Mindfulness and Resiliency Training for Dealing with Stress

Stress in Law Enforcement and the Supervisory/Management Response

Introduction

Stress is a common factor among all law enforcement and corrections officers, with more than a quarter of all officers reporting some form of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as a result of their occupation (Spinaris, Denhof & Kellaway, 2012). What makes the problem even worse is the fact that there is a general taboo regarding seeking mental health support: needing help coping with stress is not something officers like to talk about as, Kirschman (2017) reports—“Cops are often reluctant to seek help, fearing it will jeopardize their jobs and/or make them look weak.” Overcoming the taboo of managing stress in a healthy and effective manner is just one area that needs to be addressed. Another is actually providing an effective management response that does provide officers with the tools to manage stress so that they do not end up suffering from PTSD. This paper will examine how stress negatively impacts officers and their families; what the obstacles to dealing with stress are, and what the supervisory/management response should be to help reduce stress before it becomes a serious problem for law enforcement officers.

Effects of Stress

Some of the most common effects of stress among police officers include the loss of motivation, effort and performance in the execution of their role; difficulty in maintaining healthy relationships with others; and a rise in on-duty violence (Chopko & Schwartz, 2012). Unable to process and manage stress, officers can become overwhelmed by negative thoughts, feelings and an insistent pressure that is both psychologically and physiologically experienced. If left untreated—and it often is—stress can build to the point where it causes severe mental disturbances and disorders. Stress disorders and even PTSD can result. An officer struggling with PTSD will show signs, such as “intrusive re-experiencing of the trauma, avoidance of trauma-related stimuli, and alterations in cognition, mood, arousal, and reactivity” (Christova et al., 2015, p. 2695). The longer this disorder goes on, the more difficult it is for the individual to seek help. Often, the person experiencing this level of stress disorder will attempt to self-medicate, either through drugs or alcohol, only making matters worse for himself and for his family (Chopko, Palmieri & Adams, 2018).

The police supervisor or administrator plays an important role both in identifying signs of stress in officers and in helping them to cope with stress in a positive and healthy manner (Romosiou, Brouzos & Vassilopoulos, 2019). One way supervisors can help in this respect is through resiliency and mindfulness training (McCanlies et al., 2017). Resiliency is one of the key characteristics of people who are able to reduce stress on the job (Reivich, Seligman & McBride, 2011). It is even recommended by the US Army in its Master Resiliency Training (MRT) program that teachers leaders how to help soldiers cope with stress more effectively. As General Casey (2011) notes, “the Army is leveraging the science of psychology in order to improve our force’s resilience” (p. 1). This same approach can be used by supervisors in law enforcement to help officers be more mindful of their own stress on the job and how to process and manage it in a healthy way.

Resiliency Training

Resiliency has been identified in positive psychology as an expression of the character to adversity: it describes the person’s ability to bounce back in the face of obstacles and to demonstrate grit and determination when difficulties arise. Individuals who have cultivated resilience are able to cope with stress more meaningfully, because they understand it and know how to respond to it. Those who do not possess resiliency tend to experience depression, anger and anxiety because they do not have the skills to process their negative feelings in a positive manner (Domhardt, Munzer, Fegert & Goldbeck, 2015). When a person cannot control his own feelings, he lashes out by trying to control others. Resiliency training provides one with the tools to address the negative thoughts and feelings stemming from stress.

MRT teaches individuals to take ownership of their feelings and to be accountable for them. Everyone gets stressed, and everyone has to deal with it—but it is the way in which people deal with it that separates the healthy people from the unhealthy people. The key aspects of MRT are self-awareness, self-regulation, optimism, mental agility, identifying and using one’s character strengths, and establishing connections with others (Reivich et al., 2011).

