![[graphic with stars]](images/icpurp.gif)
The purpose of this Web Site is to provide Law Enforcement families and
under served law enforcement communities with essential psychological
information and improved access to family support services.
The design and development of this web site was originally funded by Grant #98-FS-YX-0004: On-line Education Resources and Support for Law Enforcement Families, from the National Institute of Justice with support from the Metropolitan Police Department of Nashville and Davidson County. It is maintained as a courtesy of the Metropolitan Police Department of Nashville and Davidson County. We are grateful for their continued assistance. The project National Advisory Committee include representatives from: American Psychological Association (APA), Division 18, Police and Public Safety Section; Fraternal Order of Police Auxiliary (FOP); The International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) Police Psychological Services Section ; Peace Officers Wife's Clubs Affiliated of California (POWCA); Reaching Out Law Enforcement Spouses + Family Members (ROLES+), Nashville, Davidson County; Spouses of Police Officers (SOPO); Hayward Police Department, Hayward, California; Metropolitan Police Department of Nashville and Davidson County, Nashville, Tennessee; Oakland Police Department, Oakland, California ; and the Palo Alto Police Department, Palo Alto, California. It is not directly affiliated with any law enforcement agency.
Policefamilies.com operates within the tele-mental health guidelines of the American Psychological Association.
Policefamilies.com is designed to promote and strengthen police family resiliency – the ability to "bounce back" when faced with the stress associated with law enforcement – by offering SUPPORT, ENHANCEMENT and ENCOURAGEMENT.
SUPPORT:
"To understand resilience, it is important to distinguish it from family invulnerability and self-sufficiency. It is 'struggling well'."
Froma Walsh – author of Strengthening Family Resiliency, Guilford Press, 1999.
Policefamilies.com supports the law enforcement community by providing on-line curricula for departments and organizations who want to conduct orientations and seminars for police families and their children. The curricula, complete with overheads and handouts, can be downloaded as needed.
ENHANCEMENT:
"If you always do what you always did, you will get what you always got!"
Moms Mabley – entertainer
Our Needs and Assets survey enhances understanding of the risk and protective factors that influence police families everywhere. The survey results will be distributed nationally in an effort to promote family friendly policies and to enhance the mental health services offered to the law enforcement community.
ENCOURAGEMENT
"All families have the potential for resiliency, we can maximize that potential by encouraging their best efforts and strengthening key processes."
Froma Walsh – author of Strengthening Family Resiliency, Guilford Press, 1999
Policefamilies.com offers discussion forums and chat rooms in the belief that sharing concerns and solutions reduces isolation. Knowing you are not alone in your struggles will encourage you when you're feeling down. Learn how other police families overcame problems through our "bounce back" challenge and strengthen your relationships by checking out our research based resiliency skills in Strategies 101.
PROJECT DIRECTORS
Lorraine Williams Greene, Ph.D. is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist
with training in police psychology. She has worked with police and
public safety personnel since 1984. She received her doctorate from
Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN and interned at the Emory University
School of Medicine in Atlanta, Ga. She oversees the Behavioral Health
Services Division at the Metropolitan Police Department of Nashville
and Davidson County, Nashville, TN which provides counseling services
and training to law enforcement personnel and their families. Lorraine
is married and has one son.
Ellen F. Kirschman, Ph.D. of Oakland California, holds a Doctorate
in Clinical Psychology and has specialized in police and public safety
since 1978. She is a consulting psychologist for many law enforcement
agencies across the country. Ellen has been an invited guest at the
FBI academy and a consultant for the National Institute of Justice,
Office of Justice Programs. She is the author of "I Love A Cop:
What Police Families Need to Know" (Guilford, 1997).