Start Checkpoints

09/06/2025

08/06/2025

07/16/2025

To better support first responders' emotional health, we have to think differently, approach differently, and support differently.

Until we do, our first responders will continue to struggle.

It's time to put wellness in motion. Start Checkpoints to see how.

Built for First Responders. Backed by Experience. Designed to Save Lives.

04/27/2025

Critical incidents aren’t the only thing affecting our police officers' mental health.

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04/16/2025

People often ask me why I care so much about the subject of emotional health for our police officers:

This is just one of the many reasons why I won’t stop beating the drum on this issue.

https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/string-law-enforcement-suicides-rattles-first-responders-and-exposes-gaps-state-support

Thank you, Tribune and PERF for helping highlight the urgent need to better support the mental and emotional well-being of our men and women in uniform.

Start Checkpoints bridges the gap between talking about mental health—and actually getting our men and women the help they need.

Sign up for The Brief, The Texas Tribune’s daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news. After two officers he had worked with during a 20-year stint in the U.S. Marine Corps took their own lives, Dustin Schellenger researched what mental health resources were a...

04/07/2025

"Early” is a very relative term - especially in the conversation about mental health.

Almost all mental health resources for police officers are reactive - waiting for us to be broken or in a crisis before support is ever offered.

Our police officers and first responders deserve a preventative emotional health strategy too.

Consider bringing Checkpoints to your agency today.

04/03/2025

Honored to be recognized in the Police Executive Research Forum’s latest report, Call for Help: Treatment Centers for Police Officers. In his opening message, Executive Director Chuck Wexler included a quote from my book, CHECKPOINTS: The Blueprint to Emotional Health for First Responders, highlighting the unseen burden officers carry every day.

The job doesn’t just weigh heavy because of the danger. It’s the emotional toll — the secondary trauma absorbed from standing in the middle of other people’s grief and tragedy — that often leaves the deepest mark. I’m grateful to see this conversation front and center in PERF’s ongoing effort to address the real challenges facing law enforcement.

You can read the full report here:https://www.policeforum.org/assets/TreatmentCenters.pdf

03/26/2025

An average person experiences 1-3 traumatic events in a lifetime.

An average Police Officer experience 150-210 traumatic events just in a career.

It’s time to do more than just talk about “wellness”.

can, has and will save first responders lives.

02/28/2025

Thank you for allowing me to do the keynote presentation on Checkpoints at this year’s winter conference in Victoria Canada.

Thank for believing in the Start Checkpoints strategy. Your commitment to strengthen the emotional health of law enforcement officers will save careers , families and lives. Thank you for your service.

02/17/2025

Checkpoints will inspire our men and women to get in the fight for their emotional health.

Inspiring speakers for your agency.

01/21/2025

Ensuring our department's employees are receptive to the support we offer, and trusting of the department's intentions to support them is a crucial part of your agency's emotional health strategy.

Which strategy do you think will help the most?

Options:

1️⃣ Mandatory counseling with LPC
2️⃣ Clinicians on staff
3️⃣ Time off between loss of life calls
4️⃣ Mental health awareness training

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01/14/2025

Why do police officers begin their careers with a clean bill of health, and within only a few years find themselves struggling with their emotional health?

Did you know first responders face divorce rates as high as 70% and increased risks of PTSD? Unacceptable !

Let's change the conversation.

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