Mindful Public Safety

Ep.26 Qalvy Grainzvolt on Work-Life Balance

Chaplain Qalvy Grainzvolt is a native New Yorker, an ordained Shinnyo-en Buddhist priest, and a lead meditation guide at The Shinnyo Center for Meditation and Wellbeing. Qalvy is also a U.S. Army National Guard veteran, a uniformed chaplain for the Port Chester Police department in Westchester County, New York, and the first Buddhist chaplain for the New York City Transit system, including its MTA police department. He has provided mindfulness training to NYPD officers. Rev. Grainzvolt shares his experience as a Buddhist priest and meditation doing law enforcement chaplaincy and teaching mindfulness to police officers—the importance of work-life balance for first responder spiritual fitness and resilience. The power of conscious breathing and mindfulness in managing transitions from home to work and work to home and connecting with nature for spiritual resilience.A brief guided mindfulness meditation practice uses images from the natural world. REV. QALVY GRAINZVOLT, MS, MHC-LP Reverend Qalvy Grainzvolt is a native New Yorker, an ordained Shinnyo-en Buddhist priest, and leads meditation guide at The Shinnyo Center for Meditation and Wellbeing. Qalvy is also a U.S. Army National Guard veteran, a uniformed chaplain for the Port Chester Police department in Westchester County, New York, and the first Buddhist chaplain for the New York City Transit system, including its MTA police department. In 2018, Qalvy helped bring mindfulness to the New York City Police Department as part of its crisis intervention team (CIT) training. Qalvy holds a Master’s degree in clinical mental health counseling and is a meditation instructor at New York University.For more info on our training programs, visit mindfulpublicsafety.org 
 

Ep.25 Rabbi Niles Goldstein: God at the Edge

Rabbi Niles Goldstein is the spiritual leader of Congregation Beth Shalom of Napa Valley. Rabbi Goldstein, an experienced and dynamic Reform rabbi, and educator, is also the award-winning author or editor of ten books, including Gonzo Judaism and God at the Edge. Rabbi Goldstein is the National Jewish Chaplain for the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association, a position he has held since his ordination, and Chaplain for the Napa, CA, Police Department. Rabbi Goldstein shares his varied experiences as a chaplain in the army initially and then for federal law enforcement and local community police officers. The universalist nature of chaplaincy and supporting people with their spiritual needs wherever they may be in relationship to faith or belief in God. The importance of maintaining a sense of connectedness and meaning and purpose as first responders.His experience as a martial arts practitioner and how that informs his own spiritual journey as well as his chaplaincy work with law enforcement officers. RABBI NILES GOLDSTEIN Rabbi Niles Goldstein is the spiritual leader of Congregation Beth Shalom of Napa Valley. Rabbi Goldstein, an experienced and dynamic Reform rabbi and educator, is also the award-winning author or editor of ten books, including Gonzo Judaism and God at the Edge. He was the founding rabbi of The New Shul, an innovative and independent synagogue in Manhattan's Greenwich Village, which he served for over a decade. He is also a founder of the Napa Center for Thought & Culture. Prior to his arrival at CBS Napa, Rabbi Goldstein worked in a variety of congregational, interfaith and academic settings while based in his native Chicago. Rabbi Goldstein has been a thought leader and sought-after speaker in the American Jewish community for many years, and he teaches widely on spirituality, personal growth, the environment, leadership, and congregational innovation. He has written for Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune, the Dallas Morning News, the Huffington Post, the Forward and many other publications, and he has been featured in Time, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The Christian Science Monitor and other venues, as well as on radio and television. Rabbi Goldstein is the National Jewish Chaplain for the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association, a position he has held since his ordination, as well as Chaplain for the Napa Police Department. He is also a member of PEN, the Renaissance Institute and the Central Conference of American Rabbis. Rabbi Goldstein has served on the faculty of New York University, Loyola University, Eastern Mennonite University, and Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion.
Rabbi Goldstein is an avid traveler and outdoor adventurer. He has mushed dogs in Alaska and ridden horses in Mongolia, and he has done humanitarian work with communities in Central Asia and the Caucasus. He is also a longtime practitioner of the martial arts, and he holds black belts in both karate and tae kwon do.For more info on our training programs visit mindfulpublicsafety.org 
You can have LIFETIME ACCESS to the Global First Responder Resilience Summit with Audio Downloads & Transcripts, featuring world-class experts in Physical, Mental, Emotional & Spiritual Fitness, and Resilience. Click Here To Learn More!

