cross that line into being, like, an educator about, like, not being a trainer versus being a clinician, if that makes sense.
And so if so if, for example, if the officer, is trying to become educated about their we about their behaviors in certain situations that we might talk about, well, you know, we might talk we might talk about, like, processing some of the things that they were thinking at the time, and then and then see where they're at in terms of, like, what what they're I'm sorry if there's, like, a, if there's a dog.
So I probably didn't, but, but I think we we want to the the priority is to address, the officers' issues and what they are presenting with.
And I apologize I can't really provide a specific response to that because every case is different.
And so I can't really provide, like, a general, general, like, like, a sweeping answer to that question because it's it, like, it it covers so many different things.
But I will say that there is a there is an element of education that does take place, when it comes to, when it comes to training officers and providing some of the information about maybe some of the biases that they, they may or may not have when it comes to encountering, like, certain populations.
And then there's also the piece, so there's different scenarios that may or may not happen where an officer might come in come in and say, like, well, look, like, I I really want to make sure this is done correctly, and and and let's, you know, do I do I do I have any, like, implicit biases myself?
And I want to process that for myself and help and to help them be in a better place about it.
And then there might be also instances where, certain feedback is provided, and maybe, but the officers themselves may or may not, may or may not have, like, the specific, goal in mind for them, when it comes to addressing that issue.
But then we we try our best to, reach while we try our best to meet them or where they're at, we still we still try to provide some insights into, how they might have, you know, about, like, what what caused this incident to take place, and what how they're reacting to it.
So, yeah, I really apologize for this type of, like, very, kind of a non specific answer, but it's just, it's just, there are so many different, there's so many different ways, that, it there's such a case by case kind of a thing that I can't provide that kind of a specific answer.
So I double apologies about that.
Okay.
And, again, if you do have any more questions about that, feel free to email, Michael, doctor Paul.
I'm sure he could maybe pass that on to someone else as well, and his and his team.
The next question I have is, how did you go about getting started?
It says with this program, but I believe they mean, like, you know, with your career.
Did you start from the ground up, or did you base it on the needs that we're seeing in Montgomery County specifically?
Yeah.
I actually, so I started, my my first interest was in forensic psychology.
So I, I did most of my training as a student in state hospitals working with, working with people who are in the criminal justice system and having mental health issues at the same time, so in the legal system.
So it came out of it, so yeah, I it wasn't something that, law enforcement, psychology wasn't something I wasn't necessarily interested in, but I was always interested in working with, kind of, how psychology and the law interacted.
So that's where I got my foot, got my foot in the door with the state hospital system and working with those populations there who are in the legal system.
And then it's, and then just the the my interest started shifting over because, when I work when I started working with, like, Walter Reed, then because I then I started getting more interested in trauma, doing trauma type of work.
And so that led me to working at Walter Reed, and working with the military service members.
And then so that's, and then that kind of spurred my interest in working with first responders.
And so it's not so much about I was, specifically interested in working with police officers, but it's just first responders in general, people who are out there on the front lines, and then and and and trying to assist, in their work.
But yeah.
Yeah.
I mean, but just working with the police department now has just been an amazing experience.
So I'm and I'm I'm and it's, I'm I'm glad, you know, this is where I ended up, but it's it's it's not something that I had in mind from the first get go.
Yeah.
I'm sure that, all that moving around, it it ended up being beneficial to you.
And and so Yeah.
Yeah.
Absolutely.
Yeah.
So the next question I have is, for training and education of police officers, does it also include ongoing training with regard to psychiatric calls?
Do you think that would help best help officers identify mental health concerns that they may see in their fellow colleagues?
Yes.
So we actually do have a pro training program that, that exists where officers are trained on the various ways that they, trained on basically, it's it's like a mental health training.
So they they get training on the types of mental health encounters that they might have on a call.
So if how to make, for example, how to identify certain signs of mental health mental illness, and if they do sense that, like, how what are the best ways to, to interact with those individuals?
And there's also that's one piece of it.
And the other piece of it is how to recognize, some crisis situations or mental health concerns and fellow officers as well.
So we, so that's something that, has been we've seen an uptick in those trainings, I could tell you just in my own experience, in the past year or so, and I know just with the, with the policy themselves in place, I believe in Montgomery County, we, it it's it's it's a mandatory training now for police officers.
Wow.
That's really good to to know, especially when you're, like, talking about those TV show instances where Yeah.
Some things may be over exaggerated.
So and that's the thing that some people may not realize.
