"Emotional Survival is the most important book ever written on the topic of officer wellness. Dr. Gilmartin’s work is groundbreaking, and his insights are vital for everyone who performs high-stress work." David Black, PhD Founder and President, Cordico
"Dr. Gilmartin’s book has probably saved more lives, marriages, and careers than all classes and seminars put together. Should be required reading for every cop." Lt. Randy Sutton Las Vegas Metro Police (Ret.) Founder of The Wounded Blue
"If our profession has been shaped by a handful of pioneers, whose insights have provided a path forward to improve the quality of life for our people and the many communities they serve, Dr. Kevin Gilmartin is one of those few pioneers. Kevin has spent the last forty years sharing the development of a mentally and emotionally resilient compass for our people, as we attempt to move our organizations in the right direction while serving our communities. Kevin understands, as do some leaders in many professions, that equipment, task-based training, and resources are important, but what is vital is the development of the person. Gear can only get you so far in our business. I have been blessed to work closely with Kevin and have learned from his passion, tutelage, and insights. Take the time to enjoy this recent addition to Kevin's work, and then please share Kevin’s work with your people." Steven Pitts Chief of Police (Ret) Reno (NV) Police Department
Dr. Gilmartin is a behavioral scientist who specializes in issues related to law enforcement. With twenty years of police experience under his belt, he currently provides service to the law enforcement community as a consultant. In writing this book, it was his goal to aid officers and their families in maintaining and/or improving their quality of life both personally ad professionally. Read the full article here. Deputy Kevin Ortiz Taken from Command Magazine :: The Journal of the Texas Tactical Police
The unique and increased
value of this book . . . is that it can easily be revisited
periodically. There are many occasions where reading (and
rereading) this book can be immensely beneficial—these include
when an officer is hired, reassigned, and/or promoted. From a
command perspective, this book provides insights which can
directly influence how certain management decisions are made
and, sometimes more importantly, delivered. Finally, this book
provides guidance to agency heads and senior management as to
the tone that must be set in order to increase survivors and
decrease victims within their organizations." Ann Marie
Doherty Superintendent Boston Police Dept.
"For
years I thought my number one job was to live through 25 years
of street encounters. After 13 years of experience I realize
my goal is not just to survive the street but is to live a
life filled with relationships that bring me happiness
and fulfillment. Police work is a great profession but it
is the kind of work that without intervention destroys people
and families. Dr. Gilmartin’s book Emotional Survival breaks
us out of our denial about the effects of the work and gives
us helpful, practical concepts we can use to make our work and
home life better. Dr. Gilmartin’s book Emotional Survival is
good for cops, families, police departments and communities.
Robert J. King, Sergeant President, Portland
Police Association
"As
a twenty-six-year veteran of law enforcement, I have had the
opportunity to read many books and observe many trainers.
Emotional Survival is a work of art! This book is perhaps the
best law enforcement–related reading I have ever experienced.
Whether you have twenty minutes on the job or twenty years,
this book will make you a better officer and a better person,
and just might save your life. Any person who wears a badge
must read this book to better understand the climate of the
profession. Dr. Kevin Gilmartin’s experience and background in
this field make him a definite asset to the law enforcement
community and their families. Kevin has hit a home run with
Emotional Survival, and will ultimately impact thousands of
lives."
Sergeant Alan Green Los Angeles Police
Department
“Emotional Survival is a must read for
the men, women and families of those who enter the field of
law enforcement. Kevin Gilmartin shares his tremendous insight
into the real “roller coaster journey” that police officers
will take during their careers. Reading this book could save
your life, your marriage and the lives of your children. Thank
you Kevin for sharing with all of us your insight and
strategies for survival.”
Ronald
J. Guilmette, Director, Massachusetts Police Leadership
Institute Lt. Colonel, Massachusetts State Police (Retired)
"I
have been through Dr. Gilmartin's Emotional Survival training
at least twice in my career and I found his lessons on
surviving a law enforcement career the most valuable tool to
my success and emotional survival both professionally and
personally. . . . This book should be required reading for all
new police officers and their loved ones."
Douglas
L. Bartosh Chief of Police and Director of Public
Safety Scottsdale, Arizona
Dr. Gilmartin’s book,
Emotional Survival for Law Enforcement, is the tool we need to
keep focused on the emotional well-being of our personnel. In
addition, it provides those uninitiated to Gilmartin’s
concepts the opportunity to experience his dynamic class as he
guides us step-by-step through the personal challenges faced
by every cop.
Armed with Gilmartin’s book, officers can
learn to successfully cope with one of the toughest jobs in a
free society. Law enforcement can be a rewarding career that
leaves one fulfilled, not bitter, caring, not isolated, and
most important, a survivor, not a victim. Gilmartin’s work is
a significant tool to help us achieve this goal.
Paul N.
