Increasing Resilience in Police and Emergency Personnel: Strengthening Your Mental Armor

Increasing Resilience in Police and Emergency Personnel illuminates the psychological, emotional, behavioral, and spiritual impact of police work on police officers, administrators, emergency communicators, and their families.

Author Stephanie Conn, a board-certified police psychologist as well as a former police officer and dispatcher, debunks myths about weakness and offers practical strategies in plain language for police employees and their families struggling with traumatic stress and burnout. Sections of each chapter also offer guidance for frequently overlooked roles such as police administrators and civilian police employees. Using real-world anecdotes and exercises, this book provides strengths-based guidance to help navigate the many complex, and sometimes difficult, effects of police and emergency work.

The second edition offers a variety of new first responder and wellness resources and addresses current demands placed on first responders, including exposure to chronic suffering, staffing shortages, burnout, organizational betrayal, and moral injury. It includes significant expansions of practical strategies based on advances in sleep science, optimizing performance and cognitive functioning based on developments in neuroscience, advanced peer support practices, and innovations in health and wellness.