June 20, 2025 • 41 mins
In this episode, I share the raw, unscripted experience of stepping into unknown territory—my first time as a vendor at the 2025 Peer Support Conference in Kansas City. What started with self-doubt turned into a reaffirmation of mission. I talk about meeting incredible people from organizations like Tactical Recovery, The Forge, Copline, 10-33 Foundation, Reboot, and Guiding Star Counseling—each doing powerful work in the world of trauma-informed care for veterans, first responders, and public safety professionals.
This one’s not just a recap. It’s a reminder of why Breach Your Mind exists: to bridge the gap between trauma and treatment, to connect those who serve with those who understand, and to fight back against the stigma that still lingers in our professions.
Plus, I introduce a new podcast series—Standing in the Gap—focused on peer support, real talk, and doing the work that actually makes a difference.
Referenced Organizations in This Episode:
- Tactical Recovery
- The Forge
- Copline
- Reboot Recovery
- 10-33 Foundation
- Guiding Star Counseling (Dr. Amy Vaughn)
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Bryan (00:00):
Team 1, stand by Copy Team 1, standing by Breach,
breach, breach.
Courtney Wells (00:11):
Hi, I'm Courtney Wells.
I work for Tactical Recovery.
So we are an organization thathas over 40 treatment centers,
so residential mental health andsubstance use treatment, mental
health and substance usetreatment.
We have 22 facilities thatoffer this high trauma track of
treatment for veterans, militaryand first responders.
So I cover the whole Midwest,so I'm the liaison for Attach
(00:35):
for Recovery.
I'm also a veteran, I was alsoa first responder in the
military and this is my way tojust support this population
still.
So my number is 660-888-2127.
Thanks, Awesome, Thank you.
Clay (00:48):
What's going on everybody?
My name is Clay Rojas and I'm acounselor with the Forge.
You can find us at theforgeorg,and the Forge is a Christian
nonprofit that providescounseling for men.
We have an office in OverlandPark, kansas, as well as in
Tulsa, oklahoma.
I am the regional director forthe Tulsa Oklahoma office and we
are focusing on workingspecifically with veterans and
(01:11):
first responders.
So if you're a veteran or firstresponder, whether you're in
Tulsa or anywhere in the UnitedStates, we will work with you
every branch and every service.
So we're looking forward toseeing you guys Once again.
You can get a hold of us attheforgeorg and thank you guys
for tuning in Awesome, thank you.
Todd (01:30):
Hi, my name is Todd.
I'm with Copline, and Coplineis a 24-hour, 365-day crisis
hotline for law enforcement,their families, active, retired.
We're national andinternational.
If you call, you're going tospeak into a cop and if you do
want to give us your location,we have vetted counselors
throughout the nation Awesome.
Bryan (01:54):
Thank you, hey guys.
So, as many of you know, backon the 14th we traveled up to
Kansas City, missouri.
We had the 2025 safetyconference up there.
We were invited to come up as avendor and never done anything
like that before.
So, on this episode, just kindof wanted to talk a little bit
(02:18):
with you about my experience upthere.
I mean, obviously, having neverdone anything like being a
vendor or anything like that, itwas a kind of a nervous
situation.
Um, I even did a little smalluh video while I was there about
how it seems so much easier toface down you know some deranged
(02:43):
individual wanting to causeviolence than it is to go put
yourself out there and try to dosomething like that.
But I got to say that, you know, once there and after getting
set up and everything like that,it was.
It was a pretty cool experience.
(03:07):
Again, I had no idea what I wasdoing.
I've never gone out and doneanything like that.
So there was a lot of prep work.
I actually wound up leavingsome of the stuff that I was
going to take with me, but Ididn't realize that until I was
almost 1,000 miles away from thehouse and, yes, we drove.
It was a thousand and thirtyfour miles from Georgia to
(03:30):
Kansas City, missouri.
We did it in one day.
We left Friday morning, droveup got there Friday evening, got
something to eat, pretty muchtried to finish prep work for
going to the conference thatnight, laid down, got some sleep
couldn't really sleep becauseof everything running through my
(03:52):
head.
And then that morning came andI actually woke up like an hour
hour and a half before my alarmever went off.
So got up, kind of did what Ineeded to do, piled everything
back into the car that needed togo back in the car and then
drove over to the conference.
I was at the conference formaybe 12, 13 hours, left back to
(04:16):
the hotel and had just enoughenergy left in me to get
something to eat and I laid downon the bed for, you know, just
a couple of seconds just to kindof relax a little bit, and I
was already out.
Um, next morning we woke up atabout four o'clock in the
morning, central time, and thewife woke up and both looked at
(04:39):
each other and was like we mightas well get it started because
it was another thousand 34 milesback to Georgia.
And that's what we did.
We, you know, packed our stuffup, cleaned up our room.
I don't know if anybody elsedoes that, but I really kind of
clean up after ourselves, putany trash you know big trash
that we can put that away,straighten things up, kind of
pile the towels up in a centrallocation so that you know it's
(05:03):
not going around, clean up anymess as we leave behind.
It's just kind of our nature.
I don't know if anybody elsedoes that, but try to make it
easy as we can for room serviceor the cleaning crew when they
come in after us.
But we piled everything back inthe car and 1,034 miles back to
the house.
We left out that morning andgot back Sunday evening, just in
(05:26):
time enough to, you know, kindof settle in and then the next
day try to take to recover.
So it was a lot.
It was a lot packed into just afew days.
But again, you know, when I gotto the venue and got everything
in, the host of the event, barryI can't say enough about him.
(05:49):
I've met him once when he wasdown here in Georgia doing a
peer counseling training course.
Barry was the instructor andthe one doing the whole program
and that was the only time I methim, I introduced him to my
podcast and it really wasn't forany other reason than to, you
(06:12):
know, see what I was doing withthe podcast and the website and
everything like that, and justkind of get some direction, you
know, because again, I don't dothose things, I'm just.
I'm just, you know, some idiotstanding here trying to make a
difference in some way, and hereally liked what, you know, we
were doing here and that's whenhe invited us.
(06:34):
So that was literally the onlytime and of course we had
corresponded through email, youknow, leading up to the
conference.
But when I got there thatmorning and you know, I got my
little dolly or whatever youwant to call it, and I'm
wheeling everything in Barrycomes around the corner, he sees
me and, you know, without fail,he looks at me and he goes, big
(06:56):
Sarge, walks up, shakes my hand, gives me a hug.
I mean he treated me as if meand him had been friends for
years, like we had been friendsthe entire time.
You know, from the get go,recognized my face, knew my
voice, remembered what we weredoing with the podcast, and that
was kind of a relaxing moment.
(07:17):
It was odd that somebody wouldremember, would remember me
after that one thing, but thatbrief moment, but it was
relaxing, you know I kind offelt like, okay, maybe this,
maybe this can be okay.
So went and registered, got mystuff that I needed to, and then
(07:38):
was directed to where mysection to set up my vendor
booth was and get there and sureenough, there's a table set up
for me right by an electricaloutlet and on it was a sign that
had my name the podcast, youknow and to me that was
something cool.
I did bring that piece of paperhome with me.
To some it may just be somestupid piece of paper, but to me
(08:03):
it was a very, very large stepfor what we're doing with
Breacher Mind and the missionthat I've kind of put myself on
and that I'm trying to getothers to go on with me, and
those of you that have watchedmany of the episodes or listened
to the podcast or interactedwith the website or anything
like that, you guys are goingright along with me.
(08:23):
So I kept that, uh, just alittle, just a little takeaway
for myself, um, but startedgetting set up and there were
other vendors all around me,people that had been on what
I've kind of called the vendorcircuit.
Uh, they've been doing this fora very long time and you know
(08:43):
they're setting up their boothsand, yeah, their booths were way
more professional than mine.
