Where Faith Meets Stillness

Welcome back to Just Breathe, where we explore the intersection of leadership and the science of self-regulation in public safety. This episode takes on something every first responder knows and few talk about honestly: being tired. There is tired, and then there is fatigue — and fatigue quietly changes how we process information, regulate our emotions, assess risk, communicate, and make decisions, on duty and at home.

This episode discusses suicide, trauma, depression, and cumulative stress. If you've lost a colleague, friend, or loved one, or if these topics are personally difficult, please listen at your own pace. If you recognize yourself in this conversation, asking for help is a sign of courage, not weakness — and you are not alone. Welcome back to Just Breathe for the final installment of our three-part series, The Lives We Don't Talk About. The first two episodes covered understanding suicide and loss; this one shifts forward to what healing, treatment, and recovery look like for first responders and their families, and how agencies can build a culture where asking for help meets support instead of stigma. Dr. Tracie L. Keesee is joined by Dr. Dorothy Novitskie, a licensed clinical and forensic psychologist and founder of Novitskie Forensic Psychology, with more than two decades of experience in clinical, forensic, correctional, and law enforcement settings. Together they unpack what recovery means after trauma, why asking for help remains hard in public safety culture, and what effective treatment, family involvement, and forward-looking leadership look like in practice. WHAT WE COVER - Dr. Novitskie reframes recovery not as "going back to who you were" but as regaining the ability to carry what you've experienced without being controlled by it — sleeping again, being present with family, and having access to joy. - Why the fear of asking for help isn't irrational for officers: mixed messages from agencies, and legitimate concerns about how disclosure could affect assignments, promotions, or firearm status. - How leadership sets the "emotional temperature" of an agency — officers watch what leaders tolerate and reward far more than what they say. - What a comprehensive treatment assessment looks like, including screening out medical causes (like a thyroid issue) before assuming a psychological diagnosis. - Why safety planning around suicidal ideation focuses on reducing access to lethal means without automatically stripping an officer's firearm privileges or identity. - The specific role family, friends, and trusted peers play in recovery — noticing changes and staying connected, without being expected to act as the person's therapist. - Why recovery isn't linear, and how anniversary reactions, court proceedings, or a difficult call can resurface symptoms without meaning treatment has failed. - Dr. Novitskie's vision for where public safety agencies need to go in the next five years: proactive wellness built into daily culture, not just a reaction after tragedy. RESOURCES MENTIONED If you or someone you know is in immediate danger or considering suicide, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. - CopLine — 1-800-267-5463 (1-800-COPLINE) — a confidential, 24/7 peer support hotline staffed by retired law enforcement, for active and retired officers and their families. - Safe Call Now — (206) 459-3020 — a confidential, peer-based resource for public safety professionals and their families, offering referrals to treatment. - Your agency's peer support team or Employee Assistance Program can also connect you directly to these resources. ABOUT DR. DOROTHY NOVITSKIE Dr. Dorothy Novitskie is a licensed clinical and forensic psychologist and founder of Novitskie Forensic Psychology, LLC. With more than two decades across clinical, forensic, correctional, outpatient, and academic settings, she specializes in trauma-informed care, forensic mental health assessment, and treatment for law enforcement and public safety professionals. She holds an M.A. in Forensic Psychology from John Jay College of Criminal Justice and a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Fairleigh Dickinson University. ABOUT THE JUST BREATHE PODCAST Just Breathe with Dr. Tracie L. Keesee is a leadership platform for first responders and public safety professionals. Each episode explores how leadership, judgment, accountability, and wellness are shaped by the inter

