I am not a police officer. I have never suffered from Post Traumatic Stress (Disorder). I am a chaplain. I was a pastor for 16 years. I was a chaplain for the Toronto Police Service. Over the past year I have been suggesting that First Responders and those responsible for helping them in the area of PTS need to start looking at the spiritual side of the human.
There are organizations, and you know who you are, that have politely acknowledged my emails and then never followed up. There are EFAP's that claim to be doing everything they can. Really?
I am angry because another 2 cops appear to have committed suicide in the Toronto area this week. I believe 4 First Responders in total have taken their own lives in the past week in Southern Ontario. The finger pointing and accusations always follow these events and yet those doing the finger pointing and those who care for our First Responders the most, refuse to look at all options. Maybe a better word would be exhaust all options.
I wrote a blog on this subject in January 2015. My suggestion was and is, that Christian chaplains (I know that is politically incorrect) could be a huge resource in battling the issue of confidentiality and the fear associated with "coming out". Rather than the first contact point for our men and women being the EAP or even a fellow first responder, make it a chaplain that doesn't have to report the name of anyone that comes to them. Let the chaplain use their training to help the individual. Let them be the ones who make the call to get professional help if it is deemed appropriate.
This would mean fully trained chaplains and not just pastors that want to go on the occasional ride-along. Hire chaplains to be out on the roads on a regular basis building relationships with first responders. Chaplains that will go out after work for a coffee or even a beer. Chaplains that will take the time to listen to what is on the hearts of these men and women.
Let me make something perfectly clear: I know most EAP's don't want anything to do with a spiritual solution to any problem, let alone PTS. If you are not a psychologist or a psychiatrist you simply don't have the credentials in their opinion. My question to each of you is this: who says? Who says that someone like me, who has probably dealt with just as many serious situations as many in an EAP have, will not have a better opportunity to bring healing to a broken person? The Christian church is made up of millions upon millions of broken people that today live full and productive lives. Is it possible that some of the solutions that First Responders and their EAP's are looking for are right under their noses?
Someone has said that anecdotes are not scientific proof that the Christian faith works. That is what those who don't understand faith use as their argument. As they do this, they close the door on possible solutions for those suffering from PTS and the reason usually goes no further than their own bias views on matters of faith. The term "holistic" is used when referring to getting every possible form of help for a person but in reality it only refers to the mind and body. This is not the forum to try and convince anyone of the spiritual makeup of people and yet to ignore it is not helpful and betrays their claims of doing "whatever necessary" to assist those suffering.
How many more suicides do we need to see before everyone starts to take this seriously? As I write this, I am totally aware that not every First Responder who is suffering, will accept spiritual counsel. However, isn't it our responsibility to offer as many options as possible? A friend of mine is using yoga for those suffering from PTS. I am not a huge fan of yoga but if it helps even one person, I think it is great. If only those on the front lines of helping PTS suffers can look at the spiritual side of things the same way.
No comments:
Post a Comment