Ep.24 Russell Myers: Chaplains as Sherpas of the Soul

Allina Health Minneapolis EMS Chaplain, chaplaincy educator and author of Because We Care: A Handbook for Chaplaincy in Emergency Medical Services, Russell Myers, DMin shares his experiences supporting paramedics and other EMS professionals following critical incidents. He talks about the analogy one of his chaplaincy students used for chaplaincy work, that of a sherpa, the mountain guides of Nepal and Tibet, in this case, chaplains as "sherpas of the soul." The role of chaplains in supporting people regardless of their faith or any particular religious orientation or lack thereof simply meeting people where they are as human beings. The importance of having hobbies, outside interests, and connections as public safety professionals, of not getting wrapped up in the job and the public safety world 24/7. RUSSEL MYERS, DMIN Russell Myers serves as chaplain for Allina Health EMS, based in Minneapolis. He holds a BA from Ohio State University and a Doctor of Ministry degree from Luther Seminary, St. Paul, MN. Russ is ordained by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and board-certified by the Association of Professional Chaplains. Russ is the author of Because We Care: A Handbook for Chaplaincy in Emergency Medical Services.For more info on our training programs visit mindfulpublicsafety.org 
You can have LIFETIME ACCESS to the Global First Responder Resilience Summit with Audio Downloads & Transcripts, featuring world-class experts in Physical, Mental, Emotional & Spiritual Fitness, and Resilience. Click Here To Learn More!

EP.23 Mind Full of Hope with Rona Watson, MDiv

An ordained elder in the AME Zion Church and a Chaplain, Rona Watson talks about compassion and resiliency and how a positive mind full of hope is the only way to endure a tough life in general and life during COVID in particular. Rona stresses the importance of answering “Why” one is doing what he’s doing in order to lead a happy life. Concepts of ‘Compassion fatigue’ and ‘Intentional breathing’? Everyone should have a go-to and a ‘designated hug partner’. RONA WATSON, MDIV Rona has a passion for compassion. She has over 15 years' experience as a chaplain, primarily in the clinical setting also serving as chaplain for four years with the Wilmington Police Department in North Carolina. She is an ordained Elder in the AME Zion church. Rona holds a Master’s Degree in Divinity with undergraduate degrees in Psychology and Business Administration. She is working on her Doctor of Ministry Degree focusing on the practicality of compassion among clinical interdisciplinary teams as a catalytic mechanism to champion resilience.
For more info on our training programs visit mindfulpublicsafety.org 
You can have LIFETIME ACCESS to the Global First Responder Resilience Summit with Audio Downloads & Transcripts, featuring world-class experts in Physical, Mental, Emotional & Spiritual Fitness, and Resilience. Click Here To Learn More!

Ep.22 Suicide Prevention: Breaking the Stigmas with Marla Friedman, PhD

Police clinical psychologist, Chairman of Badge of Life, international trainer, curriculum developer, and publisher on issues of mental health, Marla Friedman PhD talks about mental health, trauma healing, and suicide prevention for police and first responders. Providing support and treatment for law enforcement officers struggling with PTSD, anxiety, and treatment-resistant depression. The importance of mental health support and suicide prevention for police, dispatchers, firefighters, ER docs, and nurses and the need to optimize education and training in promoting physical and emotional self-care. The importance of making mental health check-ins a standard best practice in order to break the stigmas attached to mental health support. MARLA FRIEDMAN, PSYD Dr. Marla W. Friedman is a Police/Clinical Psychologist and Chairman of Badge of Life. She is an international trainer, curriculum developer and creates training films for law enforcement. She publishes on issues of mental health, trauma cessation and suicide prevention for police and other first responders. She has trained for the FBI at the National Academy in Quantico VA., ICAC, F TO’s and police departments with her, Building A Better Cop and A Sip of Poison programs. She is adjunct faculty member at the College of DuPage Police Academy (SLEA) She has 35+ years of clinical experience, is fluent in Sign Language and serves the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Community. She is trained in offender profiling, detection of deception and interview and interrogation (Reid). She has earned her certification in Investigative Psychology from John J. College of Criminal Justice (NYC). She currently works on cold case missing persons and homicide investigations.For more info on our training programs visit mindfulpublicsafety.org
You can have LIFETIME ACCESS to the Global First Responder Resilience Summit with Audio Downloads & Transcripts, featuring world-class experts in Physical, Mental, Emotional & Spiritual Fitness, and Resilience. Click Here To Learn More!