Conner, Chief of Police Round Rock Police Department,
Texas Retired Deputy Chief, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police
Department
"Emotional
Survival is an incredible book about the journey through the
maze of police work. If you’re a front line officer,
supervisor, or command officer, you will see yourself in this
book. It is the first book I have read that describes what
really happens to police officers in their careers, with
incredible insight into the stress and difficulties of being a
police officer. Dr. Kevin Gilmartin sets out proactive
strategies for police officers and their families to survive
the most dangerous profession."
Brian
Adkin President, Ontario Provincial Police
Association Ontario, Canada
The
lessons learned and taught about Emotional Survival need to be
taught in every class of new recruits and to every officer
working. The need to do so is great. We as a profession need
to consider emotional survival as a part of officer
survival."
Gary
Schofield Captain, Training Bureau Las Vegas
Metropolitan Police Department
Emotional Survival For Law
Enforcement A Foreword of the new book
by Alexis Artwohl, Ph.D.
If you’re a cop, you’re
going to love this book. It could change your life. It
might even save your life, your career, your home
life.
If you’re not a cop, you’ll still love it because
the ideas in this book could certainly apply to you too. Maybe
you’re in a relationship with a cop or have a highly demanding
career that puts you on the “biological rollercoaster” ride, a
concept that stems from Dr. Gilmartin’s brilliant insight into
the cost of public safety work and other high stress
occupations.
Author Kevin Gilmartin, Ph.D., is
eminently qualified to write about emotional survival for law
enforcement because he has lived it, studied it, researched
it, and taught it. He is one of America’s very few “cop docs.”
After earning his Ph.D. in psychology, he was a career deputy
sheriff with the Pima County Sheriff’s Office (PeSO), in
Arizona. He started with the PCSO in 1974 on a Law Enforcement
Alliance of America (LEAA) grant, then became a sworn deputy
in 1977 until his retirement in 1995.
In 1982 he was
nationally recognized for his work in hostage negotiations
when he was selected as one of America’s ten best “Police
Officers of the Year” by Parade Magazine. Other operational
activities during his deputy she rrif career included
assisting investigators, criminal profiling, crisis
interventions with emotionally disturbed persons, and dealing
with extremist groups. The article he wrote on religious
extremist groups, “The Lethal Triad,” is still used in
counter-terrorism training.
A true police psychologist
is a rare breed in itself, and Dr. Gilmartin was one of the
early pioneers in this highly specialized area. He was invited
to write articles for leading publications and developed one
of the nation’s earliest police behavioral sciences units in
the Tucson metro area. Although his initial interest was in
operational work, his work in counseling police officers and
their families soon led him to the realization that one of the
most critical and ignored areas in law enforcement is the
emotional toll this stressful occupation takes on its own
people, and his focus turned increasingly to this
area.
As deputy sheriff and doctor, living, working,
and studying the unique world of cops and their families, he
developed a penetrating insight into the daily work life of
cops. He came to see how it insidiously dismantled the
personal lives, health, happiness, and careers of officers who
weren’t prepared to cope with the unique demands of the law
enforcement lifestyle. These officers and their family members
became emotional casualties. Dr. Gilmartin was determined to
do something that could help them become emotional survivors
instead. Fortunately for law enforcement at large, Dr.
Gilmartin is a gifted trainer who started training early in
his career and soon became inundated with requests for
training from all across North America. After retiring from
the PCSO, he was able to devote all his efforts to taking his
message on the road internationally and is teaching as many
officers as he can about the hazards of the wild biological
rollercoaster ride, a ride that can end in disaster if
officers don’t learn to manage it.
I first heard Dr.
Gilmartin speak at the International Association of Chiefs of
Police (IACP) conference in 1993. I was instantly impressed by
two things: This guy really knows what he’s talking about, and
he is fun to listen to. Not only is he highly entertaining,
his message is clear, straightforward, and easy to understand.
His life-changing advice is practical and simple to apply once
you understand the concept of the Hypervigilance Biological
Rollercoaster®. When he isn’t helping cops, Dr. Gilmartin
chases steers as he enjoys the cowboy lifestyle on his horse
ranch in Arizona. He and his wife, Anne, are avid team ropers
and compete in the rodeos of the Law Enforcement Rodeo
Association.
As a law enforcement trainer myself, I,
like Dr. Gilmartin, travel all over North America training
cops. Because I admire his work, I usually mention Dr.
Gilmartin’s name and encourage officers to attend his training
if they get the chance. Time after time officers have come up
to me during the breaks to tell me they had been fortunate
enough to listen to Dr. Gilmartin speak in person or on his
videotape. They rave about how entertaining and informative
the class was, but, more important, they tell me that hearing
him speak changed their lives. Many of the older veterans
wistfully tell me, “Better late than never, but I wish I had
heard his talk at the beginning of my career.” Now Dr.
Gilmartin has put his message in print in this book, which is
not only profound but almost as entertaining as he is in
person. So enjoy, and go become an emotional
survivor.
—Alexis Artwohl, Ph.D. Co-author of Deadly
Force Encounters
