Princeton House Professionals Train Sheriff’s Officers to Manage Stress, Trauma
Union County, N.J. sheriff’s officers and supervisors will have access to free, voluntary training on traumatic events in the workplace, peer-to-peer counseling and mental health well-being services provided by professionals at Penn Medicine Princeton House Behavioral Health.
“Supervisors and officers are the first on scene at many tragic and violent incidents,” said Union County Sheriff Peter Corvelli. “They make decisions in split seconds under stressful conditions in order to protect the citizens and courts of Union County. By offering this training, we hope to help promote balance and enhance the well-being of those who protect and serve.”
The training sessions—the first of their kind offered by a New Jersey sheriff’s office—will be led by professionals from First Responder Treatment Services, an inpatient offering at Princeton House that provides customized care for law enforcement officers, firefighters, military personnel, EMTs and other first responders who are dealing with behavioral health or substance use disorders.
The Princeton House professionals include Michael Bizzarro, PhD, LCSW, a former police officer and military veteran who serves as clinical director of First Responder Treatment Services, and Kenneth Burkert, a retired Union County corrections officer who formerly served as vice president of the New Jersey State Policemen’s Benevolent Association (PBA). Training sessions are scheduled to begin in September. They will offer tools to help the sheriff’s officers and supervisors manage the stress and trauma of their jobs.
“The training is also designed to assist officers in identifying signs of stress in their peers,” Bizzarro said. “In a group of individuals who always run toward danger to protect others, there is often an inability to notice when troubling events have taken their toll. Our training can help officers detect problems before they become tragedies.”
“The stress and trauma are a side of the job no one likes to talk about,” said Mike Heller, Union County sheriff’s officer and a member of the PBA’s Peer Assistance Response Team. “Having this program, which encourages officers and supervisors to talk and share their issues, will not only assist our men and women in their jobs but in their daily lives and overall mental health.”
First Responder Treatment Services has treated more than 900 individuals since it was initiated in 2013. Princeton House also offers intensive outpatient and partial hospital programs at various outpatient centers throughout southern and central New Jersey to care for men and women experiencing trauma.