On Tuesday afternoon, Aug. 20, APCO 2013 attendees had the opportunity to attend a professional development session titled “The Separation of Work and Your State of Mind.” Presented by Tasha Todd, RPL, from Pickens County E9-1-1, the session focused on the ways that people deal with stress. Todd discussed the ways that every day challenges in the comm center can help you figure out what “category” you fall into and how you can use that knowledge to try to leave stress at the door.

Todd began by introducing the Behavioral Reaction Matrix, which defines the process that outlines the way we react to a stressor; everyone will have a reaction to an event, it just depends on if they will react positively or negatively.  Todd went on to point out that, in and of themselves, people, places and things are not the source of our stress. Rather, our stress comes from their actions. That’s not to say that what they did is not wrong, but whether or not we react in a way that brings stress is dependent on us.

The power isn’t in the event, it’s in us. Todd then asked what our usual reaction is to the following events: losing car keys, kids lost in store, cut off in traffic, change in plans, any kind of bad news. For some, everything is negative and they automatically move towards catastrophic thinking. Catastrophic thinking occurs when a person takes a situation far beyond the present reality and allows it to grow into something bigger. For example, when you can’t find your keys, it just means you can’t find your keys; but some people take it much further and start to see losing their keys as an occurrence that will ultimately lead to them ending up on the streets.

Todd then discussed how the mind and emotions are linked in such a way that whatever you are thinking about, you are going to feel. She shared that if you’ve taken a certain type of call in the past, it is often easy to have the feelings and reactions from that call influence any other call that is similar. Instead of letting those influences shape your current call, Todd stated that “it is extremely important that you stay in the now of the call.”

In order to successfully deal with stress, Todd shared that you must actively cope with that stress. That means taking responsibility for one’s own life and actions instead of feeling at the mercy of fate, chance, luck or destiny. Instead of using aggression, regression, withdrawal or denial to cope, you actively and firmly address and deal with the stresses in your life.

Todd close the session but sharing several ways to handle stress, all of which can be of value in the stressful world in which telecommunicators work. Those strategies included:  don’t over commit, practice relaxation techniques, change how you view things, keep your sense of humor, consume healthy food and beverages, get enough sleep, learn to respond instead of reacting, don’t try to control the uncontrollable, present yourself as being calm and in control and be grateful (reflect on things you appreciate in your life every day).

Details on professional development sessions and other speakers are available at www.apco2013.org.

About APCO International
APCO International is the world’s largest organization of public safety communications professionals. It serves the needs of public safety communications practitioners worldwide—and the welfare of the general public as a whole—by providing complete expertise, professional development, technical assistance, advocacy and outreach. www.apcointl.org