You're getting that training that's needed, to really respond more effectively.
So I'm I'm I'm happy to hear that myself.
So we have, so many questions.
We just have four more minutes.
I'll get to just a few more.
And then, if we don't get to them, please feel free to send them directly to doctor Ah.
The next question that I have here is, is there a system that supports retired policemen helping them cope with the new reality of civilian life, such as some traumatic events that they've experienced?
If so, what are they?
Yeah.
So, there's actually some a few organizations that are designed towards assisting retired police officers because that is also something that is a very, very, big topic, of of a source of stress, that retired police officers can experience.
So, yeah, there's but some of the organization names elude me right now.
But if you if you send me an email, it asks me if you want specific, role in the I I'm happy to provide that for you.
But yeah.
So and then there's, actually, I I believe, when so there at least in Montgomery County, there the retirement process, I think, covers about two years.
So you you initiate the retirement process, and it takes, like, a a couple years for you to finally, like, kind of have your quote unquote last day on the job.
And so during those two years, there are there are specific trainings that take place for those retiring officers, to help help manage some of those, things, issues that you mentioned.
Okay.
Alrighty.
And then I believe, I'll just take one more question.
And then if there's any education related questions, we'll, get into those, so so that we can allow you to get to your next event.
The last question is, actually, I'm a LEO law enforcement officer.
I have a year left in the dual MS in clinical mental health counseling program specializing in trauma and crisis.
I will be involved in a CISM team.
Does your team consist only of psychologists or professional counselors as well?
Yes.
At at least that the stress management team itself is is structured that way.
And so it it's because, so it's I'll ask you.
So thank you for asking that question because we only cover a certain range of services.
So I mentioned things like fitness for duty, and and other, like, pre employment screening, that pre employment assessments.
So we don't actually cover that.
So we have different departments, and I believe we contract out, for those, for those tasks.
So, so we we only consist of psychologists, at least in terms of the clinicians, and we have administrative staff.
But then, yeah.
So that's that's our team because it was it was just, it was designed for just those specific clinical services.
And I remember you mentioning that there is actually a job opening.
I thought we could end on that.
There's a job opening.
Yes.
Oh, yeah.
Thank you so much for reminding me about that.
Yeah, yeah, I got lost in the yeah.
But, yeah, so we do, so currently we do have a job opening for a psychologist.
So if you are currently interested in working for the Montgomery County Police Department, so you would be actually considered a county employee.
So there is the minimum requirement is two years of postdoctoral experience.
So, so, yeah, if you are interested, then please, please apply to if you go to the Montgomery County, if you just do a search for Montgomery County job openings, there and then it'll take you to that page, and you can look for psychologists there, and and a job, job description and the application process should be in there.
Awesome.
And I see someone else mentioning that they're hiring as well in the chat, so thanks for sharing those resources with us.
Yeah.
No.
So I I believe there's also a job opening for, like, a part time psychiatrist if, starting that to medical things, but, at the at the crisis center or health and human services in Montgomery County.
So just, you know, if you want if you know somebody or if you, you know, if you are somebody who's interested in that as well, then there's a nice opening.
Awesome.
Well, we'll take this time to, allow you to, head off.
Again, we really appreciate you for this time, and, hopefully, we can do something, similar.
If there's maybe a part two to any questions that, may continue to come in, Please just let us know.
We would be happy to continue to answer those questions that come in.
So, and I do also have some other team members here from Divine Mercy University, who just been kinda in the background, who are here to answer any questions that may be, with regard to our master's program.
Our well, our master's programs in counseling and psychology and our doctoral program in clinical psychology.
So, we are we obviously do have some scholarships right now, that are open from $1,500 to $3,000.
And, if you have any questions about that, we just also wanted to make sure that we made time for that.
So if you wanna put those questions in the chat and how it may transition into the law enforcement world, please do that now as well.
Yeah.
And if if your question wasn't answered, and you would like to still follow-up, please feel free to email me.
I'm happy to go through every single one of them.
Or if any of my answers weren't, clear enough and you wanted to have some follow-up questions to that, please email me.
I'm happy to chat with anybody who, you know, anybody who reaches out.
So, so yeah.
But, thank you so much for having me again.
It was, it was a privilege to be here with you all, and and again, my number and my and my email is there if you have any follow-up questions or concerns or questions.
Yeah, and so, yeah, thank you so much again, and it was, I really enjoyed, this this webinar, and I I I look forward to hopefully doing, you know, for our further collaboration.
