First Responders

Experience

Jocelyn Cowls has 19 years experience working with first responders struggling with PTSD and other concurrent mental health issues. She is aware of the unique challenges faced by the workplace duties and culture. She has experience with The Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) and other insurers to successfully assist people back to work.

Therapeutic approaches used

Building resilience
DBT skills
Cognitive Behaviour therapy (CBT)
Prolonged exposure therapy
Mindfulness Meditation
Self-Compassion
Seeking Safety
Goal setting

Common treatment goals:

Building resilience.
Symptom reduction and management.
Increasing balance in life.
Devloping coping skills appropriate for the workplace
Developing readiness to return to work.
Managing stigma at work.
Preparing for high risk work situations.
Creating healthy return to work plans in collaboration with insurer or workplace.

Building Resilience

Group sessions as a source of prevention

Our resilience training course provides 16 hours of direct facilitation for groups as large as 30 people at a time. Given that most first responders work shifts, Resilience at Work offers flexibility with the scheduling of training in order to best suit the participants and the organization. Drawing from years of experience working with first responders, Resilience at Work designed this training to offer coping strategies suitable to utilize in a high risk workplace. This training also challenges avoidance behaviours that first responders tend to use to cope with traumatic exposure. Participants are taught to use more adaptive and resilient behaviours, both in and out of the workplace, in order to facilitate post-traumatic growth.

The following are examples of some topics covered in this course:-the resilient brain
-balanced living
-coping strategies to manage exposure to stress and trauma
-mindfulness meditation
-emotional awareness
-preparing for high risk, work specific situations
-managing anger and conflict
-optimism and happiness