Program

Download complete 2017 conference brochure, including program.

Conference Schedule at a Glance
Tuesday, September 26

• 7:00 AM – 8:00 AM: Registration (Pre-conference and Main Conference)
• 8:00 AM – 8:30 AM: Introduction by the President of PSPSA
• 8:30 AM – 10:00 AM: Training: Suicide Prevention for Law Enforcement Personnel
• 10:00 AM – 10:15 AM: Break
• 10:15 AM – 11:30 AM: Training Continued: Suicide Prevention for Law Enforcement Personnel
• 11:30 AM – 1:00 PM: Lunch (on your own)
• (Option 1) 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM: Training: Saving Those Who Save Others – Suicide Awareness in the Fire Service
• (Option 2) 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM: Team Building/Debriefings for Peer Support Teams (5 groups available) Registration Required
• 3:00 PM – 3:15 PM: Break
• (Option 1) 3:15 PM – 5:15 PM: Training: Suicide Prevention and Intervention (QPR)
• (Option 2) 3:15 PM – 5:15 PM: Team Building/Debriefings for Peer Support Teams (5 groups available) Registration Required
• 5:00 PM – 7:00 PM: Registration for Main Conference and Silent Auction Opens

Wednesday, September 27

• 7:00 AM – 8:00 AM: Registration for Main Conference (View Silent Auction)
• 8:00 AM – 8:45 AM: Opening Ceremonies
• 8:45 AM – 10:15 AM: Training: Bottom Up Leadership and How It Saved Lives in Benghazi
• 10:15 AM – 10:30 AM: Break (Book signing by Kris “Tanto” Parondo)
• 10:30 AM – 12:00 PM: Training: Dallas Police Ambush: Lessons Learned and Implications for Peer
• 12:00 PM – 1:15 PM: Lunch (Buffet Provided) – View Silent Auction
• 1:15 PM – 2:30 PM: Training: PTSD/TBI vs. Fire & Iron: “The Randomness of PTSD”
• 2:30 PM – 2:45 PM: Break
• 2:45 PM – 3:45 PM: Training: How to Better Equip Yourselves When Dealing With the Loss of a Loved One
• 3:45 PM – 5:00 PM: Training: Helping First Responders Through the Workers Compensation Process
• 5:00 PM – 5:15 PM: Closing Remarks
• 5:30 PM – 8:30 PM: Social Event (Paradise Terrace)
• 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM: Friends of Bill

Thursday, September 28

• 8:00 AM – 8:30 AM: Good Morning – View Silent Auction
• 8:30 AM – 10:00 AM: Breakout Groups Session One
  • Peer Support for the Injured, Absent or Retired Employee
  • How to Manage a Line of Duty Death
  • How to Help with Retirement or Public Safety and Retirement Aspects of Non-Sworn
  • LGBTQ Emotional Survival
• 10:00 AM – 10:15 AM: Break
• 10:15 AM – 11:45 AM: Breakout Groups Session Two
  • Warrior Spirit – LAPD Officer Shot in the Line of Duty
  • Talking about Suicide Doesn’t Hurt Anyone, NOT Talking About it Does!
  • Making it Safe for Firefighters and Paramedics
  • First Responder (Telecommunicator): PTSD – Healing Wounds & Building Resiliency
• 11:45 AM – 1:00 PM: Lunch (Buffet Provided) – Silent Auction Closes
• 1:00 PM – 2:30 PM: Training: (For All Attendees: Return to Main Conference Room) Understanding Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)
• 2:30 PM – 3:00 PM: Break (Book signing for Ellen Kirschman, Ph.D.)
• 3:00 PM – 5:00 PM: Significant Others/Attendees Join Together in the Main Conference Room
  Training: Staying Strong in Troubled Times
• 5:00 PM – 5:15 PM: Closing Remarks (Pick up Silent Auction Prizes)
• Evening On Your Own (Book signing for Ellen Kirschman, Ph.D.)

Friday, September 29

• 7:00 AM – 8:00 AM: Pick up Silent Auction Prizes
• 8:00 AM – 8:15 AM: Good Morning
• 8:15 AM – 9:30 AM: Training: Mindful Policing
• 9:30 AM – 9:45 AM: Break
• 9:45 AM – 11:15 AM: Training: Building Your Dash
• 11:15 AM – 11:30 AM: Drawing for Big Raffles
• 11:30 AM – 12:00 PM: Closing Ceremonies (Good Bye, Be Safe, See You Next Year!)

