What Modern Therapists Should Know About Law Enforcement Mental Health: An Interview with Cyndi Doyle, LPC

Oct 17, 2022

What Modern Therapists Should Know About Law Enforcement Mental Health: An Interview with Cyndi Doyle, LPC

Curt and Katie interview Cyndi Doyle on the mental health of law enforcement officers. We look at how being a cop impacts their mental health as well as specific incidents and the chronic desensitization. We also explore the feelings in law enforcement related to calls to defund the police and how society views the cops. Content warning: potentially traumatic incidents (violence, death)

Transcripts for this episode will be available at mtsgpodcast.com!

An Interview with Cyndi Doyle, LPC

Cyndi Doyle is a Licensed Professional Counselor, group practice co-owner, founder of Code4Couples®, podcaster, and author of Hold the Line: The Essential Guide to Protecting Your Law Enforcement Relationship. She has spoken nationally and internationally including at the International Association of Chiefs of Police Conferences (IACP), the FBI National Academy Association (FBINAA) Conference, keynoted at police spouse conferences throughout the country, and at trained various police departments. While much of her work focuses on first responders, Cyndi’s stories of embracing and wrestling with living her own bold and authentic life have resulted in her being a sought-after speaker for other mental health professionals. Her message of humanizing struggle, compassion, courage, and resilience has resulted in her speaking nationally and even keynoting at the 2020 Texas Counseling Association Professional Growth Conference. That same year, the American Counseling Association awarded her the Samuel Gladding Unsung Heroes Award for her work with first responders and contribution to the field of counseling.

In this podcast episode, we talk about Law Enforcement Mental Health

We reached out to our friend, Cyndi Doyle to explore a population of folks who we typically don’t think about as our patients: Law Enforcement Officers (LEO).

What should modern therapists know about the mental health of Law Enforcement Officers and their families?

“[Law Enforcement Officers] don't feel safe, not just their physical safety, but emotional safety. Many times, they don't feel supported by their communities. They don't feel supported by their departments, by their administration. …Would you really want to go to a job every day where you were potentially hated?” – Cyndi Doyle, LPC

Different dynamics than typical couples
The definition of cynicism
How training impacts the mental health of officers
Misinterpretation of control versus abuse
Over diagnosis of trauma

The negative impacts on police officers of the heightened scrutiny and criticism

Hypervigilance and the impact of cameras on police offers performing their jobs
The lack of support from the community (or the legislators or even law enforcement leadership) for officers
Lack of compassion satisfaction, considering quitting their job, PTSD
The impact on Law Enforcement Officer (LEO) families

Exploration of the calls to defund the police and fund other resources

“You'll see the cellphone videos or the videos out there of officers playing basketball or playing football or engaging with the community. And that's what community policing is. Community policing is the idea of I know my community well enough to know who potentially has a mental health situation that I need to be aware of.” – Cyndi Doyle, LPC

Looking at the law enforcement response to defunding the police
Exploring community policing and how that could help decrease abuses
The cultural shifts and education happening at police departments
The potential for mental health resources being added to policing
When staffing is down, there is less time to recuperate and be prepared for work

Mental Health Concerns that bring law enforcement officers and their families into therapy

“Sometimes we assume, I think, as clinicians that like oh, that would be traumatic for me to see. When in actuality [cops] have seen it so often that there's a desensitization. Now, does the desensitization impact to them? Sure. It also doesn't mean that every situation is traumatic to them. That unfortunately, once you've seen something or done something time and time again, it cannot impact you the same way.” – Cyndi Doyle, LPC

Stress, Anxiety, Depression, Addiction
Relationships, family and couple
Incident, critical incident, trauma
Desensitization to violent incidents, injuries, and death
The personalization in incidents that can cause more of a trauma response
The insufficient training to build resilience for law enforcement officers
The shifting culture that is now recognizing mental health as health, but the ongoing stigma for seeking support

Cynicism, lack of empathy, and bias in Law Enforcement

The mindset that narrows down to “everyone” behaves
Working to make officers more human, so they can see more good in the world
The importance of supporting the resilience and empathy within LEO (while recognizing that some of these things are not helpful “on the job”)

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Resources for Modern Therapists mentioned in this Podcast Episode:

We’ve pulled together resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links. Please note that some of the links below may be affiliate links, so if you purchase after clicking below, we may get a little bit of cash in our pockets. We thank you in advance!
Code 4 Couples

Cyndi Doyle.com

Social media:

https://www.instagram.com/code4couples/

https://www.facebook.com/code4couples

https://www.linkedin.com/in/cyndidoylelpc/

https://www.instagram.com/cyndi_doyle/ https://www.facebook.com/cyndi.b.doyle

Relevant Episodes of MTSG Podcast:

Therapists on the Hostage Negotiation Team: An interview with Dr. Andy Young

Treating First Responders: An interview with Yael Shuman, LMFT

Who we are:

Curt Widhalm, LMFT

Curt Widhalm is in private practice in the Los Angeles area. He is the cofounder of the Therapy Reimagined conference, an Adjunct Professor at Pepperdine University and CSUN, a former Subject Matter Expert for the California Board of Behavioral Sciences, former CFO of the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists, and a loving husband and father. He is 1/2 great person, 1/2 provocateur, and 1/2 geek, in that order. He dabbles in the dark art of making "dad jokes" and usually has a half-empty cup of coffee somewhere nearby. Learn more at: www.curtwidhalm.com

Katie Vernoy, LMFT

Katie Vernoy is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, coach, and consultant supporting leaders, visionaries, executives, and helping professionals to create sustainable careers. Katie, with Curt, has developed workshops and a conference, Therapy Reimagined, to support therapists navigating through the modern challenges of this profession. Katie is also a former President of the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists. In her spare time, Katie is secretly siphoning off Curt's youthful energy, so that she can take over the world. Learn more at: www.katievernoy.com

A Quick Note:

Our opinions are our own. We are only speaking for ourselves – except when we speak for each other, or over each other. We’re working on it.

Our guests are also only speaking for themselves and have their own opinions. We aren’t trying to take their voice, and no one speaks for us either. Mostly because they don’t want to, but hey.