They had way better material,they had little giveaways and
things like that to give out.
Um, and of course, I didn't haveany of that and I, you know,
had a small booth.
Um, I believe you can check thesocials.
You can kind of see what mylittle booth looked like, but it
was nothing to the scale thatthey had.
(09:06):
Of course, you know I reallydidn't have much to offer, just
me, you know, putting out thatwe do this podcast.
Um, so it was.
It was intimidating being aroundpeople that you know have done
this for years and, as luckwould have it for me, my booth
was right next to cop line andthose of you that know anything
(09:29):
about it, it's a trauma line formental health, for trauma line
for law enforcement.
It's other cops that arededicated their time to helping
other cops that are in needdedicated their time to helping
other cops that are in need.
And it was really kind ofinteresting for me because on
(09:50):
the website, under our supportservices, I've got them listed.
You know they're one of thecompanies that I've got listed
to provide services toindividuals who are going
through a mental health crisisat the moment.
So it was interesting that youknow my podcast would be right
next to them.
And what I found out was, eventhough I was new to the circuit,
(10:14):
new to being a vendor oranything like that, there's a
lot of other companies out therethat are doing the work that
our profession, our publicsafety, our service directed
jobs need.
You know they're out there.
(10:34):
There are people that have gonethrough it, been through it,
got the training and offerservices.
So again, that little bit ofuneasiness kind of set back in,
because now I'm around peoplethat actually provide services
and what does breach your mindoffer?
You know I don't have services.
(10:54):
I don't have treatment programs.
You know I don't have umdifferent.
You know getaways for publicsafety personnel to you know
kind of go and reset.
I don't provide any of that.
And so, again, you know, I wentfrom starting to feel a little
comfortable to looking aroundthese other vendors and
(11:16):
immediately thinking, yeah,other vendors would prove me
wrong.
You know I was like I said, Iwas sitting right next to a
(11:37):
representative from Copline.
I was sitting right across froma woman who's representing
Tactical Recovery.
Just off to my left in front ofme, was the Forge and the guys
that were representing the Forgeover there.
Another vendor from 1033Foundation came up and
introduced herself to me Dr AmyVaughn with Guiding Star
(12:08):
Counseling.
She came over and introducedherself to me.
The guys from Reboot came overand introduced themselves to me
and I spent the majority of myday around these vendors, around
these reps for these companiesor these organizations that are
providing services for militarypublic safety.
(12:31):
You know everybody in theservice group like that who
experienced trauma on such ahigh rate when compared to the
average citizen, and every oneof them come over and welcomed
me and shared stories with meand, you know, really kind of
(12:51):
took the time out of their dayto make me feel like, yeah, yeah
, I was in the right spot.
You know, breach your Mind doeshave a place at the table when
it comes to the combined missionthat everybody's trying to
accomplish Frequently.
When I would tell people, tellthese reps, that I was talking
(13:14):
to, I really kind of fell out ofplace.
I don't have anything to offerpeople this, that and the other.
What they wound up telling meis that what I provide, what
Breach your Mind provides, ismore than just a service.
Breach your Mind is essentiallyan attempt to be a bridge in
(13:39):
the gap between those in theservice professions and those
that experience trauma and highstress on such a high rate to
the treatment they need.
And that reminded me exactly ofwhat we set out to do.
When you know, we shifted gearswith the podcast, with Breach
(14:00):
your Mind, because that's whatwe want to do, because that's
what we want to do.
We want to bridge that gap, wewant to break down the stigma of
mental health.
You know, it's unfortunate thatso many people sit and think
that because you have PTSD oryou may be fighting depression,
(14:21):
or that you have some addiction,that you can't still be
effective, because that's nottrue, that's not true at all.
I have worked and work alongsome of the most professional
and proficient paths,individuals in this line of duty
that there can be, and theyfight some of the same demons as
(14:45):
what everybody says.
Well, you can't have that anddo that job and to sit there,
and especially when it comestime to do the work, when it
comes time to do the work, ifthey didn't tell you that they
were battling some kind of demon, you'd never know.
If they didn't tell you thatthey were battling some kind of
demon, you'd never know.
And that's the biggest thingthat I wish people could
understand and that's thebiggest thing that we're trying
(15:08):
to get done here.
And that's what those try tobridge that gap and help get
(15:37):
these individuals past thestigma to the treatment that
they need to are alreadyestablished and and have already
helped thousands and thousandsof service members and public
safety workers and and otherpeople in high stress jobs.
It's it was really sobering tohave them tell me no, you're,
you're exactly what's needed,because we do still fight the
(16:00):
stigma and while Breach yourMind itself, at least at the
moment, can't provide any kindof services, you know, like
treatment or anything like that,we can help bridge that gap.
We can help get it out thereinto the world that mental
health is not some issue that'sdebilitating and causes you to
(16:23):
be ineffective.
If anything, we need to embracethe fact that this exposure to
trauma is an exposure to thethings that we go through.
You know that they're normaland that as long as we are
dealing with it in a healthymanner, in a healthy way, we can
all be stronger and by doingthat it makes us stronger for
(16:45):
the people that we serve.
It makes us stronger for thecommunity that we serve.
So, you know, it was truly anhonor to sit there and speak
with these individuals and manyof them, you know, shared their
story with me on how they woundup in the position that they are
in, how they wound up goingthat path to working with a
(17:06):
company that provides thoseservices to individuals and
while I was hoping they wouldwant to kind of do a live thing
or something along those lines,many of them, you know, weren't
really ready to kind of gopublic with their story.
And I respect that.
I, I a hundred percent respectthat because it's it's tough in
(17:26):
itself to one acknowledge thatsomething's not right.
Um, it's tough to start takingthe steps to fix it and it's
even tougher to go public withit.
And even though you know ourpodcast, our company, our
(17:47):
mission right now is still small.
You know we put this stuff outeverywhere.
You know we're all over socialmedia, we're on YouTube.
You know we're on the airwaveswith the podcast.
So, even though we may be avery small platform right now,
it're still not personally readyto come public with their story
(18:24):
and I can respect it becausethey at least acknowledge it.
They're working to try to fixwhat's going on with them and
that's all that matters.
So, again, it was a veryhumbling experience.
It was a very welcomingexperience and, honestly, it
(18:45):
really kind of fired things upfor me Because I left Kansas
City, missouri, with more thanjust some people who signed up
for our email, just some peoplewho entered our contest for the
free giveaway from our shop.
I left there with a renewedvigor and a renewed mission on
(19:10):
what we're trying to do, becausehaving these individuals and
having everybody that was at theconference, it's not just the
vendors.
I don't want to, I don't wantto focus solely on the vendors
even though they made a hugepart, because I spent most of my
day around those individualsbut everyone there you know
there was a former SEAL teammember who started up his own
(19:30):
ministry and was there doing thework.
You know there's Barry.
I mean, there was everybody.
There were so many people.
It was like 500 and some oddpeople there and everyone there
had the same mission in mind andeveryone was so welcome to
having somebody as small as ourlittle podcast, our little
(19:55):
company there with the onlymission to bridge the gap.
So it was really humbling and Iwas honored to have had the
opportunity to go up to KansasCity and, while it was mentally
(20:16):
and physically, physicallystrenuous to you know, drive to
what 2000,.
Almost 2070 miles in a weekendand then go do something that
I'd never done before.
That was mentally andphysically strenuous for me, it
(20:36):
gave us, it gave a new fire or,you know, stoke the flame on
what we've already got goinghere.
And in response to that, youknow we're I've got some new
ideas for what we're going to bedoing with Breach your Mind,
one of those things that I'mgoing to do and I'm going to.
