CISM News
PTSD is prevalent in our society among first responders, the military, and now more than ever, many citizens that have survived trauma. Natural disasters, epidemics, wars around the world and mass shootings can ignite the feelings and symptoms of PTSD. Here is some information on how to support those with PTSD.
- Understanding and addressing PTSD
- June recognized as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Awareness Month
- Useful Tips For Veterans On Dealing With PTSD
- The Link Between PTSD, Support, and Exercise in Military Veterans
- First responders call for more support for them and their families living with PTSD
- The Definition of Trauma Is Evolving—Here’s How That Can Help Us Heal
- What Happens When Kids Experience a Traumatic Event?
- The way out of the darkness: How can we better serve men, women in uniform when it comes to mental health?
- The Trauma of Ukraine’s Civilians Will Haunt Them, and Us, for Generations
In May we recognize Mental Health Awareness nationwide. After two years of dealing with Covid, multiple national disasters and now the Russia-Ukraine war, we look for ways to support each other’s mental health journey. In the USA we also acknowledge May as Military Appreciation month and we celebrate our nurses, our firefighters, our EMS personnel and our police who sacrifice so much for their communities.
- When Tragedy Strikes, Remember the First Responders; May is Mental Health Awareness Month
- Mental Health Awareness Month: Supporting your loved ones who are suffering
- Defining mental health and the difference between acute, chronic stress
- Firefighters worldwide recognised
- First responders are human. We must take care of their mental health and well-being
- For Military Appreciation Month, recognizing and supporting those who serve
- Nurses Month 2022 – You Make a Difference
- National Police Week: Support Your Local Law Enforcement
National Teacher Appreciation Week
This week, May 2-6, 2022, we acknowledge and honor teachers, educators and school administrators. The ICISF offers several courses and resources for these professions to assist with maintaining resiliency and managing school crises.
ICISF Courses
- Assisting Individuals in Crisis & Group Crisis Intervention in Colleges and Universities
- Live Training: June 6 – 8, 2022
- Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) in the College and University Setting
- Live Training: May 25, 2022
Videos
- Pandemic Crises As It Affects Schools (CISM Live Series)
- A Counselor’s Response to the Unthinkable (The Marjorie Stoneman Douglas School Shooting)
Articles
April is known in the U.S. as the Month of the Military Child as designated by the Department of Defense, and it is important to recognize the impact their parents’ service has on them. One of the most significant facts about military children is how resilient they are, and they tend to grow up to be resilient adults. Resilience is such an important quality to have for good mental health, and we can all learn from their example. Here are some excellent models of what it means to be a Military Child.
- 5 Unique Facts About Military Children and Their Families
- Resiliency Workshops Give Military Kids Tools for Success
- Month of the Military Child
- Honor the ‘brats’
- Finding help for teens who grow up caregiving for their disabled military parents
- Grace of a Military Child: Teen’s podcast tackles challenges, experiences of troops’ children
- Army seeks Soldier feedback on navigating parenthood while serving
On February 24, 2022, Russian troops invaded Ukraine. This war has lasted almost a month already and there is no end in sight. The mental health impact worldwide of this war on top of the losses due to the pandemic is devastating. While details of the war are broadcast on daily basis, families in Ukraine are separated at best, and broken, displaced, or extinguished all together at worst. The toll this war is taking on our mental health is significant and needs to be acknowledged.
- Watching War Unfold on Social Media Affects Your Mental Health
- How to manage your mental health as traumatic events pile up
- Torn between worlds, Ukrainian Australians are feeling the mental health impacts of war
- First pandemic. Then recession. Now, Russia invades Ukraine. Anything else, world?
- The Dire Psychological Impact of Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine
- Worrying about war in Ukraine: Anxiety and wellbeing advice for you and your family
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 18, 2022
The International Critical Incident Stress Foundation gains First H.E.L.P. as a Strategic Partner
Ellicott City, MD – The International Critical Incident Stress Foundation, Inc. (ICISF) is excited to announce our strategic partnership with First H.E.L.P., which focuses on reducing the mental health and suicide within first responder professions.
Richard Barton, ICISF Chief Executive Officer, says “The International Critical Incident Stress Foundation is proud to form a strategic partnership with First H.E.L.P. Their mission serves people in a way that is consistent with the objectives of the ICISF. I believe that we will be able to carry out some very meaningful work to support each other. I look forward to the next steps.”
“A chance phone call from a friend connected me to Kelly Hall, the Business Development Manager of the ICISF, and a few meetings later, both organizations saw the benefit of working together to help first responders across the country manage their own mental health and help their peers when the need arises.” says Jeff McGill, Chief Executive Officer of First H.E.L.P.
The ICISF looks forward to working with First H.E.L.P. throughout this strategic partnership and sharing resources they provide to a variety of crisis responder professions. We want to personally thank Jeff McGill, Chief Executive Officer, Joe Willis, Chief Learning Officer, and the First H.E.L.P. staff for what they are doing in the lives of these crisis responder professions and their communities.
To learn more about our strategic partners, visit our website. You can also stay up to date with First H.E.L.P.’s resources and news on our Strategic Partner Content page.
If you or your organization is interested in a strategic partnership with the ICISF, email Kelly Hall, Business Development Manager, at [email protected] or call (443) 325-5218.
Strategic Partner
First H.E.L.P.
It is the mission of First H.E.L.P. to reduce mental health stigma through education, advocate for benefits for those suffering from post-traumatic stress, acknowledge the service and sacrifice and support the families of first responders we lost to suicide, assist first responders in their search for healing, lead policy makers and legislators toward necessary change, and to bring awareness to suicide and mental health issues within public safety.
The International Critical Incident Stress Foundation, Inc.
The mission of the International Critical Incident Stress Foundation, Inc. is to be the leader in providing education, training, consultation, and support services in comprehensive crisis intervention and disaster behavioral health services to emergency responders, and other professions, organizations and communities worldwide.
As our worldwide community continues to learn more about mental health, we are able to communicate openly to reduce the stigma associated with mental illness. Mental Wellness has become a more widely accepted focus in the workplace especially for first responders, frontline workers and military.
- First Responder Project helps EMS providers, FFs, law enforcement cope with work’s effects
- Pa. police program focuses on officers’ mental health
- They save skiers and hikers in the wilderness. Here’s how they think about resilience.
- How region health care providers, nurses, doctors are fairing in yet another COVID year
- ‘Nurses are the front line of everything’: Pandemic toll has nurses seeking counselling more than others in health care
- Veterans share experiences and seek support at the Battle buddy Talk
- New army program takes on growing mental health issues faced by young Israelis
Law Enforcement Appreciation
In January we take time to appreciate the selfless work of the law enforcement community. This includes local and state police as well as their families. Due to the varying tasks and situations these professionals handle each and every day, it is not always possible for them to process events immediately and take care of their personal and mental health. We can support them by removing the stigma associated with addressing their mental health and wellness, keeping conversations going and offering additional care and treatment without judgement.
- First responders deserve better mental health resources
- New program uses art to help deal with PTSD
- Tampa Bay first responders open up about mental toll of frontline
- BREAKING THE STIGMA: Suicide is second leading cause of death within law
- Show your support for law enforcement
- In this blue family, no one should fight alone