I Have Seen It Work At Least Once

I Have Seen It Work At Least Once 

J. Eric Skidmore

Program Manager: SC Law Enforcement Assistance Program 

State Police Chaplain 

Thirty-four years ago, I departed Union Seminary in Richmond, Virginia and I began my work on the staff of a large Protestant Church in Columbia, SC.  As a young parish minister, I was always looking for practical programs which would assist my congregation as it carried out its ministry in the Midlands of South Carolina.  A small group of young associate pastors (me included) formed a learning-type group which we called “I Have Seen It Work At Least Once”.   In the group we shared our latest tools on preaching, teaching, pastoral care, evangelism, stewardship, missions, etc. The only criteria for sharing with the group was the fact that the sharer had seen the technique work at least once.  Little did I know that after 7 years of parish ministry I would shift over to service with the State Police, serving as a Public Safety Chaplain and program manager for The South Carolina Law Enforcement Assistance Program. (SCLEAP). 

SCLEAP is much like an internal EAP which serves 17,000 state cops, local cops, non-sworn staff and the family members of these three groups.  What began as a chaplaincy program has now morphed into a multi-component program which includes a host of services:   

Examples 

• Peer Support to LE in all 46 counties of the State 

• Basic Peer Team Training 

• Advanced Peer Team Training 

• ICISF Approved Instructor Candidate Program 

• Public Safety Chaplaincy Services 

• Public Safety Chaplaincy Training (Classroom and CPE) 

• Post Critical Incident Seminars (14 states) 

• Post Deployment Seminars  

• Traumatic Loss Seminars 

• Addiction Services 

• Training for Mental Health Professionals (EMDR/Grief) 

• Retreat House – Mountains of NC 

• Suicide Prevention, Intervention, Follow Up Care 

• Referral Services to Clinical Care 

If someone asked me what I have seen work at least once over the last 25+ years as SCLEAP has sought to provide support and assistance to the law enforcement community, I would say start with one key practice.  If we have had any success over the years, it has been rooted in what *Drs. Nancy Bohl and Kathy Wellbrock of the Counseling Team International in San Bernadino, CA call “The Helping Triad”.  These are Peers, Mental Health Professionals and Chaplains working shoulder to shoulder in partnership, providing services to the men and women in the field.  We train together, we deploy together and we stay together. 

This method of care is not easily done.   Sometimes the chaplains and mhps insist on being the leaders of all the interventions.  Sometimes the peers get frustrated with the chaplains and/or the mhps and shut them out of the process completely.   Sometimes there is no support from the command staff or blocking moves made by the middle managers.  Sometimes previous efforts at peer support were so poorly done the current administration is completely resistant to peer-based support regardless of how well trained and experienced the team may be.   Sometimes we are simply defeated by the public safety culture itself which cannot see the value of one cop helping another cop get through some of the most difficult days of his/her career. 

Dr. Bohl reports a type of failure which she sees happen again and again.  “Not only do the three kinds of would-be helpers (peers, chaplains, mhps) fail to synchronize their efforts, but also, they behave as though they are adversaries.  Each downplays the role of the others and strives to show that the help they offer is what is most needed and wanted.” 

When competitiveness can be put aside and the three groups work together, the “The Helping Triad” model becomes the secret sauce for a successful team.   You may ask: “how can we make this work in my department?”   The starting place is Training.  When you hold your basic CISM Trainings, be sure you include Peers, Chaplains and MHPs all in the same class.  Do the same when you hold Advanced Trainings [Suicide, Grief, Line of Duty Death (LODD), Adv. Individuals in Crisis/Group Crisis Intervention, Strategic Planning, Stress Management]. 

Our personnel are not all the same.  Some staff respond well to the academic training and credentials of a mental health professional.   Some respond well to a “spiritual care” approach provided by the chaplain.   Some cops respond to other cops who they feel will better understand their struggles. 

The Helping Triad embraces the idea that “one type of helper does not fit everyone”.  Try training together and deploying together.  Demonstrate to the agency that all three types of helpers can work together for the health, wellness and common good of the men and women with whom they serve.   

I have seen this approach work more than once! 

*The Power of the Helping Triad, by Nancy K. Bohl-Penrod, PhD., Director and Kathy Wellbrock, PhD., Assistant Director, The Counseling Team International. 

Rev. Dr. J. Eric Skidmore 

Program Manager, SCLEAP/State Police Chaplain 

803-206-8961  [email protected]