Unfortunately, I'm going to haveto read a little bit, um, but I
(21:04):
do want to talk about some ofthese companies, um
organizations that took the timeto spend most of their day with
me, either by choice or justbecause we were in the same
vicinity and they didn't likesilence.
Regardless, um, I do want tohighlight them.
Um, I'm not going to go toomuch into what they do, um,
because my goal and I've alreadyspoke with a couple of them and
(21:24):
they're on board with it is Iplan to invite them onto the
podcast and I want them to talkabout what they do, because what
they're doing is tremendous.
What they're doing is somethingthat at least here in Southeast
Georgia other side from CoplineI didn't know any of these
(21:45):
other ones existed, I didn'tknow they were out there, I
didn't know there was help likethat.
Going onto the internet andGoogling, you know, public
safety, mental health oranything like that, you're going
(22:05):
to get flooded with all thesedifferent companies, all these
different programs and I'm nottrying to turn anybody away from
any of those, because, by allmeans, go do what you need to do
but the reason I'm highlightingthese is because I didn't know
all of them existed.
The reason I'm highlightingthese is because I didn't know
all of them existed and Iunfortunately get lost in the
flood of information when I tryto just Google the things.
(22:28):
So, spending as much time as Idid around them and having them
share their stories with mewhether it was their personal
story or people that they weredealing with it was truly
inspiring to see the work theywere doing and because of that I
want to have them on and givethem the opportunity to help
(22:50):
make their organizations, helpmake their companies more
well-known, even if we are justsomething small and we may only
get 12 downloads per podcastepisode, but at least it's some
exposure.
It's an attempt to get moreattention to what these guys and
(23:12):
girls, guys, men, women it's atleast some kind of an attempt
to get the needed attention towhat they're doing.
So I do, in coming episodes weare going to have interviews
with these guys.
You know, clay, dr Vaughn, thegroup from Scott, from Reboot.
(23:37):
We're going to get them on here.
Uh, reboot, we're going to getthem on here and I want to have
them, you know, talk to us aboutwhat's going on with their
company, what's going on withtheir organizations.
So that's the goal.
That's what we're going to bedoing.
Um, but just real quick, I justkind of want to go over them.
Uh, I apologize that I'm goingto be reading from, you know,
what I had typed out, but it'sit's too much for me to try to
(23:59):
remember all in one.
So one of them is Reboot, a12-week peer-led course that's
built for first responders andtheir families.
It's faith-based, it'spractical and focused on healing
from trauma, not throughtherapy, but through community
conversation and purpose-driventools, but through community
(24:21):
conversation and purpose-driventools.
The folks there at Reboot.
It's a different approach tohelping public safety military.
It started out, if I remembercorrectly, it started out from
combat vets who wanted to dosomething to help one another,
and then they quickly realizedthat it wasn't just combat vets
and service members that weredealing with these things, that
(24:41):
it was the public safetycommunity as well.
So that's what you know causedthem to branch out to that and
because of that you know theyare very vocal about what they
do at Reboot and what they canoffer.
So you know that was that was.
The guys over there were veryinformed or very, uh,
(25:03):
informational, um, and verywelcoming to what we're trying
to do.
Uh, the next one was the forge.
There's two guys from the forge.
Uh, I apologize to the secondgentleman.
I don't remember his name offtop of my head, but I spent a
lot of time talking with Claywho works with the Forge, and
(25:24):
what they do at the Forge is,again, it's a faith-based
treatment.
It does focus primarily onmen's mental health, excuse me,
it does focus primarily on men'smental health, focused
primarily on men's mental health, but, like most, it encourages
(25:45):
the participation and everythingof the spouses, of the women in
those men's lives, the familyin those men's lives.
So it's a faith-based treatment.
It's a faith-driven programfocused on spiritual growth and
character formation.
It's less about trauma recoveryand more about building inner
strength and moral claritythrough guided biblical content
(26:05):
and small group connections.
So I've never done anythinglike that and while I am a
faithful person, I'm not areligious person.
So you know it was interestingtalking with those guys because
in a lot of people's minds whenyou're talking about groups and
organizations that arefaith-based, unfortunately
(26:28):
there's a stigma that goes alongwith it that you're expecting
them to browbeat you withwhatever faith-based system
they're using, and they didn'tdo that.
You know the guys with Rebootthey didn't do it.
The guys with the Forge theydidn't do that.
You know the guys with rebootthey didn't do it.
The guys with the forge theydidn't do it.
You know they just want you toknow that that's where they're
(26:49):
coming from.
They're coming from a faithbased treatment process and
that's not a bad thing.
Even in a lot of your smallgroups like AA and things like
that, even in a lot of yoursmall groups like AA and things
(27:09):
like that, it will.
Maybe it's the wrong way to putit and I've never attended so I
don't want to offend anybodythat has.
But even there, if I'm notmistaken, you're encouraged to
believe in a higher power,whether it's a deity, whether
it's a religion.
You're encouraged to believe ina higher power, something
stronger and more powerful thanyourself, to help you conquer
your addictions.
And this is no different.
(27:30):
These are just faith-basedsystems that are encouraging you
to open up your mind to thatprocess.
Tactical recovery that wasanother one.
She sat right across from me.
Her and I spent a lot of timeof the day talking and it was
(27:52):
interesting to hear the thingsthat tactical recovery was doing
.
If I'm not mistaken, they'repart of Summit Behavioral Health
.
Tactical Recovery is one oftheir programs and she
specifically worked withveterans and the VA and getting
service members to treatmentfacilities, whether inpatient or
(28:14):
outpatient.
She works with getting thatprocess going and getting the VA
to help work with that process.
Very relaxed person you know,very knowledgeable about what
she was doing and her company orthe company's goals and mission
and her goal and mission.
So Tactical Recovery providestrauma-informed addiction and
(28:37):
mental health treatmentspecifically for veterans and
first responders.
It's clinical, culturallycompetent and accepts VA
benefits offering detox,inpatient and long-term recovery
support.
So again, veterans and publicsafety.
So it's meant for all of us andyou know I'm going to be stoked
to have her on here talkingabout what they do there.
(29:00):
Then we've got Copline, and I'vetalked about CopLine in the
past on a couple of differentepisodes.
It's featured on our websitefor the crisis support line.
Copline's a 24-7, confidentialpeer support line answered by
retired officers.
There's no judgment, nopaperwork and it's just someone
who's been there, ready tolisten when the job gets heavy.
(29:21):
So it's literally a trauma linefor cops when the weight of
what we deal with and what we gothrough gets to be too much,
whether it's you finallyrealizing and have that break,
or whether it's, you know, anincident that happens.
(29:43):
You've got a bunch of cops thathave been there, seen that, done
it, got the t-shirt, that arewilling to sit there and have
that conversation with you andif you need treatment, they can
help get you to treatment.
They've got they've gotfacilities that they work with.
They've got vetted uh, uhpartners that they can offer
help with.
All the subject has to.
All the person has to do thepatient, whatever you want to
(30:04):
call them.
All they have to do is tellthem where they are and they've
got vetted resources that theycan direct that person to and
help get in contact with.
So the guys and the women overat Copline, obviously, coming
from that profession, that'ssomething that's huge because
it's awfully hard for us attimes to talk with the people we
(30:27):
work with, talk with ourcommand staff, about the things
we might be going through.
So having that anonymousresource that you can do those
things and it's not somethingthat they're going to report
back to your agency.
So if you're somebody that'sdealing with it and you're still
, if you're somebody that'sdealing with, you know, a mental
(30:50):
health crisis and you'reworried that maybe you know
they're going to report it backto your admin or your agency or
something like that, that's notthe case.
You know it's not the case atall.
So you know again, that's, it'sa, it's not the case at all.
So you know again, that's it'sa.
It's a great organization andthey provide a very, very
valuable service to those of usin the job.
