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San Bernardino County Fire reaches out to staff impacted by Las Vegas mass shooting
Top brass at the San Bernardino County Fire Department met Thursday with firefighters and other department personnel who attended Sunday’s Route 91 Harvest country music festival in Las Vegas and witnessed the mass shooting.
The purpose of the 1 p.m. meeting at The Way World Outreach church in San Bernardino was to inform the roughly 20 employees and members of their families of crisis counseling and other services available to them, Capt. Dave Burkhart said.
Counselors from San Bernardino-based The Counseling Team International and members of the Fire Department’s Crisis Accountability Response & Education team, or CARE, were also in attendance, Burkhart said.
For decades, The Counseling Team International has contracted with the county to provide crisis counseling for sheriff’s deputies and firefighters. In 2015, it extended its services to include general county employees impacted by the Dec. 2, 2015, mass shooting at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino in which 14 people, including 13 employees of the county Environmental Health Services Division, died.
San Bernardino County employee killed, 5 others injured, in Las Vegas mass shooting
A longtime employee of the San Bernardino County Assessor/Recorder/County Clerk’s office, Dana Gardner, was among those killed in Sunday night’s mass shooting at the Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas.
Sheriff John McMahon confirmed that Sergeant Brad Powers, a 19-year veteran of the department assigned to the Fontana station, was among the wounded. He said Sgt. Powers was in critical but stable condition at a Las Vegas hospital.
News of the county employees killed or injured in Sunday night’s shooting echoed Dec. 2, 2015, when 14 people were killed — 13 of them county environmental health services employees — in a mass shooting at the Inland Regional Center. “With respect to our December 2 victims, I understand some of our folks contacted The Counseling Team International last night,” Smith said in her email to the board. “As in the past, TCTI will be on site this morning.”
The Counseling Team International Joins The Remembrance Project.
Dr. Kendra Devor leads TCTI’s collaboration to help those who lost loved ones killed by an illegal alien.
WASHINGTON, DC – Maria Espinoza, Co-founder and National Director of The Remembrance Project, announced its collaboration on June 26th, 2017, with CAREForce.us and The Counseling Team International, two prominent nationwide professional intervention response groups that will provide needed support services to U.S. citizen and legal immigrant families whose loved ones were killed by an illegal alien. With grief and family counseling as priority needs of surviving families, these peer support and mental health professionals and chaplains will offer immediate holistic care and physical, emotional, cognitive, behavioral and spiritual support to help meet each family’s unique needs. Services will be provided upon request for immediate point-of-need critical incident intervention response. Contact the The Remembrance Project for more information.
The Triad: A Department’s Own Superheroes
How did Peer Support programs begin, and where are we today? Dr. Nancy Bohl-Penrod talks about the early days and the development of the Helping Triad.
Crises Negotiation Technique and Process – Dr. Bohl Penrod Explains
Dr. Nancy Bohl-Penrod was interviewed on KFMB Radio March 31, 2017, following a 22-hour stand-off with a suicidal man on a San Diego freeway overpass. As a trained negotiator, Dr. Bohl-Penrod explains the steps of preventing a potentially fatal jump.
Nancy Bohl-Penrod, Ph.D. appears on KFMB San Diego’s Brett Winterble Show
Listen to the March 24, 2017 Drive-time radio episode, as KFMB/San Diego radio host, Bret Winterble, asks Dr. Nancy Bohl-Penrod about the emotion of anger. An expert in critical incident stress management, Dr. Bohl-Penrod talks about why anger is on the rise, and ways to manage it.
Dr. Bohl-Penrod’s interview starts at the 20.25-minute mark.
Nancy Bohl-Penrod, Ph.D., and Kathleen Wellbrock, Ph.D — California Sheriff’s Magazine discuss how:
Inland Empire Public Safety Officials and The Counseling Team International made First Responder Wellness top priority following San Bernardino Terrorist Attack on December 2, 2015. Using the Helping Triad, first responders were supported by Critical Incident Stress Debriefings, Counseling, Chaplaincy and Peer Support Services.
OCFA captain’s suicide resonates for first responders
Behind the Badge OC, December 21, 2016
Loss of O.C. Captain triggers questions. Behind The Badge discusses effect of critical incidents on first responders’ well-being with Dr. Bohl-Penrod.
On a Tuesday morning, Orange County Fire Authority Captain Eric Weuve jumped from the Crown Valley Parkway overpass to his death on the 5 Freeway in Mission Viejo.
