A Path Less Traveled...
J. P. McMichael
The fields of law enforcement and corrections continue to see elevated levels of stress among the men and women who day in and day out continue to answer the call. These men and women rise each day, putting on their uniform, badge, and duty gear; leaving their families at home to protect and serve their communities.
Each day, these brave men and women see things that most people cannot begin to comprehend. This does not include the continued persecution in all forms of media, whether actions justify their criticism or not. Many who wear the badge entered these fields because they felt a higher calling, wanted to serve their communities, and help individuals. On top of the stress placed on these men and women by the calls they respond to, past bad calls, personal stressors, and past military experiences; they are also facing criticism for the actions they take, even when they are correct. While all these things lead to stress on the responder, they also must go home and answer questions from their families and friends. Some first responders have even lost friends and family members due to their careers.
Health and Wellness Programs, Peer Support Teams, and Employee Assistance Programs are just a few of the things that agencies across the country are creating in response to the crisis that is currently sweeping through our field. While suicide rates are often the focus, we must find a way to be proactive and attack these problems at their root causes. Staffing levels are at the lowest they have been for many agencies due to resignations and the inability to hire qualified candidates. As recruitment becomes tougher, overtime continues to rise and add to the already exorbitant levels of stress for first responders, both personally and professionally. We continue to put Band-Aids on gaping wounds, as we attempt to continue to operate at the same levels we did in the past. As we are doing this, we are seeing more and more of our officers walking away from the career they grew up hoping to one day be a part of. We are seeing young men and women turning away from recruitment and turning to other fields. We must look at new ways to operate, new ways to recruit, and most importantly, we must find a way to fill in all the cracks in the mental and physical armor of our heroic men and women that continue to grow larger day by day. The question is how do we take on this colossal task and come out on top?
We must begin by addressing the mental and physical wellness of our officers. We must stop placing Band-Aids on these wounds and address them from the foundation to the surface. As I struggled with post-traumatic stress from being a first responder to the Pentagon on 9/11, and many other traumas that compounded over the years, I was introduced to a program called Warrior PATHH, by an officer I met at a conference that would later become a great friend. Warrior PATHH, I have continued to find, as I discuss it during speaking engagements; is one of the best-kept secrets from first responders and military veterans. This program should be on the radar of every agency and branch of service across the United States of America. A program that begins by telling its participants that trauma is something that happens to you, it is not who you are. Yet, how many of our men and women are defined or are defining themselves by their traumas? It is incumbent upon us as leaders to ensure that officers that serve our communities are doing their best, both mentally and physically, to provide the best engagement to those that we serve.
The Warrior PATHH program is one of several programs that are a part of the Boulder Crest Foundation. Ken and Julia Faulk founded The Boulder Crest Foundation in 2010. Ken served 21 years in the Navy and following a severe injury, recovery, and seeing his own Post Traumatic Growth (PTG), he and Julia decided to create the foundation to provide more support for the soldiers and their families. The Warrior PATHH Program is a 7-day intensive on-site program, followed by a 90-day online program and weekly team meetings. There is no cost to the participant with flight, housing, meals, and program materials all covered. You must show up and do the work, and the work is hard. I say it is hard because you must look at yourself from the inside out, good, and bad, which is something most human beings try hard not to do. I will share my experience but understand that everyone’s experience is very personal. You will think of every reason not to show up, as I did; because I didn’t need help and I sure didn’t need a group of people I never met sitting around telling me what was wrong with me (how wrong I was in both cases).
My process started by applying online after my friend asked if I had heard of the program, which I hadn’t, and that she knew it would be life-changing for me. A series of calls followed in which I was interviewed, and the program was explained. I lived nearby so I didn’t require travel arrangements, but if I did, they were all covered, and I just needed to show up. During the drive there I thought of a million reasons why I should turn around and go home (insert any of the many that you have used for why you didn’t need any help). When I arrived, I drove up a road and through an iron gate into one of the most scenic areas I have been to. Boulder Crest Virginia consisted of several large wood cabins, a clubhouse, and acres of land which we would explore over the next seven days. I was greeted by a team of PATHH Guides, men and women who had completed the Warrior PATHH Program and were not trained to teach it. Over the next few hours, the members of my team would arrive. There would be six men on our team from across the country, military veterans and first responders. Little did I know, on that December night, that the men and women I would meet that week would play such a vital role in my life.
I will not share the details of the seven days at Boulder Crest, as a key piece of the program is not knowing what comes next. I will share with you some of my experiences, thoughts, and emotions that occurred over that week. We learned many strategies to help us continue our Post Traumatic Growth during and after we left Boulder Crest Virginia. I looked at myself deeper and more critically than I ever had before. I learned how both the good and bad qualities of my parents, grandparents, and beyond impacted me. I also learned how failing to address the areas in which I needed to do the most work would impact my children, as well as their children in the future. You have the power to break the chain and stop the cycle of negative behaviors. The work being done that week was hard, both mentally and physically, but the PATHH Guides never left our sides and continually supported us and shared their own stories of their journeys from time to time, leading by example.
We six entered Warrior PATHH as strangers and left as brothers. We forged a bond that I believe will never be broken, in our case. We continue to talk to one another daily and continue to have our weekly meetings online. When some of us cannot make the meeting, we all reach out to one another to ensure we are “struggling well”, a term we also learned during Warrior PATHH. This term came from the book Struggle Well, by Ken Faulk and Josh Goldberg. The principles of struggling well are based on incorporating healthy practices into your life and creating a support system that promotes continued Post Traumatic Growth, well beyond your time in the program.
Warrior PATHH provides an opportunity for our men and women to learn, grow and prosper both personally and professionally. We often talk about family as first responders and military veterans, our
brothers, and sisters; yet we often struggle with our demons alone. As I stated in the beginning, Warrior PATHH is sadly one of the best-kept secrets among our veterans and first responders. A program with no cost that saves families and that saves lives. This program should be one of the best-known resources for each one of our agencies. Brothers and sisters take care of one another, they never want to see each other endure pain and suffering. So why do we continue to allow our brothers and sisters to suffer in silence when we can teach them to Struggle Well by walking the Warrior PATHH?
More information on the Boulder Crest Foundation and the Warrior PATHH Program is available at www.BoulderCrest.org.
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Captain J.P. McMichael is a 24-year law enforcement veteran with the Arlington County Sheriff’s Office in Arlington, Virginia. Captain McMichael has served as the COVID-19 Response Coordinator and the Americans with Disabilities Act Coordinator. Captain McMichael is currently the Assistant Director of Inmate Services and the head of the agencies First Responder Health and Wellness Program. Captain McMichael is also Adjunct Professor at Marymount Universities School of Sciences, Mathematics and Education in Criminal Justice. In the fall of 2017, J.P. created Catalyst of Change Associates, LLC. J.P. has been a keynote speaker at numerous conferences including the International Critical Incident Stress Foundation World Conference, The American Jail Association Health and Wellness Summit, and the National Association of Americans with Disabilities Act Coordinators Conference. He can be reached at (571) 329-7887; his email is catalystofchangeassociates@gmail.com