Opening And Sponsor Messages
SPEAKER_03
0:00
And what they didn't recognize that I was exhibiting every risky behavior that someone who doesn't care about their life exhibits. You can't be my therapist if I'm telling you something that crushed me and you're crying through it. We don't like to reveal ourselves, but when we do, there has to be the right person there to receive what we're putting down. I think the biggest thing is that you are not alone. The bravest thing that any first responder can do is find the courage to believe in themselves, that they deserve to be healed.
Introducing Lynette And Episode Focus
Voiceover
0:45
Welcome to Responder Resilience, along with Bonnie Rimley, LCSW EMT. I'm David Dashinger. Today we're speaking with Lynette Shaw Butler, the founder of Lynn Shaw Group Training and Consulting, and we're going to discuss the transformative world of empowering first responders through innovative training and education. We'll untangle the threads of cumulative trauma and healing, unpack Lynette's personal journey, and explore why we need robust mental health support systems now more than ever. Join us as we discuss retirement challenges, resilience, and Lynette's groundbreaking training programs for those who dedicate their lives to serving others. This episode is made possible by the First Responder Center for Excellence. We help you focus on staying strong, safe, fit, and resilient. Discover more at First ResponderCenter.org and connect with us on X, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and YouTube. The First Responder Center for Excellence. Equip yourself with excellence for every call. There's a new app built by Firefighters for Firefighters, and it's called Crackle. Download the app now for free as a legacy member and get early access to exclusive content, tools, and updates as they drop. Get the free app at crackle.responderTV.com. We invite you to like and subscribe, YouTube, Respond Resilience, Facebook, Responder TV, LinkedIn, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify. And go to our website, respondertv.com for past episodes and guest information. We'll be right back to speak with Lynette after this. Ask a first responder who they are. And you're likely to hear I am a police officer.
SPEAKER_03
2:14
I am a firefighter. I am a I am a 911 communications operator.
Voiceover
2:20
Not I do this work. But I do this job. Ask a clinician why they work with first responders.
Bonnie Rumilly
2:27
And they may say, There's no fire falling and helping help.
Voiceover
2:31
Join us in shaping a culture where mental health, wellness, and leadership are prioritized, not whispered. What support is the sign of strength, not failure, and where no one has to carry the weight alone. Welcome to Responder Resilience. We shine a spotlight on the unseen battles of first responder reality. And celebrate the powerful wins that come from the grit of post-traumatic growth. We understand the culture, honor the trust, and bring you conversations from the change makers, passionate about helping first responders come home whole. With your host, retired Lieutenant David Dashinger, Dr. Stacy Raymond, and Bonnie Roomley, LCSW EMT. We're really happy to welcome Lynette Shaw Butler. She is the founder and CEO of Lynn Shaw Group, which delivers mental health, resilience, de-escalation, and wellness training for first responders, municipalities, educators, corporate teams, and underserved communities. She holds a degree in psychology and she's certified in suicide prevention, crisis intervention, veteran services, and is a wellness coach. A national advocate for first responder wellness, she was featured on the Times Square Back Them Up Billboard and appeared in the award-winning documentary First Responders Sound the Alarm. She's also the co-author of Your Countdown to Retirement for Law Enforcement. Lynette, warm welcome to Responder Resilience.
SPEAKER_03
3:56
Yeah, I'm I'm excited uh to talk to you both, and I'm just ready to really dive in.
Voiceover
4:03
Right, let's rock it.
Childhood Trauma And Survival
Bonnie Rumilly
4:05
Thanks for sharing your time. So I will dive right in. You have quite a harrowing story as to what brought you to law enforcement, and we would really be happy to hear that story today if you wouldn't mind sharing.