(31:11):
There was Dr Amy Vaughn.
Dr Amy Vaughn, I didn't knowher company off the top of off
the top of my head, because itwas more me talking with her and
what she does with peer support, but she has Guiding Star
Counseling.
It's led by Dr Amy Vaughn andshe specializes in trauma
recovery for first respondersand veterans from EMDR to peer
(31:35):
team counseling.
It's rooted in experience andcommitted to getting to the root
of the pain, not just thesymptoms.
And committed to getting to theroot of the pain, not just the
symptoms.
Dr Vaughn, I believe, justfinished publishing a peer
support counselor or peersupport manual on how to do peer
support, and I'm not going totry to butcher what her book was
(31:57):
about.
I'm going to ask her to come onto the podcast and pitch her
peer support and everything thatshe does herself.
But Dr Vaughn was veryforthcoming and willing to have
that conversation and talk aboutpeer support and talk about
mental health and talk about theimpact that that has on those
(32:18):
of us in the service profession,whether it's being a service
member of the military orwhether it's being in public
safety or those high stress, anyof those other high stress
positions.
Dr Vaughn has an understandingin that, you know, and obviously
by saying doctor, she's gotsome education on it too.
So she's got the experience andthey're at Guiding Star
(32:38):
Counseling.
You know that's something thatthey do, they push that forward
and she's really passionateabout doing peer support.
So I'm going to ask Dr Vaughnif she's willing to come on and,
based on the conversation thatwe had face to face, I don't see
as to where she would say no,because it's a chance to
continue the mission that we'reall obviously working toward,
(33:02):
that we're all obviously workingtoward.
And one final organization thatI had the honor to sit next to
and speak with throughout theday was the 1033 Foundation, and
for those of you who don't know, 1033 is a 10 code that's
generally used in public safetyand it's essentially a code
(33:24):
saying I need help.
So they formed the organizationover a code that's literally
meant hey, I need help.
It's a nonprofit organizationrun by first responders offering
peer support, crisis responseand mental health training
nationwide.
They show up when others don'tand with no agenda other than
(33:48):
helping their own.
I don't know what else youcould expect from a company that
literally based their name offof a code that says I need help.
They've been there, done that,like those in Copline, and most
of these organizations Rebootall of them.
They've been there, they'vedone that, they have the t-shirt
(34:10):
and they've got the scars thatgo along with it, and that's
what 1033 does.
They're there for those that dothat.
So I'm going to be reaching outto them.
I'm going to see about gettingthem on here and giving them the
opportunity to tell our smallaudience more about what they do
.
Because, if nothing else, if Ican help get these services out,
(34:33):
get these services more wellknown, like I said, down here in
our area, I've done this jobfor 19 years and, aside from
Copline, I'd never heard of anyof these other ones, didn't know
they existed.
Anytime I went to Google andsearched on Google for different
resources that I could try toprovide people um or refer
(34:53):
people to.
None of these ever came up.
They didn't, you know, um, andthat's got a lot to do with the
way the internet works andalgorithms and a bunch of stuff
that's way more technicallyadvanced than I'll ever
understand or want to Um.
So if it, if it gets it outthere more, if it makes it more
well known and it can get thoseof us that do the work to try to
(35:17):
help save other people, if itgets them the help that they
need so that they keep doing thejob that's their passion, then
that's what we're going to do soagain.
I just wanted to take thismoment to kind of talk about
that experience and reallyhighlight the number of
companies and organizations outthere.
Are far more than what I everthought.
(35:38):
It really opened that door forme to realize, yeah, there is
more help out there than what wethink and you know, for those
of you that saw the interviewwith Jennifer a while back, one
of the things Jennifer talkedabout was, you know, she was
going for therapy and hertherapist just couldn't believe
(35:58):
the story she was telling them.
You know they weren't prepared,they weren't experienced in
being trauma informed for publicsafety.
You know she was.
She worked for the coroner'soffice.
She wasn't.
The therapist she was going towere not prepared for that type
of trauma, which onlytraumatized her further and set
(36:19):
her back even further.
So getting this information outthere, getting these companies
and these organizations outthere to help guide those of us
in the profession, those of usin the service, to resources for
trauma-informed treatment,that's huge.
That's huge, and finding thatout myself was a big empowering
(36:45):
moment.
So I'm going to do what I canto help get these services out
there.
And whether you reach out tothe podcast, reach out to me
personally, whether you do thator not, if the information still
gets out there and you get helpand in any small way, what
(37:05):
we're doing here with Breachyour Mind helped, that's a win
and it makes everything thatwe're doing, everything that
we're going through to try to dothis mission, it makes it all
worth it.
You know, I've said before aboutthe young man who told me how I
helped him and while I didn'trecognize him, he reminded me of
(37:26):
what happened.
And hearing that oneaffirmation that what I was
doing, you know, helped him, itmade so much more of the crap
that we go through worth it.
It made so much of the traumathat I went through in my own
life and in the trauma that wewent through in our profession,
(37:48):
in my profession.
It made it worth it becausethere's a young man alive today
because of something that I saidto him and it stuck.
So if that's what we, if that'swhat it takes with Breach your
Mind for us to go through themud, get the scars, take the
losses and take the hits just tosave one, it makes it worth it.
(38:09):
So, anyway, I won't keepdroning on about this one.
I just really wanted to makethis episode and I really wanted
to get those companies outthere, those organizations,
because I do plan on having themon the podcast, I do plan on
having them come on here andtell us more about what they do,
what they offer and how theycan be reached, and I just
(38:33):
really wanted to get that outthere.
It was weighing on me to get itout there.
I wanted to get out theresooner, but between traveling,
everything we did to get ready,and then getting back to work,
you know it.
Just the brain just kind ofleft me.
So we're getting it out therenow and, provided everything
goes well with the recording,we're going to get this episode
(38:55):
out there.
So also one last thing before Iwrap up, guys, I want to tell
you on something that's coming.
I'm going to start a new series.
There's going to be a newseries through the podcast.
I don't know the postingschedule just yet.
As soon as I do know theposting schedule, I'll let you
know.
But I am going to do a newseries focused on peer support
(39:17):
and it's going to be calledStanding in the Gap.
And of course, that's us tryingto be peer support counselors,
those of us that are whetheryou're trying to be called
Standing in the Gap.
So, and of course that's ustrying to be peer support
counselors those of us that are,whether you're trying to be a
certified peer support counseloror not, if you're just somebody
that other people come to totalk about when things get heavy
for them, this series is forall of us.
(39:38):
And it's called Standing in theGap Because that's what we do.
We stand in the gap between thetrauma and the treatment and I
want to do that series to kindof help get all of us on the
same page and get us better.
It's not a training series,it's not a lecture, it's nothing
like that, um, but it's goingto be something that that's
(40:01):
interesting and I think willhelp broaden the spectrum of
peer support, because if we canget more of us on board, that's
just more people watching oursixes and that's what we need,
okay, so stand by, watch out forthat one.
Um.
As always, the shameless plug.
Feel free.
(40:22):
Feel free to visit the website,the website, breach your
mindcom.
Go through there, see ifthere's anything in there that
that grabs your attention.
As always, if you want to helpsupport the podcast, help
support the mission, we do havethe shop on there.
Please understand that the shopis not something that we're
using to try to make money.
Um, it's not something thatwe're using to try to, you know,
(40:45):
turned into some kind ofmillion dollar t-shirt company
or something like that.
That's not the goal of the shopat all.
The goal of the shop isliterally just to try to help
support the mission of Breachyour Mind.
So, if you feel it in yourheart you know I did something
as simple as a sticker you knowwe've made up a sticker and
posted it out on there.
So, if you feel it in yourheart to try to help support the
(41:06):
mission, try to help supportwhat we're doing with Breach
your Mind.
