Building Partnerships,
Strengthening
Communities
Mental Health Consumer/Survivors
&
Law Enforcement
Building Partnerships,
Strengthening Communities
Welcome and Introductions
Lessons Learned from Communities
Emotional CPR (eCPR)
Your concerns and your plans?
Honoring what brought each
of us into this room
Who we are and how we got here
Law Enforcement & Children’s Mental
Health Roundtable Discussion (2007)
National Federation of Families for
Children’s Mental Health Conference
(2007)
International Association of Chiefs of
Police’s National Policy Summit (2009)
On-going work in each organization and
amongst their local members
Planning
Develop trust with community and Police
Decide the role of the Police
Partner with mental health system
Plan the training with community input
Develop a CIT model for your needs
Willingness for the training to evolve
Lessons Learned
1. It takes collaboration and cooperation
2. It requires attention to everyone’s needs
3. It takes time – lot’s of time
4. There is no room for stereotypes
5. Know the systems and their rules!
6. Every person in every community has a
role – go home and do something!
Emotional CPR (eCPR)
National Coalition for Mental Health Recovery
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eCPR
What is eCPR? a public health education program
which prepares members of the public to assist a
person who is experiencing an emotional crisis.
Why eCPR:
There is a vast and compelling need for the general
public as well as law enforcement personnel to learn
how to assist any person who is experiencing an
emotional crisis.
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The three elements of the practice of eCPR:
C = Connecting with Compassion and Concern to
Communicate
P = emPowerment to experience Passion, Purpose and
Planning
R = Revitalize through Reestablishing Relationships,
Routines and Rhythms in the community
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eCPR is Based on the Values of a Healthy
Community
1. Respectful, trusting relationships
2. Recovery is possible for everyone, centrality of hope
3. Self-determination (dignity of choice) is vital especially
for persons in crisis
4. Connecting on a mutually respectful emotional level
5. Validity of emotional expression
6. Cultural attunement and inclusion across diverse groups
7. Every individual is appreciated as a healthy person
inside who has encountered trauma
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Being Prepared to Provide eCPR
A. Taking care of ourselves, being centered, grounded, relaxed, in
touch with our emotions.
B. Learning to "be" with the strong emotions expressed by the person
in distress and staying grounded and centered
- Open our heart and our mind to what the person in distress is
expressing. –Can we empathize?
- Encourage self-expression - it is an essential component of the healing
process.
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Connecting
Why is it important to be real?
Genuineness helps rapport and relationship building.
If you are not listening, and not authentic then you are not
connecting. The person in crisis is aware of this, and it is not
helpful.
Your being real may be the most important tool you bring.
•It is a way of being.
• It gives the other person permission to calm down, feel
safe, feel seen, feel validated.
•We can be with people so their real selves are comfortable.
•They get to focus on you the person, not the badge, uniform
and gun belt.
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Some Connecting Proficiencies
a. Cultivating a hopeful and positive attitude towards the
future (setting groundwork for moving forward)
b. Creating an emotionally safe relationship and
communicating care
c. Listening fully and actively, and staying present on a
deep level so you can support the person (use your
investigation skills)
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emPowerment
The responder needs to be positive and hopeful and understand
that:
1) If people in emotional crisis are effectively encouraged by
the responder, they can access their power to make good choices.
2) People in emotional crisis are more capable and resourceful
then they may appear.
As the individual in emotional crisis begins to feel safe and is able
to communicate they begin making plans and thinking more clearly.
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Some emPowering Proficiencies
a. Demonstrating a capacity to enter into a collaborative “power
with” as opposed to “power over”
b. Facilitating the other person’s access to his or her inner wisdom
c. Sensitively reframing crisis as opportunity
d. Facilitating the person’s planning ability
~~~~~
It’s crucial that the planning stage be focused on specifics. Some
examples of what you might asking the person:
How can I help you feel safe?
What would help you feel better?
What do you do to take good care of yourself?
Who can I help you connect with or talk to?
What’s the next important thing you or I can do now?
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Revitalizing Proficiencies
a. Meaning: Helping people to identify the vital center that brings
meaning and purpose to their lives.
b. Dreams: Encouraging people to take small steps in the direction of
their dreams and goals.
c. Relationships: Facilitating connections in the community to
enhance or re-establish roles, relationships, and routines.
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R = Revitalize
Encourage the person to begin to engage in relationships, to
resume or begin roles in their family, with friends, or in the
community.
Emotional distress provides people with an opportunity to make a
change in their life.
It may be a time of searching for new meaning or purpose which
may help them stay in a positive (non-crisis) state of being longterm.
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eCPR compared with traditional law enforcement approach
eCPR Approach
Law Enforcement Approach
Accessible
Lay language, culturally attuned
Professional terms, culturalcentric
Uses of
Power
Power with; we can figure this out
together
Power over; I am going to fix the
person or problem.
Belief
The person is a whole human
being and with assistance can
figure it out
Belief that person is broken, and
can not figure out what to do
without professional help.
Use of
labeling and
categories
Avoided
Recommended
Coercion
Minimizing trauma, typically seen
as not necessary.
Exercised, seen as necessary
Fear
Fear is diminished by being in
relationship
Fear is managed by LE via
exercising presence of being in
charge.
Your Concerns? Your Plans?
Have you gleaned any new insights or
inspiration here today?
What are you going to do with this
information when you go home?
What help will you need?
Resources
Law Enforcement and Children’s Mental Health
Roundtable Discussion: Executive Summary
(2007)
How to Work Effectively with Police When Youth
are in Mental Health Crisis: A Guide for Families
of Children and Youth with Mental, Emotional, or
Behavioral Health Problems (2008)
Building Safer Communities: Improving Police
Response to Persons with Mental Illness (2010)
Find these and other resources at
www.ffcmh.org and www.theiacp.org
Contact Information
A. Elaine Slaton
National Federation of Families for Childrens Mental Health
www.ffcmh.org Eslaton@ffcmh.org 240-403-1904 (direct line)
Lauren Spiro
National Coalition for Mental Health Recovery, www.ncmhr.org;
www.emotional-cpr.org, Laurenspiro1@gmail.com, 703-862-6512 (cell)
Mike Sullivan
Michael Sullivan ADA Consulting
www.michaelsullivanadaconsulting.com,
michaelsullivanadaconsulting@yahoo.com, 707-849-9565 (cell)