SPEAKER_03
4:20
Not at all. Um I grew up in Patterson, New Jersey, uh probably one of the roughest cities in New Jersey, um, next to Newark. And um my family dynamic, basically, single mom, uh, my dad was in our lives, but um it was very uh traumatic. Uh, the experiences that I had um early on from probably the age of five. And um my dad was uh violent uh with my mom, so I watched, I I saw that a lot. Um and one of the uh biggest things that impacted my life at the age of seven, um, I was in school and I was the type of child that decided that, you know, this day I'm not gonna go to school. Uh my uncle dropped me off in uh at the playground, and I got in line with all the other students, but back um then there was a big uh trailer on the outside of the school yard, and when the bell rang, I backed out of the line and backed underneath that trailer. And at that time, I was grabbed by six boys, dragged into a building across the street. I was tied up, I was raped um repeatedly and left for dead. Um that incident, I I bit out of the ropes, and I got up and I walked home. At the time, my mom worked three jobs. And so when I got home, I got into bed, I washed, I got into bed, and by the time she got home around 10 o'clock at night, uh I had a hundred and five fever when she took my temperature. And back in the day, they didn't rush you to the hospital uh when you had a fever, so she rubbed me down on my head, never looked under the covers. Um she was always tired. I said nothing, and she took care of me. I went back to school a week later um with them thinking that I had the flu. I had several injuries that I hid. Um, I was afraid because my dad at that time, you know, I was I was more afraid because I thought I was gonna get in trouble for playing hooky from school. I did not, I I buried the incident, not not not so much because when I went back to school, my behavior totally changed. Uh I I would fight anybody. I was a good kid, I had good grades. Um, I would fight all the time, but my fighting would be I defend people that I saw others messing with them. And so I was kind of a reverse bully. Um sad, sad story, but I again I'm able to tell it. Um I'm I feel blessed to be able to tell this story because I'm healed. Uh, and I never thought I would be. And that path to healing took a whole lot um because of that in my behavior. My dad, who was a uh prominent bail bondsman that everyone loved uh in Patterson, New Jersey, um, and he worked worked in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, you know, in the tri-state area. Uh, he would bring me to, you know, I'd leave school and I'd go to work in his office so that he can keep an eye on me. And in that, the community, you know, at that time, 70s, 80s, um, was there was a drug epidemic. There was uh the first uh heroin epidemic at that time. And so all the families would come in and try to bail their sons and daughters out. And I was the one to take in all the intake. Uh, I would write the applications, I learned a little Spanish just from talking to Spanish people that would come in. Uh, and they loved me because here's this little kid, you know, I'm nine, ten, eleven, twelve. I worked in my dad's office for quite some time, and then the police would come in and my dad would take me to the jails to actually bail the people who, you know, the criminals out, right? I'd be the one who had to take their picture and take other information at that young age. So then at the age of 18, after working with other police officers, uh, because we had all the files, we had extra information. So the police always came to us to see what kind of information do you have that can help me find this guy, right? And you know, uh one day the guy came in and he's asking my dad. And I'm a nosy little girl, and I'm looking at you know the pictures that he has, and I said, I know where he is, I know where he is, and I know where he is. And they're like, get the hell out of here. No way. And they asked my dad, they said, Len, can we borrow your daughter? So they put me in the back of the car, and um, I said, Okay, we gotta go up to the armory, go up to the army, armory, and we see all three of the people that they're looking for. They jump out of the car, and the car's rolling. I jump from the back seat, jump into the front, and I put the car in gear and and jump back in the backseat. And so they come back after running after these guys and brings them back, and their hands are behind their and they look at me and they're like, Lynette, you know, because they know me, you know, from taking their application, taking their picture. What happened? We didn't do anything. I said, Well, did you get a notice? You were supposed to go to court, and they were like, No, we didn't get a notice. And so I checked when I got back addresses and everything, and sure enough, they hadn't got a notice. So I told my dad he went, had the judge vacate the bail and let them out. So now, word on the street is oh, don't call anybody but Lenny's daughter because she'll help you out. And so I got a reputation in the community at 12 years old, and then those weren't squad squad officers. Now, back in the day, we would never hear this now. Back in the day, they would come and pick me up and take me on stakeouts. They taught me everything that I needed to know.
SPEAKER_02
11:14
Not everyone is meant to walk this path, and that's okay. But for those who feel the call, for those who read these words and feel not just curiosity, but conviction, know this. By the time a first responder sits across from you, they've likely exhausted every internal resource they have. This isn't a routine appointment, it's their 911 call. I don't know how much longer I can do this job. You won't hear sirens, but the urgency is real. If you choose to take that call, understand what it means. To show up, to stay steady, and to carry the weight of someone who spent a career doing the same for others. This is where the work begins. Be the resource they can count on. Order your copy of Helping the Helpers Today on Amazon, and for bulk orders, email us at info at responderTV.com.