Visit the shop and, even if youdon't want to do that
financially, to help with thatway, please help share any of
the stuff on our social medias.
Help share the podcast, helpshare the YouTube episodes and
the podcast episodes.
All you got to do is like,share and interact with those
(41:27):
things.
It takes you no time at all andit costs you nothing for that.
So, guys, if you want to helpcontribute, you want to help
broaden our reach.
That's one way you can do it,okay, so in the meantime, I
appreciate your time.
I appreciate your effort.
Stay safe.
Catch you on the next one.
Bye.
Team 1, stand by Copy Team 1, standing by Breach,
breach, breach.
Courtney Wells (00:11):
Hi, I'm Courtney Wells.
I work for Tactical Recovery.
So we are an organization thathas over 40 treatment centers,
so residential mental health andsubstance use treatment, mental
health and substance usetreatment.
We have 22 facilities thatoffer this high trauma track of
treatment for veterans, militaryand first responders.
So I cover the whole Midwest,so I'm the liaison for Attach
(00:35):
for Recovery.
I'm also a veteran, I was alsoa first responder in the
military and this is my way tojust support this population
still.
So my number is 660-888-2127.
Thanks, Awesome, Thank you.
Clay (00:48):
What's going on everybody?
My name is Clay Rojas and I'm acounselor with the Forge.
You can find us at theforgeorg,and the Forge is a Christian
nonprofit that providescounseling for men.
We have an office in OverlandPark, kansas, as well as in
Tulsa, oklahoma.
I am the regional director forthe Tulsa Oklahoma office and we
are focusing on workingspecifically with veterans and
(01:11):
first responders.
So if you're a veteran or firstresponder, whether you're in
Tulsa or anywhere in the UnitedStates, we will work with you
every branch and every service.
So we're looking forward toseeing you guys Once again.
You can get a hold of us attheforgeorg and thank you guys
for tuning in Awesome, thank you.
Todd (01:30):
Hi, my name is Todd.
I'm with Copline, and Coplineis a 24-hour, 365-day crisis
hotline for law enforcement,their families, active, retired.
We're national andinternational.
If you call, you're going tospeak into a cop and if you do
want to give us your location,we have vetted counselors
throughout the nation Awesome.
Bryan (01:54):
Thank you, hey guys.
So, as many of you know, backon the 14th we traveled up to
Kansas City, missouri.
We had the 2025 safetyconference up there.
We were invited to come up as avendor and never done anything
like that before.
So, on this episode, just kindof wanted to talk a little bit
(02:18):
with you about my experience upthere.
I mean, obviously, having neverdone anything like being a
vendor or anything like that, itwas a kind of a nervous
situation.
Um, I even did a little smalluh video while I was there about
how it seems so much easier toface down you know some deranged
(02:43):
individual wanting to causeviolence than it is to go put
yourself out there and try to dosomething like that.
But I got to say that, you know, once there and after getting
set up and everything like that,it was.
It was a pretty cool experience.
(03:07):
Again, I had no idea what I wasdoing.
I've never gone out and doneanything like that.
So there was a lot of prep work.
I actually wound up leavingsome of the stuff that I was
going to take with me, but Ididn't realize that until I was
almost 1,000 miles away from thehouse and, yes, we drove.
It was a thousand and thirtyfour miles from Georgia to
(03:30):
Kansas City, missouri.
We did it in one day.
We left Friday morning, droveup got there Friday evening, got
something to eat, pretty muchtried to finish prep work for
going to the conference thatnight, laid down, got some sleep
couldn't really sleep becauseof everything running through my
(03:52):
head.
And then that morning came andI actually woke up like an hour
hour and a half before my alarmever went off.
So got up, kind of did what Ineeded to do, piled everything
back into the car that needed togo back in the car and then
drove over to the conference.
I was at the conference formaybe 12, 13 hours, left back to
(04:16):
the hotel and had just enoughenergy left in me to get
something to eat and I laid downon the bed for, you know, just
a couple of seconds just to kindof relax a little bit, and I
was already out.
Um, next morning we woke up atabout four o'clock in the
morning, central time, and thewife woke up and both looked at
(04:39):
each other and was like we mightas well get it started because
it was another thousand 34 milesback to Georgia.
And that's what we did.
We, you know, packed our stuffup, cleaned up our room.
I don't know if anybody elsedoes that, but I really kind of
clean up after ourselves, putany trash you know big trash
that we can put that away,straighten things up, kind of
pile the towels up in a centrallocation so that you know it's
(05:03):
not going around, clean up anymess as we leave behind.
It's just kind of our nature.
I don't know if anybody elsedoes that, but try to make it
easy as we can for room serviceor the cleaning crew when they
come in after us.
But we piled everything back inthe car and 1,034 miles back to
the house.
We left out that morning andgot back Sunday evening, just in
(05:26):
time enough to, you know, kindof settle in and then the next
day try to take to recover.
So it was a lot.
It was a lot packed into just afew days.
But again, you know, when I gotto the venue and got everything
in, the host of the event, barryI can't say enough about him.
(05:49):
I've met him once when he wasdown here in Georgia doing a
peer counseling training course.
Barry was the instructor andthe one doing the whole program
and that was the only time I methim, I introduced him to my
podcast and it really wasn't forany other reason than to, you
(06:12):
know, see what I was doing withthe podcast and the website and
everything like that, and justkind of get some direction, you
know, because again, I don't dothose things, I'm just.
I'm just, you know, some idiotstanding here trying to make a
difference in some way, and hereally liked what, you know, we
were doing here and that's whenhe invited us.
(06:34):
So that was literally the onlytime and of course we had
corresponded through email, youknow, leading up to the
conference.
But when I got there thatmorning and you know, I got my
little dolly or whatever youwant to call it, and I'm
wheeling everything in Barrycomes around the corner, he sees
me and, you know, without fail,he looks at me and he goes, big
(06:56):
Sarge, walks up, shakes my hand, gives me a hug.
I mean he treated me as if meand him had been friends for
years, like we had been friendsthe entire time.
You know, from the get go,recognized my face, knew my
voice, remembered what we weredoing with the podcast, and that
was kind of a relaxing moment.
(07:17):
It was odd that somebody wouldremember, would remember me
after that one thing, but thatbrief moment, but it was
relaxing, you know I kind offelt like, okay, maybe this,
maybe this can be okay.
So went and registered, got mystuff that I needed to, and then
(07:38):
was directed to where mysection to set up my vendor
booth was and get there and sureenough, there's a table set up
for me right by an electricaloutlet and on it was a sign that
had my name the podcast, youknow and to me that was
something cool.
I did bring that piece of paperhome with me.
To some it may just be somestupid piece of paper, but to me
(08:03):
it was a very, very large stepfor what we're doing with
Breacher Mind and the missionthat I've kind of put myself on
and that I'm trying to getothers to go on with me, and
those of you that have watchedmany of the episodes or listened
to the podcast or interactedwith the website or anything
like that, you guys are goingright along with me.
(08:23):
So I kept that, uh, just alittle, just a little takeaway
for myself, um, but startedgetting set up and there were
other vendors all around me,people that had been on what
I've kind of called the vendorcircuit.
Uh, they've been doing this fora very long time and you know
(08:43):
they're setting up their boothsand, yeah, their booths were way
more professional than mine.
They had way better material,they had little giveaways and
things like that to give out.
Um, and of course, I didn't haveany of that and I, you know,
had a small booth.
Um, I believe you can check thesocials.
You can kind of see what mylittle booth looked like, but it
was nothing to the scale thatthey had.
(09:06):
Of course, you know I reallydidn't have much to offer, just
me, you know, putting out thatwe do this podcast.
Um, so it was.