Although we can’t know the exact reason Weuve ended his life, his death resonates in the first responder community. For everyone who wears a uniform, they know too well the conditions and stressors of the job.
Reacting to the Anger Emotion
By Nancy K. Bohl-Penrod, Psy.D., California Sheriff, October, 2016
The National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund’s recently revealed that 67 law enforcement officers have been killed in a line of duty death just in the first half of 2016. Ambush-style killings of law enforcement offices have increased more than 300 percent from the same time last year. The murders of our law enforcement officers in Dallas, Baton Rouge, and San Diego are horrible and create anger and rage in many of us.
Code 7 Connection Newsletter
The mission of Code 7 is to support law enforcement and bring hope into their workplace. The application of that mission has never been more difficult. In his most recent newsletter, author Wes Anderson mentions his attendance at the recent PSPSA conference. Wes serves as a volunteer Chaplain to the Chula Vista Police Department, and with the Citizens’ Adversity Support Team responding to crisis and trauma.
San Bernardino terror attack counselors ease grief, but they also suffer
The San Bernardino County Sun, November 26, 2016
With San Bernardino’s Inland regional Center visible from her office window, psychotherapist Nancy Bohl-Penrod is constantly reminded of the deadly terrorist shooting that occurred there Dec. 2 and the months she and her colleagues spent consoling first responders, victims’ families and survivors.
As Bohl-Penrod and other counselors worked tirelessly to gudie those affected by the attack through the tragedy, they suffered themselves. Some internalized their patients’ grief, while others grew exhausted from the hours of emotionally demanding work.
FRANCE ATTACK: Dread, sadness come in wake of Bastille Day slaughter
The Press Enterprise, July 14, 2016
Shock over the Bastille Day massacre in France Thursday night is likely giving way to anxiety, dread and hopelessness as people feel besieged by yet another massive terrorist attack, says an Inland mental health expert.
Anger over the killing of dozens and being restricted from traveling to France and other parts of the world is a natural reaction, said Nancy Bohl-Penrod, a psychotherapist who directs The Counseling Team International in San Bernardino.
How Trauma Impacts Black Communities And Police Officers Psychologically
Forbes, July 13, 2016
The recent violence, police shootings of black men, the attack on police officers and the 24/7 media coverage have left me feeling as though there’s a dead weight tied around my heart. No longer are we confined to news consumption through the evening news or the morning paper. We’re constantly bombarded with news from social media—Twitter and Facebook, just to name a few.
Dr. Bohl-Penrod was among the psychologists interviewed by Forbes for this insightful article covering questions surrounding the emotional impact of the Dallas tragedy on black citizens and police officers.
Nine Ways to Respond to a Traumatic Event to Improve Emotional Recovery
April 27, 2016
San Bernardino, CA – People are concerned that a traumatic event could happen without warning at work, school or public place. The recent shootings on college campuses and the San Bernardino County Inland Regional Center have taken away a general sense of security. “Our best emotional defense is to know how to help ourselves and others when tragedy strikes. I have seen the results of untreated trauma,” says Nancy K. Bohl-Penrod, PhD, who has been dispatched to many critical incidents, including the San Bernardino terrorist attack on December 2, 2015, to provide mental health services to first responders and citizens. “Left untreated, emotional trauma can surface as symptoms of posttraumatic stress, including anxiety and depression,” says Dr. Bohl-Penrod.
Read the complete press release.
Counseling for Officer-Involved Shootings
NBC San Diego, January 23, 2016
Counseling team international has responded to more than 2,000 police shootings across the country and most of the agencies in San Diego County. NBC 7’s Regina Ruiz reports.
SAN BERNARDINO SHOOTING: What should become of the Inland Regional Center?
The Press Enterprise, January 4, 2016
There is no single answer about what to do with buildings where mass shootings or other tragedies have taken place, such as the conference building at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino, where 14 died on Dec. 2. Two of the three buildings at the center, a private, nonprofit agency with more than 500 employees who work with Inland residents who have developmental disabilities, reopened Monday.
Read more from The Press Enterprise
Counselor Among Survivors of San Bernardino Shooting
CBS News Interview, December 20, 2015
A woman who has spent her life counseling survivors of tragedy, became a survivor herself in San Bernardino. Angelika Robinson has helped others in their worst moments, like after the Columbine shooting. “There is something that is so profoundly important about being with someone in the most horrific time of their life,” Robinson said.