Self-awareness is first and foremost most vital because it is self-awareness that allows an officer to understand what he is experiencing and why. If an officer affected by stress is simply reacting to stress without thinking and understanding, that officer is more likely to be at risk to himself and to others as opposed to an officer who thinks about the stress, why it is happening, and what he can do about it. The officer who lacks self-awareness may end up attempting to self-medicate in order to cope with the stress—and since he is not self-aware he does not stop to reflect on the meaning or implication of his actions: everything simply happens without any effort on his part to probe or comprehend at a deeper level. Self-awareness, once achieved, opens up the self to the self. One begins to see one’s actions and why one is taking them in a clearer light. One can begin to step back and assess oneself more objectively—and in doing so can take the steps to deal with stress before stress takes control of one’s life.

Self-regulation is the next step in resiliency training. If self-awareness allows one to see the problems he is having either on-duty or off-duty, self-regulation is what enables the officer to take control of the situation. It is no different from what a child demonstrates when in school and faced with a daunting task. The young learner could give up, throw his pencil down, and have a tantrum in response to a difficult assignment; or the young learner could buckle down, renew his efforts, and fight through the adversity to make it to the finish line. The virtue or habit of perseverance is especially important here because it is that habit that allows one to push through the resistance (Reivich et al., 2011). Self-regulation simply means to monitor oneself and control one’s thoughts and feelings so that they do not overwhelm one. It is the process by which one moderates one’s own emotional life. When stress arrives, as it inevitably does for all officers, a person who is self-aware and who can self-regulate will be able to identify the moment when stress occurs and take the necessary steps to address the stress. For that person, it may be something as simple as taking a 15 minute break; or it may involve getting in a workout session in the gym; or it may involve some extra meditation or taking time to engage in some hobby that satisfies and rejuvenates the mind and soul. Every individual is unique, but every individual can engage in self-regulation.

Mental agility is also necessary to developing resilience. Mental agility is the ability to maintain psychological flexibility when it comes to different situations. Rigidness of mind often leads to increases in stress because rigidity does not allow for alterations in circumstances. Rigid mindsets have a single perspective and see the world narrowly, when the world is actually complex, diverse, and complicated. Narrow perspectives lead to frustrated understanding, and a frustrated officer is a dangerous one and more prone to escalations and conflicts while on duty. On the contrary, mental agility allows an officer to be able to adapt his thinking to the situation at hand. It can be developed by enhancing one’s cultural competency, one’s social understanding of human beings, one’s ability to use emotional and social intelligence, and one’s ability to read a situation or environment and react positively to it. Important to the development of mental agility is rest: a rested mind is more likely to be able to respond with awareness and understanding than a mind that is dulled by fatigue. That is why rest is so important in the management of stress.

Another important aspect of resiliency training is the ability to identify and use one’s character strengths. Some individuals are strong leaders; others are doers; others are thinkers; others are managers; others are motivators; others are followers. The key to becoming resilient on one’s own terms is to understand what one is good at and use that to one’s advantage. If one is good at bringing people together, that can be a personal way to maintain resilience in the face of stress. For instance, if an officer is stressed by an encounter in the field, he may be tempted to escalate a conflict with an individual. But if he realizes that one of his strong suits is to be sociable and bring people together he could defuse a situation by saying to the person with whom he is engaged, “All right, we’re having a difficult situation here. What can we do to fix this? Who can we call to come down here and help us defuse this situation? Who would you like to have here to help us do that? Let’s call them and get this going.” That officer is using awareness both of the rising tension in the situation and awareness of his own strength in creating a sociable environment. The stress in the situation is immediately relieved.

Another example might be an officer who is stressed by a souring marital relationship at home and long hours at work in a neighborhood he does not enjoy policing. He has not been able to reduce his stress levels in days and he can feel himself becoming more volatile whenever he responds to a call. Yet he is simultaneously aware of the situation within himself and aware that his primary character strength is honesty. He can stop what he is doing in his tracks and be honest with his partner or his superior at the department or his spouse at home—or all three—and tell them exactly what is going on and how he is feeling. This instance of honesty can open doors that were previously shut. His superior might recommend that he take a day or two off to sort it out at home. His partner might offer to take the primary duties on the next call and give him a moment to do some quick stress-reduction exercises, such as deep-breathing, meditation, or even getting in a quick nap. His spouse might respond by offering to talk it out with him and see what they can do to work on their relationship. By recognizing and using his character strength, he addresses the issue of stress in the way that works best for him—being open and honest about it.