It was intimidating being aroundpeople that you know have done
this for years and, as luckwould have it for me, my booth
was right next to cop line andthose of you that know anything
(09:29):
about it, it's a trauma line formental health, for trauma line
for law enforcement.
It's other cops that arededicated their time to helping
other cops that are in needdedicated their time to helping
other cops that are in need.
And it was really kind ofinteresting for me because on
(09:50):
the website, under our supportservices, I've got them listed.
You know they're one of thecompanies that I've got listed
to provide services toindividuals who are going
through a mental health crisisat the moment.
So it was interesting that youknow my podcast would be right
next to them.
And what I found out was, eventhough I was new to the circuit,
(10:14):
new to being a vendor oranything like that, there's a
lot of other companies out therethat are doing the work that
our profession, our publicsafety, our service directed
jobs need.
You know they're out there.
(10:34):
There are people that have gonethrough it, been through it,
got the training and offerservices.
So again, that little bit ofuneasiness kind of set back in,
because now I'm around peoplethat actually provide services
and what does breach your mindoffer?
You know I don't have services.
(10:54):
I don't have treatment programs.
You know I don't have umdifferent.
You know getaways for publicsafety personnel to you know
kind of go and reset.
I don't provide any of that.
And so, again, you know, I wentfrom starting to feel a little
comfortable to looking aroundthese other vendors and
(11:16):
immediately thinking, yeah,other vendors would prove me
wrong.
You know I was like I said, Iwas sitting right next to a
(11:37):
representative from Copline.
I was sitting right across froma woman who's representing
Tactical Recovery.
Just off to my left in front ofme, was the Forge and the guys
that were representing the Forgeover there.
Another vendor from 1033Foundation came up and
introduced herself to me Dr AmyVaughn with Guiding Star
(12:08):
Counseling.
She came over and introducedherself to me.
The guys from Reboot came overand introduced themselves to me
and I spent the majority of myday around these vendors, around
these reps for these companiesor these organizations that are
providing services for militarypublic safety.
(12:31):
You know everybody in theservice group like that who
experienced trauma on such ahigh rate when compared to the
average citizen, and every oneof them come over and welcomed
me and shared stories with meand, you know, really kind of
(12:51):
took the time out of their dayto make me feel like, yeah, yeah
, I was in the right spot.
You know, breach your Mind doeshave a place at the table when
it comes to the combined missionthat everybody's trying to
accomplish Frequently.
When I would tell people, tellthese reps, that I was talking
(13:14):
to, I really kind of fell out ofplace.
I don't have anything to offerpeople this, that and the other.
What they wound up telling meis that what I provide, what
Breach your Mind provides, ismore than just a service.
Breach your Mind is essentiallyan attempt to be a bridge in
(13:39):
the gap between those in theservice professions and those
that experience trauma and highstress on such a high rate to
the treatment they need.
And that reminded me exactly ofwhat we set out to do.
When you know, we shifted gearswith the podcast, with Breach
(14:00):
your Mind, because that's whatwe want to do, because that's
what we want to do.
We want to bridge that gap, wewant to break down the stigma of
mental health.
You know, it's unfortunate thatso many people sit and think
that because you have PTSD oryou may be fighting depression,
(14:21):
or that you have some addiction,that you can't still be
effective, because that's nottrue, that's not true at all.
I have worked and work alongsome of the most professional
and proficient paths,individuals in this line of duty
that there can be, and theyfight some of the same demons as
(14:45):
what everybody says.
Well, you can't have that anddo that job and to sit there,
and especially when it comestime to do the work, when it
comes time to do the work, ifthey didn't tell you that they
were battling some kind of demon, you'd never know.
If they didn't tell you thatthey were battling some kind of
demon, you'd never know.
And that's the biggest thingthat I wish people could
understand and that's thebiggest thing that we're trying
(15:08):
to get done here.
And that's what those try tobridge that gap and help get
(15:37):
these individuals past thestigma to the treatment that
they need to are alreadyestablished and and have already
helped thousands and thousandsof service members and public
safety workers and and otherpeople in high stress jobs.
It's it was really sobering tohave them tell me no, you're,
you're exactly what's needed,because we do still fight the
(16:00):
stigma and while Breach yourMind itself, at least at the
moment, can't provide any kindof services, you know, like
treatment or anything like that,we can help bridge that gap.
We can help get it out thereinto the world that mental
health is not some issue that'sdebilitating and causes you to
(16:23):
be ineffective.
If anything, we need to embracethe fact that this exposure to
trauma is an exposure to thethings that we go through.
You know that they're normaland that as long as we are
dealing with it in a healthymanner, in a healthy way, we can
all be stronger and by doingthat it makes us stronger for
(16:45):
the people that we serve.
It makes us stronger for thecommunity that we serve.
So, you know, it was truly anhonor to sit there and speak
with these individuals and manyof them, you know, shared their
story with me on how they woundup in the position that they are
in, how they wound up goingthat path to working with a
(17:06):
company that provides thoseservices to individuals and
while I was hoping they wouldwant to kind of do a live thing
or something along those lines,many of them, you know, weren't
really ready to kind of gopublic with their story.
And I respect that.
I, I a hundred percent respectthat because it's it's tough in
(17:26):
itself to one acknowledge thatsomething's not right.
Um, it's tough to start takingthe steps to fix it and it's
even tougher to go public withit.
And even though you know ourpodcast, our company, our
(17:47):
mission right now is still small.
You know we put this stuff outeverywhere.
You know we're all over socialmedia, we're on YouTube.
You know we're on the airwaveswith the podcast.
So, even though we may be avery small platform right now,
it're still not personally readyto come public with their story
(18:24):
and I can respect it becausethey at least acknowledge it.
They're working to try to fixwhat's going on with them and
that's all that matters.
So, again, it was a veryhumbling experience.
It was a very welcomingexperience and, honestly, it
(18:45):
really kind of fired things upfor me Because I left Kansas
City, missouri, with more thanjust some people who signed up
for our email, just some peoplewho entered our contest for the
free giveaway from our shop.
I left there with a renewedvigor and a renewed mission on
(19:10):
what we're trying to do, becausehaving these individuals and
having everybody that was at theconference, it's not just the
vendors.
I don't want to, I don't wantto focus solely on the vendors
even though they made a hugepart, because I spent most of my
day around those individualsbut everyone there you know
there was a former SEAL teammember who started up his own
(19:30):
ministry and was there doing thework.
You know there's Barry.
I mean, there was everybody.
There were so many people.
It was like 500 and some oddpeople there and everyone there
had the same mission in mind andeveryone was so welcome to
having somebody as small as ourlittle podcast, our little
(19:55):
company there with the onlymission to bridge the gap.
So it was really humbling and Iwas honored to have had the
opportunity to go up to KansasCity and, while it was mentally
(20:16):
and physically, physicallystrenuous to you know, drive to
what 2000,.
Almost 2070 miles in a weekendand then go do something that
I'd never done before.
That was mentally andphysically strenuous for me, it
(20:36):
gave us, it gave a new fire or,you know, stoke the flame on
what we've already got goinghere.
And in response to that, youknow we're I've got some new
ideas for what we're going to bedoing with Breach your Mind,
one of those things that I'mgoing to do and I'm going to.
Unfortunately, I'm going to haveto read a little bit, um, but I
(21:04):
do want to talk about some ofthese companies, um
organizations that took the timeto spend most of their day with
me, either by choice or justbecause we were in the same
vicinity and they didn't likesilence.
Regardless, um, I do want tohighlight them.
Um, I'm not going to go toomuch into what they do, um,
because my goal and I've alreadyspoke with a couple of them and
(21:24):
they're on board with it is Iplan to invite them onto the
podcast and I want them to talkabout what they do, because what
they're doing is tremendous.
