Mental Health Episodes

How The Secret Service Changed My Life And Helped Save It... Agent Innocent.

Black Hawk Down, PTSD, Marriage Into Special Forces. PTSD. Jen Satterly is our guest. Jen is a former advertising and marketing video specialist. She was assigned to cover and produce videos of US Special Forces. Her experience and subsequent marriage to Tom Satterly (retired US Army Delta Force and member of the teams at the battle of Mogadishu), transformed her life. Her mission now is to help other Military Veterans, First Responders and their spouses recover from the effects of trauma. She i...

Baby’s Life He Couldn’t Save, Almost Claimed His. Sheriff Sergeant's PTSD. Mark DiBona, a retired Sheriff's Sergeant is our guest. He talks about his career in law enforcement and an incident where he was not able to save the life of a baby in medical distress. The trauma of that event, combined with the years of exposure to violence and trauma caused him to spiral out of control. Mark talks about the negative impact all of this had on his life and his near death experience. He discusses coming ...

Black Hawk Down, Intense Battle of Mogadishu. Life After Special Forces. Tom Satterly is our guest. Tom is a highly decorated retired US Army Command Sgt. Major. He served in the elite Delta Force for 20 years. He was part of the ground force at the battle of Mogadishu which was portrayed in the movie "Black Hawk Down". In addition to that, his special forces career put him in the middle of numerous violent armed conflicts. Tom talks about the battle of Mogadishu and the effects this and other b...

U.S. Navy Veteran Dr. Tracy Hejmanowski, clinical psychologist, is our guest. She has 2 decades of clinical expertise working with service members, veterans, first responders, and their families. Dr. Hejmanowski founded the First Responder Project, Inc. She talks about her experience treating, and helping Military & First Responders. Dr. Hejmanowski discusses their mission to connect military and civilian first responders through their shared bond of service and their necessary bearing of burden...

Shootings to Devastating Auto Accidents, Police Officer's Story. Retired Anne Arundel County Police Officer Andrew Klausing is our guest. Andy talks about his police career, he discusses a shooting he was involved in and the realities of the trauma that law enforcement officers in his area faced. From working narcotics to road patrol, he and fellow officers handled everything from shootings, armed stand offs and devastating auto accidents. Andy discusses the overwhelming frequency of severe auto...

Hidden Threat for Police Officers and Their Families. Scott Medlin, an active NC law enforcement officer is our guest. Scott talks about his police career, from his time in patrol to the K9 unit and finding unexpected rewards from working as a school resource officer. He discusses the much needed role of school resource officers and their mission to keep the children safe, while also being mentors for the students. Scott talks about the hidden threats to our nation’s law enforcement officers and...

Our Heroes Need Help. Police Officer's Traumatic Brain Injury. Retired Orlando Fl. Police Officer Tammi Cliborne is our guest. While cross training for the Department’s Mounted Horse unit she was severely injured when the horse began bucking. The incident resulted in a traumatic brain injury, hearing loss, a spinal cord injury and ever increasing brain white matter disease. Tammi talks about her career before the training accident and how her physical, mental, emotional life has changed ever sin...

Police Officer Shot his Lifelong Injuries And Return To Full Duty. Retired Troy Police Lt. William Tullock is our guest. He talks about the life threatening incident when he was shot by a rifle wielding barricade suspect. William discusses the incident, his struggle to survive and what it took to return to full duty on the Troy Michigan police department. After retiring from his full police career, in spite of his lifelong injuries he worked as a civilian employee at the Las Vegas Metropolitan P...

My Hardest Day as a Police Officer. Life After A Career Ending Injury. Leah Anaya is our guest. She is a retired police officer, her career was ended by a permanent injury. Leah talks about her law enforcement career and her time with the Oakland California Police Department and the day that four other officers were murdered. She discusses the impact that their murders had on her and the police department at the time. Her law enforcement career moved north when she was hired by a Department in W...

Rich Wistocki is our guest. As a retired Police Detective, he has many years of experience investigating and protecting children from internet predators. While he still works as a consultant to keep children safe online, his own recovery from police related trauma has motivated him to spend much of his time to saving the lives of law enforcement, firefighters, military veterans and other first responders from the often devastating physical and mental health effects caused by trauma. You can help...

Carlos Farina, MS, MCAP, NBCCH, is our guest. Carlos is the Program Director at the Help For Our Heroes Program at Transformations Treatment Center. He is also a Military Veteran and Retired Law Enforcement Officer. Carlos discusses the toll that exposure to repeated trauma took on him, how he got to his new life and how it inspires him to help others. The Help For Our Heroes program is specifically designed for military veterans, police officers, corrections officers, firefighters, paramedics, ...