New This Year: Significant Other Track
Thursday, September 28
Significant Other Breakout Sessions

• 8:30 AM – 10:00 AM: Post-traumatic Growth
• 10:00 AM – 10:15 AM: Break
• 10:15 AM – 11:45 AM: Keeping Your Relationship Strong
• 11:45 AM – 1:00 PM: Lunch
• 1:00 PM – 2:30 PM: Significant Other Survival
• 2:30 PM – 3:00 PM: Break
• 3:00 PM – 5:00 PM: Significant Others/Attendees Join Together in the Main Conference Room
  Conference Room: Staying Strong in Troubled Times

Presentations

Suicide Prevention for Law Enforcement Personnel
By: Robert E. Douglas, Jr., Ph.D., Executive Director, National Police Suicide Foundation, Inc.
This presentation is designed to bring a better understanding of the mental health issues of Law Enforcement personnel and what emotional issues they face on a daily bases. It will help bring an awareness regarding suicide/mental health issues within the police culture, and help establish a better understanding of these important issues today. It also identifies and evaluates existing resources, best practices, and training related to suicide prevention, intervention, and response programs.

Suicide Awareness in the Fire Service
By: Jeff Dill, CEO, Firefighter Behavioral Health Alliance
This presentation will provide suicide prevention, awareness training and intervention techniques for use among fire/rescue service personnel. This is a presentation on how to prevent suicide and how to refer a colleague to resources when needed.

Suicide Prevention and Intervention (QPR)
By: Nancy K. Bohl-Penrod, Ph.D., Director and Debbie Silveria, Ph.D., The Counseling Team International
This presentation will involve suicide intervention techniques that include how to question, persuade, and refer a person who is showing signs of depression and suicide ideation. It will help build the confidence necessary for peer supporters to ask the right questions, at the right time, by reviewing scenarios.

Bottom Up Leadership and How It Saved Lives In Benghazi
By: Kris “Tanto” Paronto – Benghazi Survivor (13-Hours)
This presentation covers his experiences in Benghazi which taught him the importance of being able to depend and trust his team, especially in times of a major crisis. From combat to business, he shares techniques, stories, and lessons he learned from having a strong team under fire. His personal account of what occurred in Benghazi (13-hours) is riveting.

Dallas: Ambush, Aftermath, and Aid
By: Stephanie Barone-McKenny, Ph.D. and Edrick Dorian,Psy.D., Los Angeles Police Department, Trina Hall, Ph.D. and Christina Smith, Assistant Chief, Dallas Police Department
The presentation will cover the tragedy that took place the summer of 2016, a lone gunman ambushed and killed five Dallas police officers, marking the deadliest day for law enforcement since 9/11. This presentation will cover the Dallas Police Departments response to this tragic event, mutual aid provided by police psychologists from the Los Angeles Police Department, and their lessons learned, with implications for peer support personnel.

PTSD/TBI vs. Fire & Iron: “The Randomness of PTSD”
By: Matt Shobert, Retired Fire Chief, City of Murrieta
This presentation is the presenter’s personal story on how post-traumatic stress disorder can affect anyone. As a respected fire chief, ironman triathlete, he never realized everything can change in a split second. In July 2014 he found himself beginning on a long journey of recovery, from an acute traumatic injury, TBI and chronic post-traumatic disorder.

How to Better Equip Yourselves When Dealing With the Loss of a Loved One
By: James Brown, Parole Agent, California Department of Corrections & Rehabilitation
This presentation helps promote an understanding of the grief and bereavement processes, as well as explain techniques for managing the symptoms an individual may experience after the loss of a child. It will show how critical incidents don’t only effect those we work with, but it also effects other members of the family.

Helping First Responders Through the Workers Compensation Process
By: John Ferrone, Esq., Adams, Ferrone & Ferrone
This presentation will help peer supporters understand how to navigate through the workers’ compensation system. It will cover the process and strategies designed to provide peer supporters with the tools necessary to assist someone going through this process.

Peer Support for the Injured, Absent or Retired Employee
By: Beth Dansie, Director and Scott Dansie, Operations Manager, Psychological Services Group
This presentation covers the often overlooked “crisis” experienced by employees absent from our agencies due to military leave, layoffs, administrative leave, illness, injury or retirement. This presentation will address the role of peer support in these circumstances; how to identify these co-workers and how to overcome the obstacles both, personal and institutional to the delivery of support services. The instructor will relate his personal journey from a disabling injury to retirement and illustrate the benefits of agency morale and employee wellbeing as we take care of our absent employees.

How to Manage a Line of Duty Death
By: Tami McMillian, National Board, Concerns of Police Survivors
This presentation will provide important details and proper steps to take when a department loses an employee in a line of duty death. She will discuss the personal loss of her brother and the type of support she received through her journey. She is advocate of making the aftermath of line of duty death easier for the surviving members.

How to Help with Retirement for Public Safety and Retirement Aspects of Non-Sworn
By: Leonard Cosby, Retired Lieutenant/Chaplain, Oceanside Police Department
This presentation is provided by a retiree from the public safety arena and will help peer supporters gain the information necessary to prepare for their own retirements. The financial and emotional preparation regarding this process will be discussed.