Early Work In Bail Bonds And Policing
Risky Pursuits And Unseen Pain
SPEAKER_03
12:13
And then at the age of 18, I took over my dad's uh warrant squad, and that was comprised about of about eight men that were way older than me, uh, some ex-cops, and by that time I was yeah, I was better than all of them because of how I was taught. And I'm not saying better, I just knew how I could get in places that they couldn't because I was this little innocent girl. And so what happened from there is uh newspapers started following me around because I started bringing in numbers of fugitives um over 400 in a year, sometimes five in a day. And it's you know, I I would do the craziest things. Everybody wanted to work with me. Uh and I jumped from roof in Manhattan, roof to roof in Manhattan. I'd run down criminals that were, you know, 6'5 and jump on them, and they'd be running with me on their back and I wouldn't let go. Uh, I just did a lot of really crazy, ridiculous stuff that nobody would, you know. There's a couple of people that are still alive that still call and try to make me talk about these stories. Um, but I think the big thing in this to, you know, to tell you is that uh I had eight people that were around me and and a lot more. And what they didn't recognize that I was exhibiting every risky behavior that someone who doesn't care about their life exhibits, and they never saw me. And so the whole time, and many of us um are like this, we we we hold these things inside that we don't even know what they are, but we don't care whether we live or die. And the truth is, I rather get the man, get the guy, and distract myself from what was really going on inside of me. And that journey uh led me to police work. I just wanted to I wanted to help people. Um when in the school system, I started my business in 2018, and uh that school system, Patterson School System, uh school number 10, uh I went to that school, uh, that was my very first mental health training. I trained teachers, principals, um, the security guards, and and because my behavior changed drastically during during that trauma that I experienced. Um and nobody noticed. They just labeled me a bad kid. They said that, you know, I was gonna be pregnant before this. I was gonna do, you know, they they said all kinds of things about me, and they didn't see my pain. And it wasn't until, you know, I became a police officer uh years later that uh I was doing a class um on I think it was bullying or um stalking, and I was in front of 200 students and we were talking about it. The prosecutor brought a audio tape in and it was of a little girl, and she said, Help, my daddy, and when she said that uh I cannot tell you how I was sitting on the panel, still answering questions, and something opened up inside of me where I started getting flashbacks of the incident, smells, uh just I mean, just flashes of things, and I had no idea what it was. I felt like I was going crazy. I I just didn't know what was happening to me. And after that, I ran out of, you know, I I held my held it together for that time. Uh a few minutes later, I ran out and I went to my car and I was screaming in the car. I had no idea what had happened. And now I know, um, and and through uh actually having to explore it, uh not wanting to, um, it was the most difficult thing that I've ever done to face that something had happened to me that I did not remember. Um and then when it all started coming up, it was probably one of the worst times in my life because at that time I had three children uh and a husband that had no idea. And so exploring that, you know, I I I went to therapy for years, but that first month of it, you know, I actually kicked a window out of the car because I didn't want to go. I mean, that's how intense the feelings were coming up, but it just meant I was ready. Um, I was ready to deal with it. Uh, I was uh and and and I did, and I am still in therapy, but I can tell you those events and and so many more. Um I've dealt with it, um, I understand it, and I use any and everything that has happened to me. I I I've been in therapy for years, and I've had different therapists, and I've done different modalities of therapy, and therapy works. I believe in it. I mean, one size does not fit all. We have to have culturally competent therapists, uh, without a doubt. Uh, they need to know about us, they need to know what not to say to us. Uh, you cannot be my therapist if you tell me I'm I'm coming off of work and I'm in uniform and I'm coming to your office. Can't be my therapist if you tell me you gotta leave your gun out the door. You you cannot be my therapist if you're gonna do that, right? You can't be my therapist if I'm telling you something that crushed me and you're crying through it. I'm sorry, like I I need you at that time to be my strength because it's taking everything that I have to tell you. We don't like to reveal ourselves, but when we do, there has to be the right person there to receive what we're putting down because that can be the difference between me never going to try to heal myself again, one person. And that's what's you know, that's that's why I'm really excited about making sure that first responders get culturally competent therapists, you know, if they're open to that. There's other ways of healing too, but I just, you know, I've I really believe that you get the right therapists, and I've had about five and different somatic therapy, EMDR, uh, just talk therapy, uh, and every single one of those therapists were excellent.
