The NeckUp CheckUp program is designed to provide clients from the corrections/first-responder/military community with an opportunity to maintain an awareness of their psychological well-being.

 

The purpose is to provide individuals with one or two sessions per year of psychological counselling to be used specifically as a method to check-in and determine their current level of psychological wellness.

 

During these sessions, individuals will be encouraged to discuss personal and/or professional issues and will be provided with self-assessment tools and action plans, which may include information concerning coping strategies, relevant literature, and/or other potential referral resources.

 

As a first responder, you will be engaged in, or witness, incidents involving death or serious injury. In your training, you may have been prepared for seeing traumatic events but you might not have been prepared for how you will feel about them or how to process them. Therefore, it is vital that you protect your mental health.

 

The neck-up check-up provides a baseline measure of your mental health…

 

At some point in your life, you will experience stress and this can manifest itself in one or more of the following ways:

• Critical incident stress

• Post-traumatic stress

• Depression

• Burnout

• Compassion fatigue

 

It is important to understand that anxiety disorders (including PTSD), mood disorders, everyday stress, cumulative stress, and burnout all have symptoms in common.

 

Even more critical, you should know that all of these issues are treatable, especially if caught early. This is why routinely checking in with a mental health provider is so important.