Alright.
Thank you.
Have a great one.
Okay.
Thank you.
At this time, I'm gonna bring up, miss Tammy Spitz.
She is actually the adviser for the, PsyD program.
I just wanted to give each of my representatives here a time just to share their information as well, while we allow doctor Ah to, transition out.
Hi, Ebony.
Hi, everyone.
How are you?
Hello.
So I'm just gonna share a little bit briefly on I hope you all can see me okay.
Just gonna share a little bit briefly on the PsyD program at Divine Mercy University.
Now, Ebony, let me ask you just before I get started.
You're just looking for kind of an overview of the program to share with our guests today.
Right?
Just some brass tach information.
Yeah.
So since, doctor Ah is actually, someone who has a doctorate in psychology and he's currently working in the field, people may be wondering, okay.
How can I go to the next step?
And then we'll speak to our other programs that we have.
But, I do know that some people are interested in going back to school so that they can work in the law enforcement area.
So, what would those requirements look like for DuVernay Morris University, and how can they get started?
Sure.
So I'm gonna speak directly about this ID program.
So for those of you that are are listening, do you know that I'm actually speaking just about a specific program.
And as Ebony mentioned, my colleagues will speak on the other programs that we have here at Divine Mercy University.
So Divine Mercy University, we are exclusively a graduate school of psychology and counseling.
I specifically represent the PsyD program.
So we're very fortunate here to have a a doctorate, of psychology in clinical psychology program.
Now that program would be a direct admit program.
It's for anyone who's looking to become a clinical psychologist.
So so for those of you out there that are interested in conducting psychological test testing, an assessment so as to determine a diagnosis or or other things that could be happening with the client, this would be a program, that that could be for you.
So this program is a five year program.
It is, APA accredited, which is really important.
So we are accredited by the American Psychological Association.
And per that accreditation, this would be, an in person program.
So, again, this is gonna be something that, you really do kind of, gear up for.
You you really make it kind of a life endeavor to become a clinical psychologist.
As a part of our program, it is inclusive of a master's degree.
So you actually get a master's in general psychology on the way to, the doctorate.
So you don't need a master's as an entrance requirement.
It it's just a baccalaureate degree.
We do ask that you have, a GPA of a minimum of three point o to be considered.
And, again, it is five years, and we are based in Sterling, Virginia.
The hallmark for those of you that are curious, I guess I kind of mentioned a moment ago, the hallmark of the this program would be, what makes it different, you could say, from maybe social work or counseling is that it does include that component of training that does allow you to conduct those assessments and those tests to determine a diagnosis.
So it is a different kind of a degree in that regard.
Ass ID also includes a therapeutic path.
So not only are you able to conduct testing and assessment, you are rigorously trained in clinical skills, so therapy.
So you've got both of those components as a part of this program.
Ebony, I'd wanna be conscientious of time.
I don't know if there's more that you'd like me to share or if anyone has questions.
I'm happy to, to address those, but that's a little bit about that program.
And, again, I can certainly, share lots more.
It's a phenomenal program.
Here at DMU, we are very much a student centered program, so our faculty really are here for you as a student.
A little bit different than maybe other programs or a PhD program in that our whole goal of our faculty, our mission as an institution is to turn out excellent practitioners, in the fields of psychology and counseling.
So something to really keep in mind is that you as a student are at the forefront of the education.
You're gonna be the one really driving that path forward, and we're here as faculty and staff to support you in that.
So I'll leave it there, Ebony, again, unless you want me to add anything else.
Alright.
Thank you.
I just thought I'd add a little bonus on the end to this webinar just, for the sake of time since we do, have some folks here who may be interested.
I'll bring up just two other representatives from our university.
And, again, this will be, our master's in psychology representative, Gregory Shapiro.
I'd like him to speak a little bit more about that online program and how, you can actually benefit from our scholarships as well.
Thank you.
Thank you all for being here.
So I just wanted to, as the admissions rep for the masters in psychology, just give you an overview of what to expect for this one.
Many of you might even be currently in the program, but many of you are also still researching.
So the master's in psychology program, in short, it's our, Divine Mercy University's 100% online program and primarily asynchronous as well.
So in other words, you have the flexibility as a student to log in to your classes at whatever time works within your schedule.
So it's very friendly to those that might live in different time zones or if you have a very busy, schedule, whether you're a, you have a home home life that's very hectic or a work life.
Many of the people that went to this program, they're attracted to that because of because of a a a busy work or home life.