Flashbacks And Beginning Therapy
Voiceover
19:49
Boxing has the power to change lives, especially for first responders. Fight Camp embraces your journey, whether you're stepping into the ring for the first time, returning after a break, or aiming to elevate your fitness. Harness the strength of boxing to release stress, build resilience, and connect with a supportive community one punch at a time. Use code RR10 for a 10% discount on Fight Camp packages and accessories. Go to joinfightcamp.com slash shop. Yeah, and what you are speaking about is very much why we wrote the book um helping the helpers, and that we wanted to make available information that people that do want to work with our population, whether they're therapists or peer support or chaplains, family members, can understand our world and and not only that, but do like a sort of a self-check before they say, I want to do this work, that they are able to bear witness to what they're gonna hear, that they're able to hold the space for the first responder that's gonna share this stuff that they don't share with anybody else. And especially if they create an atmosphere that the first responder can feel comfortable and trust the therapist. So your points are so important. And thank you so much for going deep and sharing that personal part of your journey. We appreciate that. Can you talk a little bit more about your healing journey for like a first responder who's out there? Maybe they've been carrying trauma since childhood and they're maybe just becoming aware of it, or maybe they just want to know what might help them. What would you say to them? What what parts of your journey would be helpful to other first responders who are suffering in silence?
What First Responders Need From Therapists
SPEAKER_03
21:34
I I think the biggest thing is that you are not alone. You're not alone. There have been horrific things that have happened to many of us that we don't divulge it, but you can see it in our behaviors, you can see it in our families, you can see it in the broken marriages, you can see it in relationships, right? And if anyone Deserves to live. I mean live. It's us. We run into homes that people run out of. We run into gunfire when people run away from it. We run into fires when people are running out of it, right? And we do this for people we don't even know. Who deserves more than us to live? I made a choice to live when I made the choice to seek help. And that can be from another first responder, it could be from a therapist, it could be, you know, just to be able to talk to somebody to lead you on a journey to healing. There are so many modalities. Um, somatic therapy helped me, I would, I would say most, although BMDR is amazing, and there's so many different therapies. And you know, the word therapy, I think it scares people, you know, away, especially us. We we hear therapists and and even in some of the departments today that I work in uh and for, uh they in the classes, I'll, you know, I'll reveal me so that they have permission to reveal themselves. And once I do that, people come out and they talk about their things. And and that is what I'm so grateful for is the fact that I'm able, and the only reason I'm able to do it is because I'm healed, you know. Um, do do I cry? Does does some of these things still it we're like onions, right? And we can peel, we can peel it, right? Peel it, peel it, peel it. And and sometimes like onions in the refrigerator, right? That gets down underneath everything, and you can take everything out of the refrigerator and you never find where that smell is coming from, but you know something's wrong with you, right? But you don't know where it is, and so that's where I think therapy comes in. Um, and and uh I I I'm just feeling so blessed that I'm able to say, hey, look, I I I've experienced a lot of trauma, but uh I'm healed, and and it's nothing to be ashamed of that you're not weak. You're you you you are amazing for the job that you do, and you deserve to live. And so my if I could say anything, is that the bravest thing that any first responder can do is find the courage to believe in themselves, that they deserve to be healed, and they deserve a life. Many of us, even after we retire, we're we're we're living in you know, trauma flooding. That's we get that trauma flooding. We retire, we're not doing everything and keeping ourselves busy. And people are scared to retire because they know that all that stuff's gonna come up. Why not do this before you get off the job, right? In the beginning of the job, I really believe in teaching this stuff to um recruits. It's important to have them be able to anticipate some things. And in my I taught seven police academy classes, all of them were mental health classes, and one of the things that I said to the recruits is I said, I want to tell you right now whether you need it or not. You guys have any problems when you were kids? You guys have any problems, financial problems as adults or whatever? Get a therapist now because you're gonna need it. Get a therapist, and and they were so open to it um that they said, Well, they were asking questions like, Well, if I get a therapist now, will that impede me from getting promoted on the job? Will it, you know? I'm like, who has to know that you're getting a therapist? Use your insurance. No one has to know, and no one will know unless you are a danger to yourself or others and or you're suicidal. And then in that case, you want somebody to know, you know, and so there is nothing saying that we can't go get a therapist, and I think that is something that people worry about on the job. Are they gonna think I'm crazy or are they gonna think I'm good enough for a promotion? You know, am I gonna, you know, be picked on, or you know, that stigma, I'll I'll tell you, it it stops us from doing a lot of things. But what saved me is and and many first responders feel like I do. I don't give a crap what anyone thinks of me. I speak for me. If you don't like me, there has to be something wrong with you because I am full of love and light, and I'm gonna help anybody that I can, especially in this profession uh that you know might just need a little nudge to help themselves. I don't want I I don't like the word help so much. I like empower because we're first responders, we can do anything, and so why not empower us to be able to take care of our own mental health?
