How do you react when you are experiencing trauma or adversity? Who do you lean on? How do you nourish yourself?

Corrections officers are a tough group. We are often the people whom family and friends call when there is a crisis. We’re the fixers. It’s what we do. But how do we help ourselves when we are the ones in crisis? It’s a question we need to intentionally think about and then act on in order to become more resilient.

Most people who are drawn to a career in corrections enter it with a certain amount of resilience. Some of it is innate because we are all born with a certain level of resilience. But a lot of our resilience is earned through a tough childhood, traumatic events, or watching others experience events that we felt helpless to prevent or fix.

We find a career in corrections appealing because it allows us to “fix things” for others. To protect, serve, and prevent bad things from happening. It happened to us, and we are called to this public service profession so that it doesn’t happen to others.

Through those life lessons, we learned how to survive. We learned how to get through tough parts, sometimes with little to no support. Survival is important, but it is no way to live on a consistent basis. In fact, it is unhealthy. We can do more.

In the past two articles that appeared in American Jails, I defined resilience as the ability to prepare for, cope with, and grow through adversity.

First, I discussed the importance of preparing for adversity and developing the resources we need to be more resilient. There are both internal and external resources in four different categories:

• mental, • physical, • spiritual, and • social.

I asked you to create a list of what makes you more resilient; for example, your family, friends, faith, money, good eating habits, a therapist, or hobbies—just to name a few. I challenged you to think about how many resources you had, which ones you need to strengthen, and those still needing to develop. Then I asked you to take steps toward those goals.

In this article, I discuss how to use those resources to become more resilient during a moment of trauma or adversity.

…herein lies the problem:

We don't ask for help and we

don't use our resources in

times of adversity.

Survivors and Fixers We often don’t utilize the resources we have at our disposal because—remember—we are survivors and fixers. Our thoughts tell us that we’ve “been there done that” in regards to adversity, thus we can deal with this situation by ourselves.

We have also taken on the role of “fixer” for friends and family. We became the ones to whom people turn in times of trouble, and we can’t look weak because there is an expectation that we are the “strong ones.” And, quite frankly, we often are.

But herein lies the problem: We don’t ask for help and we don’t use our resources in times of adversity. We only get through it with pure determination and an adherence to our defined role.

What is our issue? We are human. We have needs, wants, and those pesky emotions that insist on being felt. Problems at home, a bad fight in the facility, an ailing parent or child, a new policy requiring extra work, constantly feeling overwhelmed, and on and on.

In his book, The Body Keeps the Score, Dr. Bessel van der Kolk writes that we are traumatized when our resources (resiliency tools) are inadequate to deal with an external threat.

What does this mean? Unless we actually use our internal and external resources in times of adversity and trauma, they don’t help us through the event. Picture a car mechanic who sits in a broken-down car. He turns the key (or pushes the start button) every three seconds, hoping the engine starts instead of using his knowledge and tools to fix the problem.

Trauma Recovery Plan When we’re experiencing trauma and adversity, we must use our resources in order for us to truly be resilient and healthy. That is why it is important for everyone to have a trauma recovery plan.

This is a plan you can turn to when you are in trauma, adversity, or simply feeling a little off. It’s developed when you are in a good, healthy place, and involves answering the following questions:

• Who can I call?

• What can I do?

• Where do I go?

Who can I call? This list can include a family member, friend, spiritual leader, or therapist. The people on this list are those who will listen, be supportive, and help you to make healthy choices.

What can I do? Again, think about healthy choices. For example: taking a nap, eating a healthy meal instead of stopping for fast food, opting for water or tea over alcohol, going for a brisk walk, and engaging in meditation or prayer. Develop a list of positive things to do, then choose from those instead of doing what is fast, easy and generally unhealthy.

Where do I go? Healthy choices need to made here as well. Choose to go to the gym or church instead of a bar. Another healthy choice is to spend time in nature, which has shown to provide incredible health benefits—including the ability to lower cortisol, a stress hormone.

To develop your own trauma recovery plan, start by creating a list under those three questions. Add healthy options including people, activities, and places. Then as you develop more resources, add these to the list so that there are more healthy options from which to choose in times of need. Find a convenient place to store the list for when a quick retrieval is needed.

Recovery Plan in Action Let’s look at a couple of examples of a trauma recovery plan in action.

Broken AC Unit Chris just started her job and moved into her first house. One day, she came home from work tired, hot, and stressed out. But instead of walking into a cool house, the temperature in her foyer is higher than the heat index outside. Upon investigation, she finds her air conditioner not working. Given its age, she suspects that it needs to be replaced. Luckily, she learned how to develop her internal and external resources, as well as a trauma recovery plan in a resilience class during a work training.

After reading her list, she decides her dad is the best person to call. They chat for a few minutes, and her mood starts to improve. Then she mentions the air conditioner and how thankful she is to have started an emergency fund as an external resource several months ago. Even though she doesn’t want to spend her savings on a new air conditioning unit, she tells to her dad how much worse the situation would be without that extra money she was saving for a rainy day.

In this example, Chris had been intentional about building her resources to become more resilient. As a result, she has the money needed to replace the AC in her new home. She won’t experience the trauma of sweating it out for several weeks while she tries to save the money after the problem occurred. She also made the conscious decision to call her dad to lighten the moment. By intentionally building resources and implementing the plan, the situation had a positive outcome.

Traumatic Trigger Kevin has worked in his facility for more than 30 years. He is very much looking forward to his retirement at the beginning of the summer, when he plans to spend most of his time with his grandkids. Just before the end of his day shift, he discovers an inmate attempting suicide.

Yelling for help, he and another officer are able to stop the inmate and get him to medical for help. Unfortunately for Kevin, this traumatic event has triggered another event from Kevin’s past when his efforts to help a suicidal inmate were less successful.

Sitting in his car after clocking out, Kevin’s hands are shaking and his breathing is ragged. His first thought is to calm himself with a drink at the bar near his home. Remembering his recovery plan, he fishes it from his wallet. A small doodle of his church dominates one side of the paper. His church is also on his way home. He checks the time, then pulls out his phone to call his pastor.

Keep in mind that your trauma recovery plan needs to adapt to each situation. A phone call to a friend may lift your spirits. However, if you have endured a truly traumatic event—such as Kevin did— a call to your pastor or therapist might be in order as well. But listing several options within your plan can you help to your achieve a positive and healthier outcome.

Concluding Thoughts The next time you experience trauma or adversity, intentionally use your resources to help you recover in a quicker and healthier way. Look at your trauma recovery plan and choose the healthier path. And while you are at it, take note of how those choices aided in your recovery.

In doing so, you can train your brain to naturally look for those healthy actions in the future—because you understand how beneficial healthy choices are for you. •

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Colonel Brenda Dietzman spent 28 years in law enforcement and corrections, retiring as the undersheriff in charge of jail operations in Wichita, Kansas. She is an IADLEST certified trainer and has presented to national and international audiences on resilience and a variety of leadership topics. She can be contacted through her website at brendadietzman.com or directly at brenda@brendadietzman.com.