Mindfulness Mondays; Episode 7: Wrapping Up PTSD/Men's Mental Health Awareness Month & Triple A's with Josh Bailey

Welcome to I Will Hold Space For Your Darkness; a First Responder Mental Health Podcast hosted by Erin Jane.

A former Australian Police Officer and Detective, wife of an American Firefighter, previous crisis counsellor for a suicide prevention organization and current CISM trained, trauma-informed certified Life and Wellness Coach for First Responders, Emergency Services Members, Spouses and Loved Ones.

This episode is part of a bonus series, Mindfulness Mondays.

Friend of the podcast and former guest Josh Bailey jumped on today with Erin, to cover off the busy and important month of June, which encompasses Men's Mental Health Awareness Month and PTSD Awareness Month.

(They actually recorded this on June 27th, PTSD Awareness Day)

Josh is an Australian Defence Force Veteran, former Police Officer and a Provisional Psychologist. He is also an informed and knowledgeable Mental Health Speaker, Writer and Advocate for the First Responder and Veteran Community.

Erin and Josh decided to jump on and have a chat, given their shared law enforcement history and how important they believe it is to draw attention to the plight of Men's Mental Health and the incidence of Post Traumatic Stress, especially amongst the First Responder and Veteran populations. They discuss what this month has meant, what they think is working, what needs improving and overall, just bringing awareness that it's ok to talk about these things.

As a practical takeaway and simple strategy to incorporate into your everyday coping skills, Josh shares his "Triple A Strategy", a mindfulness technique for managing thoughts. This helps provide people with insight into the consequences of their actions:

1. Awareness (the thought has entered your head, stop and give it your attention). 

2. Acknowledgement (look for evidence, is it true? Do I need to act on this thought? Why, Why not, Can I ignore it?)

3. Acceptance (accept the consequences of your actions) 

Josh is also a contributor to "The Thick End" where you can find his blog series, https://thethickend.com/blogs/the-coal-face

Most recently, Erin contributed a couple of articles to Battalion 1 Consultants, in regards to Firefighter Safety Stand Down Week 2025, which you can find here:

https://www.b1cfirstresponders.com/post/a-response-to-the-things-we-see-doesn-t-mean-you-re-broken

https://www.b1cfirstresponders.com/post/let-personal-agency-empower-you

I'm excited to continue this bonus series of episodes, to compliment (not replace!) the wonderful conversations I am privileged to have and to share some brilliant resources with you, moving forward.

Thanks to Josh Bailey for taking the time to jump on with Erin! You can follow him on IG: @joshs_psychology_

If there's some kind of practice you'd like me to share on here, or a particular mindfulness narrative you would find beneficial, please reach out.

Otherwise, please feel free to reach out if you'd like a topic discussed, would like to be a guest or are interested in receiving coaching services from Erin Jane.

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