What they're doing is somethingthat at least here in Southeast
Georgia other side from CoplineI didn't know any of these
(21:45):
other ones existed, I didn'tknow they were out there, I
didn't know there was help likethat.
Going onto the internet andGoogling, you know, public
safety, mental health oranything like that, you're going
(22:05):
to get flooded with all thesedifferent companies, all these
different programs and I'm nottrying to turn anybody away from
any of those, because, by allmeans, go do what you need to do
but the reason I'm highlightingthese is because I didn't know
all of them existed.
The reason I'm highlightingthese is because I didn't know
all of them existed and Iunfortunately get lost in the
flood of information when I tryto just Google the things.
(22:28):
So, spending as much time as Idid around them and having them
share their stories with mewhether it was their personal
story or people that they weredealing with it was truly
inspiring to see the work theywere doing and because of that I
want to have them on and givethem the opportunity to help
(22:50):
make their organizations, helpmake their companies more
well-known, even if we are justsomething small and we may only
get 12 downloads per podcastepisode, but at least it's some
exposure.
It's an attempt to get moreattention to what these guys and
(23:12):
girls, guys, men, women it's atleast some kind of an attempt
to get the needed attention towhat they're doing.
So I do, in coming episodes weare going to have interviews
with these guys.
You know, clay, dr Vaughn, thegroup from Scott, from Reboot.
(23:37):
We're going to get them on here.
Uh, reboot, we're going to getthem on here and I want to have
them, you know, talk to us aboutwhat's going on with their
company, what's going on withtheir organizations.
So that's the goal.
That's what we're going to bedoing.
Um, but just real quick, I justkind of want to go over them.
Uh, I apologize that I'm goingto be reading from, you know,
what I had typed out, but it'sit's too much for me to try to
(23:59):
remember all in one.
So one of them is Reboot, a12-week peer-led course that's
built for first responders andtheir families.
It's faith-based, it'spractical and focused on healing
from trauma, not throughtherapy, but through community
conversation and purpose-driventools, but through community
(24:21):
conversation and purpose-driventools.
The folks there at Reboot.
It's a different approach tohelping public safety military.
It started out, if I remembercorrectly, it started out from
combat vets who wanted to dosomething to help one another,
and then they quickly realizedthat it wasn't just combat vets
and service members that weredealing with these things, that
(24:41):
it was the public safetycommunity as well.
So that's what you know causedthem to branch out to that and
because of that you know theyare very vocal about what they
do at Reboot and what they canoffer.
So you know that was that was.
The guys over there were veryinformed or very, uh,
(25:03):
informational, um, and verywelcoming to what we're trying
to do.
Uh, the next one was the forge.
There's two guys from the forge.
Uh, I apologize to the secondgentleman.
I don't remember his name offtop of my head, but I spent a
lot of time talking with Claywho works with the Forge, and
(25:24):
what they do at the Forge is,again, it's a faith-based
treatment.
It does focus primarily onmen's mental health, excuse me,
it does focus primarily on men'smental health, focused
primarily on men's mental health, but, like most, it encourages
(25:45):
the participation and everythingof the spouses, of the women in
those men's lives, the familyin those men's lives.
So it's a faith-based treatment.
It's a faith-driven programfocused on spiritual growth and
character formation.
It's less about trauma recoveryand more about building inner
strength and moral claritythrough guided biblical content
(26:05):
and small group connections.
So I've never done anythinglike that and while I am a
faithful person, I'm not areligious person.
So you know it was interestingtalking with those guys because
in a lot of people's minds whenyou're talking about groups and
organizations that arefaith-based, unfortunately
(26:28):
there's a stigma that goes alongwith it that you're expecting
them to browbeat you withwhatever faith-based system
they're using, and they didn'tdo that.
You know the guys with Rebootthey didn't do it.
The guys with the Forge theydidn't do that.
You know the guys with rebootthey didn't do it.
The guys with the forge theydidn't do it.
You know they just want you toknow that that's where they're
(26:49):
coming from.
They're coming from a faithbased treatment process and
that's not a bad thing.
Even in a lot of your smallgroups like AA and things like
that, even in a lot of yoursmall groups like AA and things
(27:09):
like that, it will.
Maybe it's the wrong way to putit and I've never attended so I
don't want to offend anybodythat has.
But even there, if I'm notmistaken, you're encouraged to
believe in a higher power,whether it's a deity, whether
it's a religion.
You're encouraged to believe ina higher power, something
stronger and more powerful thanyourself, to help you conquer
your addictions.
And this is no different.
(27:30):
These are just faith-basedsystems that are encouraging you
to open up your mind to thatprocess.
Tactical recovery that wasanother one.
She sat right across from me.
Her and I spent a lot of timeof the day talking and it was
(27:52):
interesting to hear the thingsthat tactical recovery was doing
.
If I'm not mistaken, they'repart of Summit Behavioral Health
.
Tactical Recovery is one oftheir programs and she
specifically worked withveterans and the VA and getting
service members to treatmentfacilities, whether inpatient or
(28:14):
outpatient.
She works with getting thatprocess going and getting the VA
to help work with that process.
Very relaxed person you know,very knowledgeable about what
she was doing and her company orthe company's goals and mission
and her goal and mission.
So Tactical Recovery providestrauma-informed addiction and
(28:37):
mental health treatmentspecifically for veterans and
first responders.
It's clinical, culturallycompetent and accepts VA
benefits offering detox,inpatient and long-term recovery
support.
So again, veterans and publicsafety.
So it's meant for all of us andyou know I'm going to be stoked
to have her on here talkingabout what they do there.
(29:00):
Then we've got Copline, and I'vetalked about CopLine in the
past on a couple of differentepisodes.
It's featured on our websitefor the crisis support line.
Copline's a 24-7, confidentialpeer support line answered by
retired officers.
There's no judgment, nopaperwork and it's just someone
who's been there, ready tolisten when the job gets heavy.
(29:21):
So it's literally a trauma linefor cops when the weight of
what we deal with and what we gothrough gets to be too much,
whether it's you finallyrealizing and have that break,
or whether it's, you know, anincident that happens.
(29:43):
You've got a bunch of cops thathave been there, seen that, done
it, got the t-shirt, that arewilling to sit there and have
that conversation with you andif you need treatment, they can
help get you to treatment.
They've got they've gotfacilities that they work with.
They've got vetted uh, uhpartners that they can offer
help with.
All the subject has to.
All the person has to do thepatient, whatever you want to
(30:04):
call them.
All they have to do is tellthem where they are and they've
got vetted resources that theycan direct that person to and
help get in contact with.
So the guys and the women overat Copline, obviously, coming
from that profession, that'ssomething that's huge because
it's awfully hard for us attimes to talk with the people we
(30:27):
work with, talk with ourcommand staff, about the things
we might be going through.
So having that anonymousresource that you can do those
things and it's not somethingthat they're going to report
back to your agency.
So if you're somebody that'sdealing with it and you're still
, if you're somebody that'sdealing with, you know, a mental
(30:50):
health crisis and you'reworried that maybe you know
they're going to report it backto your admin or your agency or
something like that, that's notthe case.
You know it's not the case atall.
So you know again, that's, it'sa, it's not the case at all.
So you know again, that's it'sa.
It's a great organization andthey provide a very, very
valuable service to those of usin the job.
(31:11):
There was Dr Amy Vaughn.
Dr Amy Vaughn, I didn't knowher company off the top of off
the top of my head, because itwas more me talking with her and
what she does with peer support, but she has Guiding Star
Counseling.
It's led by Dr Amy Vaughn andshe specializes in trauma
recovery for first respondersand veterans from EMDR to peer
(31:35):
team counseling.
It's rooted in experience andcommitted to getting to the root
of the pain, not just thesymptoms.
And committed to getting to theroot of the pain, not just the
symptoms.