But this program also just like our other programs that we offer, we do integrate two thousand years of Catholic Christian teaching on human dignity, but we integrate it with the social sciences, and we also hold to a very high, a high bar of of education with our accreditation involved.
And this program, the master's in psychology program that we offer, this one is thirty three credit hours.
And we also offer three different concentrations, and these concentrations are marriage and family studies, leadership psychology, and pre PhD.
And, you know, one thing that that came to mind for me as doctor was speaking was how relevant each of these really could be.
He had mentioned just his work as when when speaking with different officers or people involved that he also has to make sure that he's addressing home life.
And so that's why the marriage and family studies might be very relevant to that.
But leadership psychology can be as well because you're applying this within an organization position, or setting.
And then, of course, the pre PhD concentration is excellent for those that wanna go into more of a, research based career or perhaps in academia or furthering it within clinical psychology.
But, also, just to go a little bit further, one of the best parts of this degree is how versatile it is.
So in this case, because we were focusing on police psychology and this program is different because it is a nonlicensure program, so it's great for those that want to advance in the field or get a little bit more, of a background in psychology to either go into a position that doesn't require licensure or, again, if they wanna add credentials.
It could also work within a more law enforcement, environment.
So whether that's within case management or victim's advocacy as a nonlicensed professional or as a parole officer.
These are just some examples of how having a master's in psychology would be very, very useful for, for these positions.
But with that, you know, I I I'm sure that would be Ebony, we're gonna be providing our, contact information as well.
Is that right for students that are looking to learn more about the programs?
Yeah.
If you could put that in the chat.
And, we actually have a question asking when is the deadline for the fall.
I believe that would be for the spring start because we just had the fall start.
Yeah.
So our next start date will be our spring semester.
That's going to be starting in January.
So we actually have some time right now when it comes to the to the, deadline, but we do set specific deadlines for those that are applying, once they begin their their application process.
But I will say that the sooner you apply, the better, and the reason why is because we do have scholarships available.
And the sooner those those applications are sent in, the more likely you are to being awarded, potentially being awarded a, a higher, scholarship that's available.
Okay.
Thank you so much, Greg.
And I just have one more, representative, Julie Cipriano Cipriano.
I'd like her to just mention a little bit about our master's in counseling, and then, we'll be done for today.
Hi.
Thank you, Ebony, and thanks to everyone who joined our webinar.
It was a great presentation by doctor So I am the admissions representative for the master's degree in clinical mental health counseling.
It's an online hybrid.
Like the master's in psychology, the bulk of the work is online.
It's very flexible, available twenty four seven whenever it suits the student access material.
But because it is a clinical and a counseling degree, there are certain aspects that don't lend themselves to online learning.
So for that reason, it's also a hybrid program.
So that means that there are three, long weekends here on campus as you move through your program.
So if you're in school full time, it's, just under three years to complete the degree.
So you come basically once a year to campus for those long weekends as you move through your studies.
And once you finish those, long weekends on campus in the book of your online classes, you would then, do your practicum and internship in your own area based on the kind of counseling work you'd like to do.
So, like the the other degrees we offer, all that's required to enter is a bachelor's degree in anything.
This is an entry level program, so we teach you everything you need to know from the ground up.
It is an extremely versatile degree.
You can get, jobs at state, agencies or county agencies such as the one doctor, holds, a job with, you know, hospitals, the veterans administration, you know, private and public settings of many kinds.
So I would love to talk with you about the degree program to answer any more detailed questions, and I will put my contact information in the chat as Ebony said.
Look forward to talking with you.
Alright.
Thank you, Julie.
And, I know it's sitting here looking at everyone, very clearly, but, I do wanna reiterate, that we have these scholarships.
There is a deadline that is approaching for, the different scholarships for early admission, and it it kinda goes down the line based on the program that you're interested in.
And we also have a public servant scholarship, that you can see there.
And that also applies to, family members of these police officers, firefighters, hospital workers, EMT, and anyone else who aligns with those those titles.
So that also applies to family members.
So I don't see that there's a ton of questions, but, wanna just allow Julie to put her information in the chat.
And then, if you wanna take that information down, if you're interested in our licensed clinical mental health counseling program, that you can, contact her at your leisure.
Again, thank you all for being here.
We'll actually be sending out a recording, of this webinar.
So if you are multitasking, you can come back and watch it, at your convenience.
You all have a good day, and we hope to see you at the next webinar.
Take care.