Bulletin 03-19
February 8, 2019
UFLAC PEER SUPPORT
JOIN US FOR GROUP AND INDIVIDUAL CRITICAL INCIDENT STRESS MANAGEMENT TRAINING
APRIL 2-4, 2019
United Firefighters of Los Angeles City (UFLAC) is excited to offer a three-day Group Crisis Intervention and Assisting Individuals in Crisis Training (GRIN) on April 2-4.
The Group Crisis Intervention section is designed to teach the central elements of a “comprehensive, systematic and multi-component crisis intervention curriculum.” Fundamentals of Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) will be outlined and participants will leave with the knowledge and tools to provide several group crisis interventions and understand the value and importance of follow-up services, including when and how to make appropriate referrals to vetted professionals when needed.
As Peer Support has grown and developed over the years, the type of services that Peer Support personnel provide have also changed. In the past, most Peer Support occurred in a group setting assisting Mental Health Professionals with defusings and debriefings. While there is still an important place for group interventions, today, Peers are providing crisis intervention utilizing a Peer-based model.
While crisis intervention is NOT Psychotherapy, it is a “specialized acute emergency mental health intervention which requires specialized training. As physical first aid is to surgery, crisis intervention is to psychotherapy.” This section of the class, Assisting Individuals in Crisis, is designed to teach participants the fundamentals of, and a specific protocol for, individual (one-on-one) crisis intervention.
The curriculum that we are utilizing is material that has been developed by the International Critical Incident Stress Foundation (ICISF). We will provide each participant who successfully completes the full three days of training with Certificates of Completion from the ICISF, which is a nationally-recognized Certification.
Tiffani Collier, the main trainer for our class, is one of three CISM trainers for the United States Coast Guard and we are very grateful to the Coast Guard for releasing Tiffani to provide our training. In 2000, Tiffani achieved Trainer status with the ICISF after leading over 600 CISM interventions for first responders after the crash of Alaska Airlines Flight 261. Tiffani has coordinated CISM responses for maritime law enforcement teams, led interventions following suicides, line of duty deaths, and mid-air collisions of military aircraft, and she aided after Hurricanes Katrina and Ike. I have personally had the opportunity to work with Tiffani in the past and I know that you will get a lot out of her training.
If you are interested in taking this three-day training, please let us know so that we can provide enough materials for everyone. To receive the certification, each participant will need to complete the full three days of training.
Please RSVP to Maria Rendon at [email protected] by March 8th if you are interested in attending. If you have any questions about this training, you can contact me at [email protected].
Sincerely,
Steven. F. Froehlich, Ph. D., MFT #7666
Director
Behavioral Health Services
United Firefighters of Los Angeles City
IAFF Center of Excellence for Behavioral Health Treatment and Recovery