Building Positive Relationships

1. Building Positive Relationships Between Mental Health Consumer/Survivors and Public Safety

2. Building Positive Relationships • Welcome and Introductions • Workshop Overview • Goals: to improve communication, collaboration, and cooperation between police, consumers, and the community • Improve public safety • Improve understanding between consumers and law enforcement • Learn about e-CPR

3. Building Positive Relationships • Public Safety Requires Understanding and Communication to: • Reduce incidents of traumatic/negative interactions between consumers and law enforcement • Honoring those who have lost their lives during a crisis event

4. Building Positive Relationships • Building Understanding and Positive Relationships- where we go from here • IACP’s National Policy Summit, 2009 • Continuing Initiatives: • CIT National Curriculum Development Initiative • e-CPR – Another tool you can use • e-CPR- a Bridge to Understanding

5. What Challenges Are You Facing in Building Relationships? • With specific persons? • With specific organizations? • With specific mental health system partners? • With others? What tools do you think you need?

6. What Successes Have You Had in Building Relationships? • With Individuals? • With Organizations? • With Mental Health System Partners? • With Other Important People or Groups? How do you maintain those relationships?

7. Public Safety Member 1) Keeping Everyone Safe (including self) 2) Resolving the event 3) Following all policy / procedure / laws 4) Assessing - what is the appropriate response 5) Decisional Framework: What is best for the Community? Force? 6) Few therapeutic tools 7) Time sensitive (possibly) 8) Others? Person in crisis 1) Getting immediate needs met (e.g.. Safety, food, etc) 2) Resolving the pain / discomfort 3) Feeling scared and powerless 4) Disconnected - thinking shuts down; emotions are in protective /survival mode. 5) Not focused on community needs due to immediate crisis needs; need to feel validated 6) Need support to access personal strengths to make good decisions 7) Take time to connect to ensure safety 8) Becoming a victim or a criminal In Emotional Crisis Response; What are the Concerns?

8. Emotional CPR (eCPR) National Coalition for Mental Health Recovery 8

9. eCPR • What is eCPR? a public health education program which prepares members of the public to assist a person who is experiencing an emotional crisis. • Why eCPR: • There is a vast and compelling need for the general public as well as law enforcement personnel to learn how to assist any person who is experiencing an emotional crisis. • Just as a person’s physical heart needs attention in a cardiac crisis, a person’s emotional heart needs attention in an emotional crisis. • Just as CPR trains people to help someone in cardiac crisis, eCPR trains people to help others in emotional crisis. 9

10. The three elements of the practice of eCPR: C = Connecting with Compassion and Concern to Communicate P = emPowerment to experience Passion, Purpose and Planning R = Revitalize through Reestablishing Relationships, Routines and Rhythms in the community 10

11. eCPR is Based on the Values of a Healthy Community • Respectful, trusting relationships • 2. Recovery is possible for everyone, centrality of hope • Self-determination (dignity of choice) is vital, especially for persons in crisis • Connecting on a mutually respectful emotional level • 5. Validity of emotional expression • 6. Cultural attunement and inclusion across diverse groups • 7. Every individual is appreciated as a healthy person inside who has encountered trauma 11

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13. Being Prepared to Provide eCPR • Taking care of ourselves, being centered, grounded, relaxed, in touch with our emotions. • -Are we balanced? Tactically / Spiritually / Physically / Emotionally • Take good care of yourself so you are prepared to support someone through an emotional crisis • • Wellness practices: meditation, exercise. –What really heals you? • • Participating in a loving community –Who are your real supporters? • B. Learning to "be" with the strong emotions expressed by the person in distress and staying grounded and centered • Open our heart and our mind to what the person in distress is expressing. –Can we empathize? • Encourage self-expression - it is an essential component of the healing process. 13

14. Connecting • Why is it important to be real? • Genuineness helps rapport and relationship building. • If you are not listening, and not authentic then you are not connecting. The person in crisis is aware of this, and it is not helpful. Your being real may be the most important tool you bring. • It is a way of being. • It gives the other person permission to calm down, feel safe, feel seen, feel validated. • We can be with people so their real selves are comfortable. • They get to focus on you the person, not the badge, uniform and gun belt. 14

15. Some Connecting Proficiencies • Cultivating a hopeful and positive attitude towards the future (setting groundwork for moving forward) • Creating an emotionally safe relationship and communicating care • c. Listening fully and actively, and staying present on a deep level so you can support the person (use your investigation skills) 15

16. emPowerment The responder needs to be positive and hopeful and understand that: 1) If people in emotional crisis are effectively encouraged by the responder, they can access their power to make good choices. 2) People in emotional crisis are more capable and resourceful then they may appear. As the individual in emotional crisis begins to feel safe and is able to communicate they begin making plans and thinking more clearly. 16

17. Some emPowering Proficiencies a. Demonstrating a capacity to enter into a collaborative “power with” as opposed to “power over” b. Facilitating the other person’s access to his or her inner wisdom c. Sensitively reframing crisis as opportunity d. Facilitating the person’s planning ability ~~~~~ It’s crucial that the planning stage be focused on specifics. Some examples of what you might asking the person: • How can I help you feel safe? • What would help you feel better? • What do you do to take good care of yourself? • Who can I help you connect with or talk to? • What’s the next important thing you or I can do now? 17

18. R = Revitalize Encourage the person to begin to engage in relationships, to resume or begin roles in their family, with friends, or in the community. You may have the opportunity to engage with people after the crisis, when s/he is no longer in crisis. This is an opportunity to continue to build a positive, trusting relationship. This relationship will assist in a future crisis response. Emotional distress provides people with an opportunity to make a change in their life. It may be a time of searching for new meaning or purpose which may help them stay in a positive (non-crisis) state of being long-term. 18

19. Revitalizing Proficiencies a. Meaning: Helping people to identify the vital center that brings meaning and purpose to their lives. b. Dreams: Encouraging people to take small steps in the direction of their dreams and goals. c. Relationships: Facilitating connections in the community to enhance or re-establish roles, relationships, and routines. 19

21. Comparing the eCPR Approach with the Traditional Law Enforcement Approach

22. “The Take Away” • You have a lot stacked against you when responding to a person in crisis or critical organizations. • Use opportunities and tools to be proactive in developing positive relationships with Consumer / Survivors wherever and whenever they occur. • Listening, addressing concerns, and showing openness can gain you support, goodwill, and improved outcomes with individuals and groups. “Boldly go where few police professionals have gone before!” You, your agency and your community will benefit greatly!

23. Contact Information Elaine Deck International Association of Chiefs of Police 703-647-6843; decke@theiacp.org Ed Riddell Department of Mental Health – Vermont 802-241-2303; edward.riddell@ahs.state.vt.us Lauren Spiro, National Coalition for Mental Health Recovery, www.ncmhr.org; www.emotional-cpr.org, 703-862-6512; Laurenspiro1@gmail.com