Alcoholism Among First Responders, a Firefighter tells his story. A career firefighter who we will call Nick is our guest. He tells his story about alcoholism and how it contributed to the death of his father, a career cop who died by suicide. Nick also talks about his brother who struggled with addiction and died by suicide. He talks in detail about his struggle with alcoholism and his long term sobriety. Nick explains the correlation between P.T.S.D. related symptoms and substance abuse and ho...

PTSD Led To Homelessness, Alcoholism. Police Officer's Recovery And Mission To Help Others. Erika Unberhagen is our guest. She is a former law enforcement officer. Erika's career as a police officer led to PTSD, which in turn led to increased drinking of alcohol to cope with the symptoms. As her overall condition worsened, she lost her job as a cop, lost her marriage and eventually became homeless for years. Erika talks about what led to her condition, the years of struggling for recovery and ho...

Police Officer Husband Died by Suicide Just Before Retirement. Molly High is our guest. She shares their tragic story. Her husband Phil High died by suicide just months before reaching retirement from his career in law enforcement. She talks about the impact of all the trauma he experienced during his career and the impact it had on his mental health and their relationship. Compounding the tragedy of his death, she was trying to find a treatment facility that could help him with his PTSD. Molly ...

Trauma for Police Officers, First Responders And Veterans. Ace Baker is our guest. Ace is a former police officer and spent years teaching military at S.E.R.E. School. He talks about the unspoken traumas he faced and many other law enforcement officers endure. Ace talks about the levels of trauma that our veterans and first responders face. And how they can find brotherhood, understanding and healing at the Warriors2Us Foundation Camp. If you enjoy the show, please tell a friend or two, or thre...

State Trooper Brother Died By Suicide. Changed Him as a Cop and in Life Jim Banish a 20+ year patrol officer for the Warren County New York Sheriff’s Office is our guest. In 2008 his life and career took on a whole new path after his brother Lt. Joseph Banish NYSP took his life on April 1st. For several years after his life became very tumultuous and he was suffering from deep depression directly related to his job and the traumas that he had experienced over his career. Jim talks about his brot...

Deputy Sheriff Lost To Suicide, She Says His Agency Wasn’t There For Them. Deputy Homero Calderon died by suicide in 2018. Sharonda Calderon, talks about the death of her husband and how she feels that the agency wasn’t there for them. She shares the details of the days and months before his death. Plus, when he reached out for help, she feels that the agency abandoned them. Sharonda talks about the heartbreaking details of his death on the station parking lot, where he had been for days, with l...

Trauma for Police Officers And Other First Responders. Cathy and Javier Bustos, a married couple, have both been law enforcement officers with more than 45 years combined experience. During their police careers they have both been through several traumaticincidents. They discuss the solutions they have found that helped them as individuals and as a couple. Cathy and Javi also talk about their passion for helping law enforcement officers, other first responders with their work as “That Peer Suppo...

Traumas And Stress as a State Trooper, Became A Top Charity Fundraiser. The scars created by his career in the Md.State Police nearly cost him everything, including his marriage. George Wooden talks about the long term effects caused by years of trauma and stress. He also discusses how this affected him and his family. George talks about his ongoing efforts to recover and how he uses this to fuel his passion to help non profits and charities worldwide. Background song Hurricane is used with per...

Service Dogs Life Savers For Cops, First Responders and Veterans with PTSD? Kevin Doncaster talks about his experiences in combat as a U.S. Marine. He also discusses his respect and appreciation for Law Enforcement Officers, plus the similarities and differences between the experiences of law enforcement officers, first responders and combat veterans. He talks about the life saving mission of Warhawk P.T.S.D. Service Dogs. Follow us on MeWe, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook. Background song Hurric...

PTSD Care for Police Officers, First Responders and Veterans. Samuel King is a combat veteran who has served in the U.S. Marine Corps and Army. After his military experience he chose to pursue studies in social work, as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW). He helps law enforcement, first responders and veterans who struggle with mental health challenges; trauma, depression, grief , and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). He explains E.M.D.R. and the range of treatment options they offer ...

When Police Officers See Too Much Trauma? Call Me Trooper. PTSD. C. K. Roberts a retired State Trooper talks about his life as a Law Enforcement Officer. He discusses some of the horrifying traumatic incidents that he handled as a Trooper. C. K. explains the devastating effects of Post Traumatic Stress from these events and how it changed his life. He also talks about how this motivated him to write a book about his life as a State Trooper. Follow us on MeWe, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook. Back...

Shot To Pieces - Retired NYPD Michael O'Keefe. During his career he was shot at a dozen times. In one particular arrest the suspect tried to kill him. During the life or death battle over a gun, he was forced to shoot the suspect, who died from the injuries. The reaction from the Mayor at the time, and the news media reports led to riots. Politicians pursued a homicide investigation against Michael, who was eventually cleared by a Grand Jury. Don't miss this riveting interview with Michael O'Kee...