This episode discusses suicide, trauma, depression, and cumulative stress. If you've lost a colleague, friend, or loved one, or if these topics are personally difficult, please listen at your own pace. If you recognize yourself in this conversation, asking for help is a sign of courage, not weakness — and you are not alone. Welcome back to Just Breathe for part two of our three-part series, The Lives We Don't Talk About. Part one honored the lives lost to first responder suicide and challenged the culture around it; this episode goes inside the research, exploring the psychological autopsy — the method used to understand why an officer died by suicide, and how that understanding drives prevention. Dr. Tracie L. Keesee is joined by Dr. Jeff Thompson, a retired NYPD detective who served more than two decades, including as the department's first-ever mental health and wellness coordinator and as a hostage negotiator. He's now an Adjunct Associate Research Scientist in Psychiatry at Columbia University Irving Medical Center, where his work on police psychological autopsies has become a leading resource for suicide prevention in public safety. WHAT WE COVER - What a psychological autopsy actually is: a scientific, interview-based method for understanding why an officer died by suicide — grounded in honoring the person and generating prevention data, never in assigning blame. - The five critical questions behind every psychological autopsy: why that person, why by that method, why that day, why didn't protective factors intervene, and what could have helped. - Why "why that day" is often the most revealing question — a recurring stressor, like an on-and-off relationship, can suddenly become the tipping point after years of surviving it. - Why over 90% of police suicides involve a firearm, and what that says about the role of access to lethal means in prevention. - How depression can show up as anger outbursts and lost impulse control rather than visible sadness — and why that gets misread as a disciplinary problem instead of a warning sign. - Why direct and indirect suicidal statements ("I don't want to wake up," "there's no way out of this") both call for the same direct follow-up question, and how to actually ask it. - Why loved ones interviewed for a psychological autopsy often describe the process itself as part of their healing, even though it can't undo what happened. - Why social connectedness outside of work — with people who have nothing to do with the job — is one of the strongest protective factors against the isolation that precedes suicide. RESOURCES MENTIONED If you or someone you know is in immediate danger or considering suicide, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. - CopLine — 1-800-267-5463 (1-800-COPLINE) — a confidential, 24/7 peer support hotline staffed by retired law enforcement, for active and retired officers and their families. - Safe Call Now — (206) 459-3020 — a confidential, peer-based referral service for public safety professionals and their families. - Your agency's peer support team or Employee Assistance Program can also connect you directly to these resources. ABOUT DR. JEFF THOMPSON Dr. Jeff Thompson is a retired NYPD detective who spent more than two decades with the department, including serving as its first-ever mental health and wellness coordinator and as a hostage negotiator. He is now an Adjunct Associate Research Scientist in Psychiatry at Columbia University Irving Medical Center, focused on evidence-based strategies for resilience, crisis response, and suicide prevention in law enforcement. He is a leading voice on using psychological autopsies to understand and prevent first responder suicide, with research published in outlets including Police Chief magazine. ABOUT THE JUST BREATHE PODCAST Just Breathe with Dr. Tracie L. Keesee is a leadership platform for first responders and public safety professionals. Each episode explores how leadership, judgment, accountabilit

