ABSTRACT
This chapter provides the police psychologist and other mental health practitioners who work with law enforcement and public safety personnel with practical information on the main reasons why law enforcement officers find themselves in internal investigatory and/or legal trouble; the range of psychological reactions to an internal investigation. It focuses on the police psychologist’s role as a treating clinician and advocate for the officer’s psychological well-being, and is not intended to provide legal advice. Termed survival resource training, the intervention, as originally conceived, allows officers to utilize their original fear response to gain access to a psychological state characterized by controlled strength, increased awareness, confidence, and clarity of mind. The chapter discusses some more intensive and extensive psychotherapeutic strategies for officers in distress. Helping officers in distress, let alone those whose troubles may at least be partially self-induced, takes all the skills of a crisis counselor, psychotherapist, and patient advocate.