LGBTQ Emotional Survival
By: Christine Garcia, Officer, Traffic Reconstructionist, Transgender Liaison and Dan Meyer, Sergeant, San Diego Police Department
This presentation will help provide the necessary knowledge to peer supporters that may be in a position to help the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) communities. Based on one of the instructors personal experiences it will help educate, provide understanding, validation and awareness to the LGBTQ community.

Warrior Spirit – LAPD Officer Shot in the Line of Duty
By: Guillermo De La Riva, Police Officer, Los Angeles Police Department
This presentation will help peer supporters understand how to assist a police officer in a traumatic situation by hearing from an officer who was critically injured in a firefight. The officer will discuss his personal journey after being shot in the face while on duty and the lessons learned from his department.

Talking About Suicide Doesn’t Hurt Anybody, NOT Talking About It Does
By: Denise Jablonski-Kaye, Ph.D., Behavioral Science, Los Angeles Police Department
This presentation discusses the early intervention approaches that Peer Support can provide which leads to emotional survival, building resiliency and THRIVING while on the job! Peer Support is a vital agency resource which identifies people in distress and gets them the help they need to prevent a suicide. Peer Support can be so much more proactive by intervening at a much earlier point through mentoring, role-modeling and capacity building.

Making it Safe for Firefighters and Paramedics
By: Timothy Grutzius, Lieutenant/Paramedic and Peer Supporter, Illinois Firefighter Peer Support (ILFFPS)
This presentation will include a brief discussion on the presenter’s personal journey towards wellness, which lead to his involvement with the Illinois Firefighter Peer Support Team. This program will also include an overview of the ILFFPS team structure, mission, and collaborative partnerships with both the Rosecrance Florian program and the licensed clinicians, who provide guidance with behavioral health.

First Responders (Telecommunications) PTSD – Healing Wounds & Building Resiliency
By: Heather Williams, Regional Peer Support Coordinator, Orange County Sheriff’s Department and Ryan Dedmon, Outreach Director, 911 Training Institute
This presentation will discuss the accumulation of trauma experienced by first responders (telecommunications) personnel with the goal of reducing the stigma of mental health treatment. A presenter’s personal story of how he overcame the traumas he experienced as a telecommunicator and how he restored his resiliency from his personal loss and grief will be explained.

Understanding Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)
By: Debbie Silveria, Ph.D., The Counseling Team International
This presentation will discuss the specifics surrounding EMDR and how it has been used to help reduce stress in public safety personnel with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Peer supporters will be provided with a better awareness of EMDR techniques, which has helped thousands of public safety employees. It will give peer supporters another tool to use as an option when they refer peers to a clinician.

Staying Strong in Troubled Times
By: Ellen Kirschman, Ph.D., Author of “I Love A Cop” and “I Love A Fire Fighter”
This presentation will address how these are “tough times” to be in a public safety career right now or to be in a relationship with one. This presentation will cover what strategies police and fire families need to know in order to stay strong, healthy and connected.

Mindful Policing
By: Richard Goerling, Lieutenant, Hillsboro Police Department (Oregon) This presentation will focus on mindfulness as a response for many cops who lack empathy and live in a “black and white world”. He will go into depth about how mindful and empathetic policing will help peer supporters and those in their departments who have sworn to protect and serve.

Building Your Dash
By: Gordon Graham, Retired California Highway Patrol
This presentation will commence with some thoughts on the “cause” of tragedies in any occupation or profession, focusing on the difference between “proximate” cause and those problems “lying in wait,” sometimes for years, which cannot be ignored and can sometimes lead to tragedy. The attendees will be provided with strategies for being able to recognize the problems of not taking self-care seriously, so they can be properly addressed prior to any problems that may occur.

Significant Other Track Presentations

Post-Traumatic Growth
By: Mike Russ, Fire Captain/Fire Chaplain, and Rita Russ, Spouse, San Manual Fire Department
This presentation involves a fire captain and his wife who will describe their personal losses and what worked for them to overcome those losses. They will help family members who have loved ones in public safety gain a different perspective.

Keeping Your Relationship Strong
By: Frank Bell, Captain & Anna Bell, Latent Fingerprint Examiner II, San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department
This presentation will help you understand the public safety culture, the stressors of the job and the effects these careers can have on personal lives and relationships. The more your family understands about the public safety culture, the better chance you will have at maintaining a healthy relationship.

Significant Other Survival Tactics
By: Jeff Oostyen, Psy.D., The Counseling Team International and Focus Psychological Services
This presentation specifically will help significant others provide support at home to their public safety loved ones. This support can increase their wellness and improve the lives of their family unit.