KFMB Radio in San Diego interviews Dr. Nancy Bohl-Penrod about TCTI’s response to San Bernardino shooting.
Interview with Dr. Bohl-Penrod is 10 minutes and 15 seconds into the podcast. Scroll over to the 10:15 minute marker to listen to the interview.
Counselors Work Overtime To Help San Bernardino First Responders
December 8, 2015
In the week since the attacks that killed 14 and injured 21 in San Bernardino, counselors have been working almost nonstop to help first responders who were on the scene Wednesday.
“No one can prepare for this,” said Nancy Bohl, who has been counseling San Bernardino first responders this week, along with her colleagues at Counseling Team International.
Read more from CBS Los Angeles
San Bernardino, CA – What it’s like to be cop involved in a mass shooting, The Marshall Project by Christie Thompson
December 4, 2015
Mass shooting such as the one in San Bernardino, California this week can haunt, for years, the police officers who are often first to the scene. “We do a lot of psychological first aid,” said Dr. Nancy Bohl-Penrod, director of the Counseling Team International, a private practice that responds to crisis incidents in Southern California and elsewhere. Bohl-Penrod and her team — comprised of chaplains, counselors, and fellow officers — began preparing officers for what might lie ahead: difficulty sleeping, hyper vigilance, anger, isolation, and flashbacks.
Read more from the Marshall Project
San Bernardino, CA – TCTI’s Critical incident Stress Management Expert, Dr. Nancy Bohl-Penrod, Deployed Thirty Psychotherapists to December 2nd mass shooting
December, 2015
Seven Tips On How To Heal and Survive Trauma Offered.
“We have been working with first responders and survivors since Wednesday’s attack. There are stages of fear and grief, our job is to help restore a sense of safety and mental stability,” says, Dr. Penrod. “We strongly advise those affected by Wednesdays attack to seek professional help from their medical doctor or mental health professional.”
Read the complete article at The Press Enterprise.
New Smart Phone APP Helps First Responders
June 1, 2015
San Bernardino, CA – “Tragedy affects all involved, including the most highly trained rescuers, says Nancy Bohl-Penrod Ph.D, Director of The Counseling Team International. There is no warning as to what their next call will be, but today’s first responders need to be prepared for anything, including helping their own. That’s why we developed this APP,” says Bohl-Penrod.
Read the complete press release.
Wellness: Life, Emotions, Workplace and Relationships
August 25, 2014
Hosted by Dr. Gary Bell
Wellness has everything to do with how we conduct our lives, are mindful of our health and manage stress. Dr. Nancy Bohl-Penrod is my special guest discussing incredible techniques and insight into how we can heal and improve. We will take a deep dive into stress, nutrition, spirituality, relationships, exercise and medication. Wellness impacts our coping and ability to work. Instead of living as a stressed out and irritable person, listen and learn. This episode takes on mental and physical health in a straight forward and impactful way.
Listen to this broadcast
Critical Incident Stress: Will the Event Define You or You the Event
August 11, 2014
Hosted by Dr. Gary Bell
Critical Incident Stress is trauma that is so overpowering it is beyond our ability to cope. We have nothing that has prepared us to face its aftermath. Critical incidents can be come from conflict, abuse, war, natural disasters, man made disasters, death, witnessing trauma, near death, threats, extreme fear and the list goes on. The aftermath is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder if not treated immediately. Dr. Nancy Bohl-Penrod and I will explore the complex world of treating during, after and beyond the Critical Incidents. Dr. Nancy Bohl-Penrod and I have worked together for more than ten years on hundreds of incidents. She is a pioneer in the field of trauma and one of the highest sought after experts on Critical Incident Impact in the world. This is a show for the ages. Make sure to tune in and learn how to change a PTSD life back to reclaiming our lives.
Listen to this broadcast
Organizational Development: The Potential Within
July 14, 2014
Hosted by Dr. Gary Bell
The days of retirement, benefits and a job you will work your whole life are gone. Employer loyalty is a thing of the past. No employer wants to pay retirement and benefits until someone dies. Our economy is global and moving at the speed of light. Dr. Wayne McAfee will take on the hard questions of how a business and employee can survive and thrive. From the Executive on down through all employees of a business, Dr. McAfee and I will explore the dynamics and motivations of any employer. We spend more hours at work than with our own families. To have passion for what one does to survive is critical. Sit back, take notes and get ready for some new tools to arm you for your future.
Listen to this broadcast