Dr Vaughn, I believe, justfinished publishing a peer
support counselor or peersupport manual on how to do peer
support, and I'm not going totry to butcher what her book was
(31:57):
about.
I'm going to ask her to come onto the podcast and pitch her
peer support and everything thatshe does herself.
But Dr Vaughn was veryforthcoming and willing to have
that conversation and talk aboutpeer support and talk about
mental health and talk about theimpact that that has on those
(32:18):
of us in the service profession,whether it's being a service
member of the military orwhether it's being in public
safety or those high stress, anyof those other high stress
positions.
Dr Vaughn has an understandingin that, you know, and obviously
by saying doctor, she's gotsome education on it too.
So she's got the experience andthey're at Guiding Star
(32:38):
Counseling.
You know that's something thatthey do, they push that forward
and she's really passionateabout doing peer support.
So I'm going to ask Dr Vaughnif she's willing to come on and,
based on the conversation thatwe had face to face, I don't see
as to where she would say no,because it's a chance to
continue the mission that we'reall obviously working toward,
(33:02):
that we're all obviously workingtoward.
And one final organization thatI had the honor to sit next to
and speak with throughout theday was the 1033 Foundation, and
for those of you who don't know, 1033 is a 10 code that's
generally used in public safetyand it's essentially a code
(33:24):
saying I need help.
So they formed the organizationover a code that's literally
meant hey, I need help.
It's a nonprofit organizationrun by first responders offering
peer support, crisis responseand mental health training
nationwide.
They show up when others don'tand with no agenda other than
(33:48):
helping their own.
I don't know what else youcould expect from a company that
literally based their name offof a code that says I need help.
They've been there, done that,like those in Copline, and most
of these organizations Rebootall of them.
They've been there, they'vedone that, they have the t-shirt
(34:10):
and they've got the scars thatgo along with it, and that's
what 1033 does.
They're there for those that dothat.
So I'm going to be reaching outto them.
I'm going to see about gettingthem on here and giving them the
opportunity to tell our smallaudience more about what they do
.
Because, if nothing else, if Ican help get these services out,
(34:33):
get these services more wellknown, like I said, down here in
our area, I've done this jobfor 19 years and, aside from
Copline, I'd never heard of anyof these other ones, didn't know
they existed.
Anytime I went to Google andsearched on Google for different
resources that I could try toprovide people um or refer
(34:53):
people to.
None of these ever came up.
They didn't, you know, um, andthat's got a lot to do with the
way the internet works andalgorithms and a bunch of stuff
that's way more technicallyadvanced than I'll ever
understand or want to Um.
So if it, if it gets it outthere more, if it makes it more
well known and it can get thoseof us that do the work to try to
(35:17):
help save other people, if itgets them the help that they
need so that they keep doing thejob that's their passion, then
that's what we're going to do soagain.
I just wanted to take thismoment to kind of talk about
that experience and reallyhighlight the number of
companies and organizations outthere.
Are far more than what I everthought.
(35:38):
It really opened that door forme to realize, yeah, there is
more help out there than what wethink and you know, for those
of you that saw the interviewwith Jennifer a while back, one
of the things Jennifer talkedabout was, you know, she was
going for therapy and hertherapist just couldn't believe
(35:58):
the story she was telling them.
You know they weren't prepared,they weren't experienced in
being trauma informed for publicsafety.
You know she was.
She worked for the coroner'soffice.
She wasn't.
The therapist she was going towere not prepared for that type
of trauma, which onlytraumatized her further and set
(36:19):
her back even further.
So getting this information outthere, getting these companies
and these organizations outthere to help guide those of us
in the profession, those of usin the service, to resources for
trauma-informed treatment,that's huge.
That's huge, and finding thatout myself was a big empowering
(36:45):
moment.
So I'm going to do what I canto help get these services out
there.
And whether you reach out tothe podcast, reach out to me
personally, whether you do thator not, if the information still
gets out there and you get helpand in any small way, what
(37:05):
we're doing here with Breachyour Mind helped, that's a win
and it makes everything thatwe're doing, everything that
we're going through to try to dothis mission, it makes it all
worth it.
You know, I've said before aboutthe young man who told me how I
helped him and while I didn'trecognize him, he reminded me of
(37:26):
what happened.
And hearing that oneaffirmation that what I was
doing, you know, helped him, itmade so much more of the crap
that we go through worth it.
It made so much of the traumathat I went through in my own
life and in the trauma that wewent through in our profession,
(37:48):
in my profession.
It made it worth it becausethere's a young man alive today
because of something that I saidto him and it stuck.
So if that's what we, if that'swhat it takes with Breach your
Mind for us to go through themud, get the scars, take the
losses and take the hits just tosave one, it makes it worth it.
(38:09):
So, anyway, I won't keepdroning on about this one.
I just really wanted to makethis episode and I really wanted
to get those companies outthere, those organizations,
because I do plan on having themon the podcast, I do plan on
having them come on here andtell us more about what they do,
what they offer and how theycan be reached, and I just
(38:33):
really wanted to get that outthere.
It was weighing on me to get itout there.
I wanted to get out theresooner, but between traveling,
everything we did to get ready,and then getting back to work,
you know it.
Just the brain just kind ofleft me.
So we're getting it out therenow and, provided everything
goes well with the recording,we're going to get this episode
(38:55):
out there.
So also one last thing before Iwrap up, guys, I want to tell
you on something that's coming.
I'm going to start a new series.
There's going to be a newseries through the podcast.
I don't know the postingschedule just yet.
As soon as I do know theposting schedule, I'll let you
know.
But I am going to do a newseries focused on peer support
(39:17):
and it's going to be calledStanding in the Gap.
And of course, that's us tryingto be peer support counselors,
those of us that are whetheryou're trying to be called
Standing in the Gap.
So, and of course that's ustrying to be peer support
counselors those of us that are,whether you're trying to be a
certified peer support counseloror not, if you're just somebody
that other people come to totalk about when things get heavy
for them, this series is forall of us.
(39:38):
And it's called Standing in theGap Because that's what we do.
We stand in the gap between thetrauma and the treatment and I
want to do that series to kindof help get all of us on the
same page and get us better.
It's not a training series,it's not a lecture, it's nothing
like that, um, but it's goingto be something that that's
(40:01):
interesting and I think willhelp broaden the spectrum of
peer support, because if we canget more of us on board, that's
just more people watching oursixes and that's what we need,
okay, so stand by, watch out forthat one.
Um.
As always, the shameless plug.
Feel free.
(40:22):
Feel free to visit the website,the website, breach your
mindcom.
Go through there, see ifthere's anything in there that
that grabs your attention.
As always, if you want to helpsupport the podcast, help
support the mission, we do havethe shop on there.
Please understand that the shopis not something that we're
using to try to make money.
Um, it's not something thatwe're using to try to, you know,
(40:45):
turned into some kind ofmillion dollar t-shirt company
or something like that.
That's not the goal of the shopat all.
The goal of the shop isliterally just to try to help
support the mission of Breachyour Mind.
So, if you feel it in yourheart you know I did something
as simple as a sticker you knowwe've made up a sticker and
posted it out on there.
So, if you feel it in yourheart to try to help support the
(41:06):
mission, try to help supportwhat we're doing with Breach
your Mind.
Visit the shop and, even if youdon't want to do that
financially, to help with thatway, please help share any of
the stuff on our social medias.
Help share the podcast, helpshare the YouTube episodes and
the podcast episodes.
All you got to do is like,share and interact with those
(41:27):
things.
It takes you no time at all andit costs you nothing for that.
So, guys, if you want to helpcontribute, you want to help
broaden our reach.
That's one way you can do it,okay, so in the meantime, I
appreciate your time.
I appreciate your effort.
Stay safe.
Catch you on the next one.
Bye.
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