Ep.21 Defining Resilience as a First Responder with Jeff Morley

23-year RCMP veteran police officer (ret.), clinical psychologist, and resilience trainer, Jeffrey Morley Ph.D. talks about his own journey through occupational stress and trauma and his current clinical practice supporting first responders and helping them heal from occupational stress and trauma injuries. The rewards and challenges of the very different types of police work he did over the course of his career working in patrol, plain clothes investigative work, and leadership, as well as the importance of physical fitness and healthy relationships to his resilience. He is making the transition from law enforcement to clinical work as a psychologist supporting first responders in healing from traumatic stress and occupational stress injuries. Defining resilience as including some of the typical adaptations first responders make to cope with very stressful and challenging jobs and the importance of self-awareness and recognizing the early warning signs of physical and mental health risks, as well as maintaining social connections both within and without their profession.
 
JEFFREY MORLEY, PHD Dr. Jeff Morley is a Registered Psychologist and Board Certified Expert in Traumatic Stress. Jeff spent 23 years as a police officer in the RCMP, retiring as a Staff Sergeant. In his practice, he now works with mainly first responders providing assessment and treatment. Jeff conducts training across Canada on trauma and resilience for first responders.
For more info on our training programs visit mindfulpublicsafety.org
 
You can have LIFETIME ACCESS to the Global First Responder Resilience Summit with Audio Downloads & Transcripts, featuring world-class experts in Physical, Mental, Emotional & Spiritual Fitness, and Resilience. Click Here To Learn More!

Ep.20 Mindfulness for Warriors with Kim Colgrove

Founder of Pause First Academy, author of Mindfulness for Warriors, and the creator of Pause First - Mindfulness for First Responders, Kim Colgrove shares the story of her husband as a career law enforcement officer who died by suicide due to anxiety and depression and discussed her mindfulness-based and resilience building work with first responders through Pause First Academy.
Mindfulness is a tool to prevent us from operating on auto-pilot just to be able to function in life.
The risks and impacts of depression, anxiety, and how it affects your loved ones. The importance of emotional, health, and mental well-being after retirement. KIM COLEGROVE Kim Colegrove, author of Mindfulness for Warriors, is a 45-year veteran of meditation, the creator of Pause First: Mindfulness for First Responders and the founder of Pause First Academy – Resilience Training for First Responders. Colegrove is the widow of a first responder who died by suicide. She previously taught mindfulness in corporate settings such as Garmin International, United Way, Department of Veterans Affairs, and The National Court Reporters Association. After her husband’s death, Kim turned her full attention to helping first responders cope with stress and trauma through mindfulness and other resilience training. By pulling from her own life experience and applying her relatable, mainstream style, Kim developed curriculum first responders could trust. She now leads a team of instructors who offer resilience training, holistic wellness, and work-life balance courses in-person and through her online platform: Pause First Academy.
For more info on our training programs visit mindfulpublicsafety.orgYou can have LIFETIME ACCESS to the Global First Responder Resilience Summit with Audio Downloads & Transcripts, featuring world-class experts in Physical, Mental, Emotional & Spiritual Fitness, and Resilience. Click Here To Learn More!

Ep.19 Psychological First Aid in Critical Incidents with Kimble Richardson

Clinical Coordinator and instructor for several Indiana Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) teams, and the coordinator for the Indiana District 5 Resilience and Emotional Support Team, psychologist Kimble Richardson, MS, LMHC, LCSW, LMFT, LCAC discusses the Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) system and psychological/emotional support for first responders and others involved in critical incidents. Sharing his experiences providing Psychological First Aid and other forms of psychological support in response to critical incidents of all kinds that place people at risk for traumatic stress injuries, including April 15, 2021, mass shooting at a FedEx facility in Indianapolis. The importance of teamwork and partnership in CISM responses and the critical role of peer support staff members of CISM teams. Virtual vs. In-Person CISM work during this period of the pandemic and getting people back to a state of wholeness and wellness as soon as possible following an incident.KIMBLE RICHARDSON, MS, LMHC, LCSW, LMFT, LCAC​ - Kimble has a Master’s degree in Counseling from Indiana University and close to 35 years of experience in Behavioral Health. Currently, he is the manager of business development and referrals for Community Health Network. He is licensed in Indiana as a mental health counselor, clinical social worker, marriage and family therapist, and clinical addiction counselor. He holds an appointment by the governor and is the chair of the Indiana Behavioral Health and Human Services licensure board. He is the former president of the Indiana Mental Health Counselors Association and was named both “Mental Health Counselor of the Year” and “Distinguished Counselor of the Year” by the Indiana Counseling Association. He is an adjunct faculty member at the University of Indianapolis, is an instructor for and clinical coordinator of several Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) teams, and is the coordinator for the Indiana District 5 Resilience and Emotional Support Team.
For more info on our training programs visit mindfulpublicsafety.org
You can have LIFETIME ACCESS to the Global First Responder Resilience Summit with Audio Downloads & Transcripts, featuring world-class experts in Physical, Mental, Emotional & Spiritual Fitness, and Resilience. Click Here To Learn More!