Every officer is going to have his or her own personal character strengths. These are the means by which resilience is going to be maintained. Additionally, one is not limited to the strengths one already has. One can develop other strengths and build his or her character over time so that previous character weaknesses are developed more fully into strengths (Reivich et al., 2011). By recognizing one’s strengths and weaknesses, one is able to overcome stress more readily and via a multitude or range of options.

Finally, resiliency depends upon establishing connections with others (Reivich et al., 2011). Connections are the life-blood of resiliency because at root human beings are social creatures and they need a social support system, just as the roots of a tree need soil and an ecosystem to flourish. An officer is no different and should have a developed social support system, in the community, among peers, or through family—as long as it is real, tangible and accessible. Furthermore, the officer should continue to grow and establish new connections while renewing others. The point is to maintain engagement with others, not only for one’s own sake but also for the sake of others. Others are likely to need support as well, and one can strengthen one’s own resiliency by being there for others. That is also one of the main lessons of MRT training (Reivich et al., 2011).

Reducing Stress through Scheduling

One thing that law enforcement supervisors have found helps to provide a window of opportunity so as to allow time for self-regulation is to use the four-on, four-off work-week schedule with law enforcement officers (PlanIt Police, 2017). This schedule consists of four days of on-duty service followed by four days off from work in which the officer can rest, relax and recalibrate. All police departments follow their own scheduling procedures, but what helps officers get the time off that is needed for effective self-regulation and recreation is a schedule in which they essentially have an extended weekend or holiday from work. A four-on, four-off approach allows for officers to spend more time with family for the better part of a week before returning to full-time duties for another four days of ten hour shifts.

Stress can build up and overwhelm if there is no release valve, and scheduling can be a way for supervisors to provide that release valve. Officers who are overworked are far more likely to be stressed because they do not have the necessary time to unwind, defuse the tension within themselves, or engage in self-regulation. What is good about the four-on, four-off approach to scheduling is that in between each round of 10-hour four-day shifts is a four-day holiday that gives the officer time to recreate, travel, and spend time in rejuvenation from the taxing toll that law enforcement often takes on an officer.

Mindfulness

Mindfulness training is also important and supervisors should make an effort to help law enforcement officers develop mindfulness. Mindfulness is simply the exercise of being aware of what one is feeling and sensing. Mindfulness is not just awareness, however; it is also the practice of making sure what remains engaged in the real world so that one is not slipping off into daydreams and states of anxiety. Mindfulness is ultimately about being engaged and monitoring one’s focus and feelings so that they are not deterring one from engagement.

The benefits of mindfulness are reductions in stress, burnout, depression and exhaustion. Simple ways to obtain these benefits include paying attention to what one’s five senses are telling one. In the field, it is easy for a law enforcement officer to be distracted in the moment by what is immediately in front of one; however, an officer has five senses and every sense can help the officer to be in the moment and paying attention to what is going on in any given situation. And the more that one is able to pay attention to any given situation, the more likely one will be situated to adjust one’s thinking or behavior so as to demonstrate the kind of mental agility needed to be resilient in the face of stress (Reivich et al., 2011).

Other ways to be mindful include focusing on one’s breathing and treating others in the same manner as one would treat a good friend. The Gold Rule applies deeply in mindfulness training, as it reminds one to treat others the way one would like to be treated. In law enforcement and especially in community policing it is important that this kind of respect be demonstrated by officers so that there is no tension between the community and the officer.

Structured mindfulness techniques include lying on one’s back with legs and arms extended; sitting meditation with back straight, feet on floor and hands in lap; or walking meditation in an area of about 20 feet where one can walk quietly and focus on what one is sensing and feeling. For an officer on-duty, walking meditation can be one of the easiest methods of mindfulness to engage in at any given minute. If an officer feels stressed throughout the day, a quick ten-minute walking meditation can help to reduce the stress and keep the officer focused and in control.