ISSUES AND PRACTICES.pdf - The Counseling Team International

According to Bergmann, PTR is "a change agent for departments outside South Carolina."Bergmann assists out-of-State departments to tailor their own stress program to meet their ownneeds. Bergmann stimulates them to think about the important issues involved in establishing aprogram, asking them, for example, "What's your State's policy on workers' compensation? Howmuch money are you prepared to spend? What have you already tried to do to address officerstress?" After thinking through the answers to these and other questions, the DOC chooses amodel. By acting in this catalytic capacity, Bergmann can say, "I did 3 days of training in Texas,and they did 90 percent of the work itself."A Sample Referral to PTR for Individual CounselingA facility nurse referred an officer who was stabbed and was having difficulty sleeping andtrouble going to work to Post Trauma Resources. The officer brought his wife, who waspregnant, to the first session with Ruth Ellis, one of PTR's counselors. Ellis gave them the choiceof coming separately or together to subsequent sessions. Ellis saw the officer for five sessions,sometimes alone, at other times with his wife. The couple drove 2 hours each way to attend thesessions.Ellis found that the couple was not having marital problems, just difficulty coping with theofficer's job. After counseling, the wife felt less anxious about her husband's safety. The coupleagreed they would contact each other during the day so she could be reassured he was safe andhe could feel good that she was not worrying about him. She told him what she did and did notwant to hear about the job--for example, nothing about "blood and guts"--but he agreed to openup when he was afraid or upset. They agreed that, if he was concerned about revealing the truthabout his feelings, he would tell her, and they would decide together how best to proceed.For further information, contact:Lawrence Bergmann DirectorPost Trauma Resources1811 Bull StreetColumbia, SC 29201(803) 765-0700; (800) 459-6780fax (803) 765-1607