Calif. Retreat Helps Responders Process Stress

The Bakersfield Californian

When something has gone terribly wrong in a community, it's the duty of first responders to do everything from picking up the very first panicked 9-1-1 call to cleaning up scenes of horrific destruction and violence.

"The job of a first responder is an inhumane job, and yet they're doing it every single day," said Sunny Mueller, the clinical director of Public Safety Professionals Retreat.

First responders expect to be exposed to the worst, but what might catch some by surprise is how repeat exposure to trauma wears them down over time.

Mueller said it's not a part of the culture for first responders to check in with each other after a bad incident to see if everyone has processed what has just happened.

"They laugh and they joke and they move on to the next call," she said.

But behind closed doors, Mueller said, many first responders struggle with the emotional toll of the job. It might present as drinking too much, having affairs, wanting to quit their job or having suicidal thoughts.

That's where the Public Safety Professionals Retreat, also know as PSPR or ProSPeR, comes in. The goal of the week-long retreat is to get participants on the road to good mental health.

"I've had several people tell me that going through the program saved their marriage or their job or saved their life," Mueller said.

ProSPeR began as a community service project of the Rotary Club. In 2011, Rotary District Governor Deepa Willingham wanted to pilot a retreat in Kern County to serve military veterans dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder.

The project changed course when Rotarians learned they were duplicating the efforts of Veterans Affairs. But they didn't give up. Local attorney Steven Gibbs, the president of the ProSPeR's board, said they found another community in their backyard that was also struggling with post-traumatic stress: first responders.

Program director Juanita Buck brought Mueller on board to create a program to meet the needs of first responders.

Up until 2019, the program was known as the Rotary House Retreat. Gibbs was part of the Rotarian effort that brought it into being, but as of March 2020, it became its own nonprofit organization.

That has made it easier to fundraise, which keeps costs as low as possible for participants. The group doesn't want to turn anyone away just because they can't pay.

"Most have been through the ringer," Gibbs said. "They don't have the cash."

The retreat happens on a working cattle ranch in the mountains of Kern County. It gives participants privacy but also a beautiful, serene place to escape from their normal routine.

Mueller said there's a lot of interest in the program, but it takes much more to actually get participants to take the plunge.

"What we're asking them to do is get out of their comfort zone and do something they've never done before," Mueller said.

The retreat happens twice a year, and each time there are a maximum of six participants. Mueller knows that many in the first-responder community need help, but there have been seasons where there aren't enough participants to hold the retreat.

ProSPeR runs into the stigma that makes it tough for first responders to get mental health treatment. Some fear that their badge, their uniform or gun will be taken away from them if they acknowledge having a challenge, Mueller said.

Gibbs said there's also something about first responders that makes them less likely to ask for help.

"You have to have a different kind of mental makeup to rush into a fire," he pointed out.

In this sort of culture, admitting to struggles could look like a weakness.

The program works hard to put participants at ease, right down to asking everyone who participates to sign a confidentiality agreement.

A key part of the program is retired or current first responders who have completed the retreat, Mueller said. Everyone is paired with a peer, who calls their participant before they head to the retreat and stays with the person all week.

A chaplain is on call 24 hours a day should participants need someone to talk to — even if they have a nightmare in the middle of the night.

The retreat is not an inpatient program, but a launching point for participants to begin healing, Mueller said. The week aims to educate participants about coping strategies, based on clinical data, that they might not have considered before.

Participants work with animals, use aromatherapy, do art, try archery and practice yoga. They learn constructive rather than destructive ways to process their stress. The program is not therapy, but Mueller and Buck, who are experienced therapists, demystify how therapy works.

"They've never received therapy," Mueller said. "They're scared of what therapy is."

Back in Bakersfield, founding board member Regina Pryor hosts an evening aimed at the spouses.

"PTSD is not a solitary thing," Gibbs said.

Typically all sorts of first responders will be at any given retreat. That includes firefighters, law enforcement, dispatchers, emergency medical technicians and correctional officers. But occasionally there will be a more specific thread linking the group together. A group of firefighters attended the retreat after the Erskine Fire in 2016.

It takes time for participants make breakthroughs and solidify their work at the retreat — that's why the retreat is so long. But the real work, she said, comes after they leave.

For more information about donating or applying to ProSPeR, visit the organization's website at https://prosperetreat.com.