Welcome back to Just Breathe, where we explore the intersection of leadership and the science of self-regulation in public safety. This episode is unlike anything we've done before — over the next three episodes, we're going to talk openly about one of the most painful and often avoidable realities in public safety: first responder suicide. This is "The Lives We Don't Talk About." Our hope isn't simply to discuss statistics — it's to honor lives, learn from the research, challenge our culture, and equip leaders, agencies, and families with practical strategies that can help save lives. Dr. Tracie L. Keesee is joined by Dr. Jeff Thompson, a research scientist and 20-year veteran of the NYPD, whose work has become instrumental in changing how law enforcement understands suicide prevention. Together they dig into why this subject stays buried in silence, why the data alone can never tell the full story, and why the goal isn't just keeping people alive — it's helping them thrive. A note before you listen: this episode includes discussion of suicide, trauma, depression, and cumulative stress. If you've lost a colleague, friend, or loved one, or if these topics are personally difficult, please listen at your own pace. If you recognize yourself in this conversation, know that asking for help is a sign of courage, not weakness — and you are not alone. WHAT WE COVER Why suicide remains one of the hardest topics to raise in public safety — and how stigma, not lack of concern, keeps the profession from talking about it openly Why reducing suicide to a single cause or a "checklist" of warning signs misunderstands how complex and individual each case really is Why statistics alone can't carry the full story — and why qualitative research and narrative are essential to honoring the humanity behind every data point How career stage, organizational stress, and personal circumstance intersect differently for every person, and why the same risk factors can mean something entirely different at year two versus year twenty The NASA astronaut model Dr. Thompson borrows for his work — why the goal for first responders, like astronauts, isn't just "getting by," it's thriving before, during, and after a career Why identity — not rank, title, or years of service — is what so many first responders lose when they retire, and why that loss can feel like staring into an abyss Why unresolved organizational stress, toxic workplace culture, and unaddressed bullying consistently rank as the number one stressor in policing, above the trauma of the job itself Dr. Thompson's case against relying on peer support programs and therapy dogs alone — and why real resilience means asking what you're personally doing to shape the culture around you Practical guidance for supervisors and leaders: get trained in peer support, learn how to ask directly about suicide, and know when your role isn't to fix the problem but simply to sit with someone Why first responders become so skilled at hiding emotional pain — and the cognitive dissonance of excelling at the job while struggling personally Why the skills built to check on coworkers need to come home too — checking in on spouses, kids, and neighbors, not just partners on shift RESOURCES MENTIONED If you or someone you know is in immediate danger or considering suicide, call or text 988 or reach out to the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. CopLine — 1-800-267-5463 — a confidential peer support hotline staffed by retired law enforcement officers Safe Call Now — 1-206-459-3020 — a confidential referral service for first responders and their families Your agency's peer support team, Employee Assistance Program, chaplain, or mental health professional ABOUT DR. JEFF THOMPSON Dr. Jeff Thompson is a research scientist who develops and delivers evidence-based, practical intervention strategies to enhance resilience and support individuals' ability to manage crisis. He spent 20 years and 9 months with the New York City Police Department bef

For many in public safety, strength has always meant endurance — how much you can carry, how much you can power through. But what happens to that mindset when it comes to your own health? Dr. Tracie L. Keesee welcomes back Chief Jack Cawley of Castle Rock PD for a candid conversation about men's health, the habits that keep leaders from asking for help, and what real modeling looks like from the top of an organization. WHAT WE COVER Why men's health is one of the hardest topics to raise in public safety — and how "suck it up" culture still lingers from a generation taught to work through injury and illness Why Castle Rock PD made mental health check-ins mandatory for everyone, including the chief, to remove the stigma of asking for help Chief Cawley's own aha moment: realizing his calendar would consume every open minute unless he intentionally protected time for himself The identity trap of policing — why so many first responders struggle to separate who they are from the rank they held, especially in retirement How Castle Rock's eFit program invests in on-site fitness, personal trainers, and paid workout time — and why the return on that investment goes far beyond physical health Why so many men find it easier to help others than to ask for help themselves The practical case for building wellness habits early in a career, before symptoms force the issue What real leadership modeling looks like — and why officers can tell the difference between a chief who talks about wellness and one who protects the time to practice it The one cultural shift Chief Cawley believes would do the most good: building an organization where people feel psychologically and physically safe enough to have honest conversations without fear of consequences ABOUT CHIEF JACK CAWLEY Chief Jack Cawley began his career as a police dispatcher before spending 25 years with the Overland Park Police Department in Kansas. Since January 2012, he has served as Chief of Police for the Castle Rock Police Department in Colorado, where he has championed mandatory wellness check-ins, on-site fitness investment, and a leadership culture built around modeling — not just mandating — officer wellness. ABOUT THE JUST BREATHE PODCAST Just Breathe with Dr. Tracie L. Keesee is a leadership platform for first responders and public safety professionals. Each episode explores how leadership, judgment, accountability, and wellness are shaped by the internal state of the leader making the decision — on the street, in the command staff meeting, and at home. New episodes drop every other week. Control the breath. Control the moment.