DISCOVER: WHY

Minding the Badge™ evolved from a small group of psychologists, therapists, researchers, and former first responders--each of us with our own experiences as survivors of great moral injury due to trauma, especially accumulative trauma. This is where the "why" begins: why do we do what we do.

But it doesn't end there.

"Why we do what we do" began with a spark from our own battles, but what fanned the flame into a passion was discovering along the way how deficient and impaired the mental health provisions for first responders had been for the previous 30 years, despite implementations like Peer Support and CISM.

The lingering question we kept asking ourselves was not, "What have we been doing wrong all along?" but the question that resounded most was, "What have we not been doing at all?"

This question arose from the overwhelming evidence that was not only turning neurology upside down, but psychology also had to rewrite much of what it had been teaching all along. Neuroplasticity was giving us indisputable evidence that we had more power over not only our minds mentally, but even physical changes were taking place in the brain. Most important to the research of addiction, trauma, and anxiety, Neuroplasticity unlocked a vast amount of authentic therapy for combat veterans returning from the middle east during the post-9/11 era.

Not only have we discovered that trauma focused therapies like EMDR and CPT have been instrumental in rescuing the careers, marriages, and very lives of combat veterans, but anyone in a profession that is high risk for stress or trauma.

The key reason for "why we do what we do" all comes down to "why our brains do what they do"--in other words, we now know how Neuroplasticity can take back control of the area of the brain that hijacks us with traumatic memories of the past or anxiety over the now & future; in fact, these strategies have been used successfully by other high stress fields for decades. Olympians and professional athletes are not only quite familiar with them, but swear by their use as being instrumental in their success.

We  believe those who protect and preserve the public safety of our home front should get the same training, and this is why Minding the Badge™ is committed to a high standard of providing just that.