The Balancing Act for Well-being

The critical incident stress debriefing (CISD) methods and steps law enforcement
agencies use to help officers assess the critical incident and identify safety and security
issues. There is also allowing the venting of emotions and thoughts, sharing emotional
reactions, reviewing symptoms and the impact of the incident, teaching and bringing closure
to the incident, and assisting officers in re-entering the workplace (Malcom, Seaton, Perera,
Sheehan, & Van Hasselt, 2005). Assessing the critical incident is the first step of CISD. Here,
the people conducting CISD carefully consider the specific incident and the officers involved
so as to tailor each step to group members’ needs. In the second step (identifying safety and
security issues), program facilitators encourage participants to open up and give a brief,
factual account of the incident from their perspective.
In the third step, group participants discuss what they think about the critical incident.
The fourth step (sharing emotional reactions) is the heart of CISD and focuses on the event’s
impact on participants. In the fifth step (reviewing symptoms and the impact of the incident),
participants express the impact the incident is having on them. In the sixth step (teaching and
bringing closure to the incident), facilitators provide participants with stress management
tools. In the last step, the purpose is to help officers move forward and deeper into their
healing and recovery journeys.
Besides CISD, which is a group intervention, I can take several individual steps to
manage the overall stress associated with law enforcement. These include physical activity
and exercise; healthy eating; adequate sleep, relaxation; self-expression (including laughter)
and social support; and cognitive restructuring (Broman-Fulks & Kelso, 2012). There is
considerable evidence suggesting that regular physical exercise has several psychological and
physical health benefits. Eating a healthy diet rich in nutrients can help me manage stress in

THE BALANCING ACT FOR WELL-BEING 3
many ways. For instance, eating complex carbohydrates like whole-grain bread and oatmeal
causes my brain to release serotonin, which is associated with positive emotions.
Research evidence indicates a bi-directional relationship between stress and sleep:
high levels of stress impair quality sleep and increase the rate of nightmares, and inadequate
or poor-quality sleep has a tendency to exacerbate stress. Relaxation techniques like
visualization can ease stress by diverting my thoughts away from a stressful situation or
incident and focusing on calming or comforting situations. A strong social support system
coupled with self-expression (including laughter) also helps in coping with stress. Finally,
cognitive restructuring or framing is about realizing that it is not the events we experience
that stress us; rather, it is the meanings we attach to the events.
Apart from CISD and the above-discussed individual resources for coping with job-
related stress, several other resources are external to an officer. These include employer-
sponsored employee assistance plans (EAPs), stress management education (SME) programs,
and peer counseling (Crockett, 2018). EAPs can help law enforcement officers cope with
work-related stress by providing various resources to enhance work performance. These
resources include interventions designed to help with financial or legal issues, substance
abuse, mental health, and personal or family issues. Fortunately, many law enforcement
agencies provide EAPs for officers (Gilmartin, 2002).
Further, SME education can help officers manage work-related stress better by giving
them a better understanding of the potential stress that may come with a job in law
enforcement and how to cope with it. Finally, peer counseling allows officers to receive help
from their colleagues who have been trained in peer counseling. Peer counseling is a
particularly useful resource for dealing with law enforcement stress. An officer may be more
willing to seek help from a colleague than an external professional.

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I have learned about stress management that while there are several external
resources, my mental health and well-being are primarily my responsibility. Consequently,
the following is my action plan describing how I plan to cope with daily stress. I especially
find these individual resources appealing because they are within my control. To maximize
my ability to cope with stress, I will do the following:
 Exercise regularly: I will engage in three to five sessions of moderate-intensity
exercise every week to improve my immune and minimize my risk of developing
anxiety.
 Eat healthy: To maximize my physical health and boost my body’s ability to cope
with stress, I will eat a lot of fatty fish, whole grains, vegetables, and fruits.
 Sleep: I will get seven to eight hours of uninterrupted sleep every night.
 Practice relaxation: I will regularly engage in relaxation exercises or experience
moderate to high stress. These include meditation, guided imagery, and progressive
muscle relaxation (PMR).
 Self-expression: I intend to laugh more often by watching funny videos on Facebook.
 Cognitive reframing: I will interpret situations with a more positive outlook to keep
them from stressing me.

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References

Broman-Fulks, J., & Kelso, K. (2012). Stress Management. In P. Gaskill, D. Mohr, & S.
Townsend, Wellness Literacy 2.0 (p. unpaginated). Dubuque: Kendall Hunt Pub Co.
Crockett, C. D. (2018). Stress Management Treatments among Police Departments. Walden
University.
Gilmartin, K. M. (2002). Emotional survival for law enforcement: A guide for officers and
their families. Tucson: E-S Press.
Malcom, A., Seaton, J., Perera, A., Sheehan, D., & Van Hasselt, V. (2005). Critical Incident
Stress Debriefing and Law Enforcement: An Evaluative Review. Brief Treatment and
Crisis Intervention, 5(3), 261-278.