Those who work in the criminal justice field are exposed to human suffering and may hear about or even witness violence and pain on the job daily. They often support people during painful and overwhelming circumstances. However, they often don’t recognize or have the opportunity to handle their own needs related to hearing about and witnessing these stressful events.
Your daily work experiences may not only be causing emotional stress, but impacting your brain and body, resulting in post-traumatic stress. This training will help understand how stress at work causes responses that can impact your body, mind, emotions, and relationships. It will review common signs of post-traumatic stress that may be due to the unique work environment of the criminal justice system.
Unlike many trainings on workplace stress or “self-care”, you will learn concrete techniques to help you manage your stress that go beyond the traditional instruction of “make time to exercise and get plenty of sleep”. We will discuss how to talk to colleagues who may be struggling with traumatic stress symptoms and ways you can best support them. You will gain understanding of signs it may be time for you to reach out for help from a mental health professional who can help you manage the effects of encountering a tremendous amount of suffering while on the job.
At the end of the training, trainees will have:
• A framework to understand how witnessing and hearing about suffering and violence can influence an individual both at home and on the job
• Calming techniques to use when experiencing stressful work situations and their aftereffects
• Tips to discuss post-traumatic stress with colleagues who may be suffering in silence
• Strategies to distinguish when to seek professional help
• Strategies to identify professional help that is right for you
