Why aren't psychologists part of improving the IAFF/IAFF Wellness and Fitness Initiative?

I’m a retired fire department battalion chief who served for 26 years alongside the people of the Chesterfield (Va.) Fire and EMS Department. For the past 12 years I’ve been pursuing a 2nd career as a freelance writer contributing content related to fire and EMS to fire service websites like FireRescue1 and EMS1.

One of my other “2nd career” endeavors has been to join the Fire Service Psychological Association (FSPA), an organization that’s bringing psychologists and fire service leaders together to “bridge the gap between professional psychology and the fire service.” This is what we believe that “gap” looks like:

• Most professional psychologists are not informed and educated about fire service culture, how fire departments operate, and what are the unique stressors that can have an adverse effect on a firefighter's mental health, and how we can collaborate with each other to remove barriers that prevent firefighters from seeking services from a psychologist who is culturally competent about the fire service.
• Most firefighters are not informed and educated about what a psychologist can do, both proactively and reactively, to assist a firefighter in dealing with mental health issues, and how we can collaborate with each other to remove barriers that prevent firefighters from seeking services from a psychologist who is culturally competent about the fire service.
• Fire department leaders are not informed and educated about the three domains of public safety psychology. Further, many fire service leaders are not informed and educated about how psychologists can work with them to create “psychological safety” in the fire station so that difficult conversations can take place for topics such as recruitment, hiring, training, diversity, inclusion, and equity. and bringing balance to the “risk taking vs. risk aversion” conflicts taking place in many fire departments. Psychologists can provide their knowledge, skills, and experience in organizational consultation to help fire departments to create psychological safety in their fire stations.

FSPA founder and president, Dr. Kristen Wheldon, posted on LinkedIn:

Psychologists have been working in public safety for decades. Historically, the focus was on law enforcement populations because we assisted them with operations in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. Thereafter, the discipline grew into the domains of assessment, consultation, and intervention.

There are psychologists in most police departments, and they serve multiple functions. There is a section for them in the IACP [International Association of Chiefs of Police] and the industry standards evolve with the research.

There is no equivalent in the fire service. There is no Psychological Services Section in IAFC [International Association of Fire Chiefs]. We [psychologists] are not sitting on an NFPA [National Fire Protection Association] committee. Although NFFF [National Fallen Firefighters Foundation] Life Safety Initiative #13 specifically names our profession, we are not adequately represented in the fire service. As such, few firefighters and fire departments have access to this valuable resource. We have a lot of work to do…

Psychologists are trained to serve within these three domains:

• Assessment (e.g., preemployment psychological screening, annual behavioral health screenings, fitness for duty evaluations, promotional processes)
• Intervention: (e.g., psychotherapy, crisis response)
• Consultation: (e.g., psychological safety, operations, performance enhancement)

All Mental Healthcare Providers are Not Equal

There are several distinct levels of mental healthcare providers. The California Department of Consumer Affairs Guide To Mental Healthcare Providers defines those levels (based upon required education and experience) as:

1. Psychiatrists
2. Psychologists
3. Marriage and Family Therapists
4. Clinical Social Workers
5. Educational Psychologists
6. Professional Clinical Counselors

Here is another resource to learn about the Core Scientific Knowledge for Specialists in Police and Public Safety Psychology in a document from the American Board of Police and Public Safety (October 2014).

So, my questions to the IAFC and IAFF are why are psychologists not part of the effort to make improvements to the IAFF/IAFC Health and Wellness—as well as NFPA 1500 and 1582 standards—that address mental health for firefighters? When standards are created about the psychological or behavioral health of firefighters, shouldn’t psychologists be present?

If you think so, like or share. And please share your comments. Let’s get this conversation going.