The Law Enforcement Resiliency and Peer Support Training Course is a practical course of instruction designed to provide law enforcement peer counselors with the ability to conduct individual psychological debriefings, provide peer counseling, make appropriate professional intervention referrals for peers and their family members as needed, and connect these approaches to the enhancement of human resiliency in the field of law enforcement. 
This unique course provides the newly assigned peer counselor with an understanding of police stress, physiological aspects of stress, an overview of mental health issues, factors in police suicide, effective communication, and drug and alcohol use and abuse.  Students will learn how to conduct individual psychological debriefings and initiate and manage peer support programs.
Special emphasis on the stress of undercover operations, assignment to high-risk or specialized teams, exposure to critical incidents, and the effects of a depressed economy will be addressed.  A dynamic group study and presentation is required to demonstrate the students understanding of peer counseling approaches and policies.

Topics include:

• Overview of Peer Support and Resiliency
• Principles of Police Stress
  
• Peer Support for the Family
  
• Overview of Mental and Emotional Health Issues Related to Police Stress
  
• Physiological Aspects of Police Stress
  
• Understanding Drug and Alcohol Abuse
  
• Police Suicide
  
• Effective Communication
  
• Coping With Stress
  
• Human Resiliency and Law Enforcement
  
• Conducting Debriefings
  
• Peer Support Program Management

Prerequisite:  You must be a sworn member of law enforcement or corrections, a non-law enforcement member of an emergency services agency, or a mental health professional or a clergy member supporting emergency service activities to attend this course.  Requests for exceptions must be submitted and approved by the course director.

Note:  This course has challenging academic requirements including role playing, a written examination and a small group presentation.

(CEH: 4-hours Technical Skill; 36-hours Interpersonal Perspectives)

Back to Courses