Bonnie Rumilly
27:25
All units stand by for a confirmed structure fire with important person's trade.
Voiceover
27:36
In a world where first responders save lives, this book could help save theirs by preparing you to answer when they call for help. Based on over 200 conversations and the trusted team behind the Responder Resilience podcast, helping the helpers gives you the tools to understand their world, speak their language, and earn their trust. This work is challenging, but deeply needed and profoundly rewarding. Their stories don't start with trauma, but too often they end there. Infused with real-life experiences, this guide reveals the human behind the badge and equips you to build a first responder-centered practice that works, from understanding their culture to the practical realities of working with first responders and chapters across the spectrum of first responder professions. You'll gain insight into the hidden struggles that shape their reality and the steps you can take to help them heal. When trust is shattered, the stakes are high. This book helps you build it before it's too late. Are you ready to make a difference? Be the resource they can count on. Order your copy of Helping the Helpers, the Clinician's Guide to First Responder Mental Wellness today.
Bonnie Rumilly
28:50
Well, before we pivot, I I want to say how profoundly grateful I am for your vulnerability today and sharing your story. It it's important for first responders who can handle hearing that story, by the way, um, to hear it. And what I think it also speaks to, and the thing that you just said about not caring, and I'm gonna shine my light and I'm gonna help as many people as I can. You're the picture of post-traumatic growth. You know, you you are what we want to have out there in the world and what we believe is a possibility for every first responder and every human, by the way, to heal and to get to a place where they have this armor because they've healed. You can talk about your story because you've done the work on it. And you're right, I think the fear is facing the story. And people spend so much time running from the story, hiding it. Um and if one person faces their story because of you today, then we've all won and we've all done what we set out for. So I thank you for your post-traumatic growth. I see this little powerhouse of a girl growing up into this woman who is helping so many. And with that, I want to pivot because we have a mutual friend, uh, Catherine Severns Avery, who you wrote a book with, um, but who's also doing amazing things out there in Colorado. We're both connected to her with different projects and in different ways. Can you talk a little bit about knowing Catherine, some of the work with her, some of the other work that you're doing out there as well? Absolutely.
Healing Tools And Breaking Stigma
SPEAKER_03
30:33
Uh, Catherine Severans Avery is a legend in powerhouse herself. Uh, she has a heart of absolute gold. Uh, and you know her story, um, how her husband was killed by robbers, and she used money from her dad's uh from her inheritance to buy a 40-acre ranch to house first responders who just need respite. You know, I I don't know anybody that, you know, I just don't know anybody with a bigger heart than Katherine has. And I've been working with her. Uh, we first worked on the book. Um, when we met immediately, Soul Sisters, uh, we have that same heart. And we worked on a book uh for it's called Your Countdown to Retirement for Law Enforcement. And that book, you know, it's everything except financial. And because all we want to know as first responders, how are we gonna end up at the end of this financially? Well, what we don't consider is how are we gonna end up when we stop working and we stop keeping ourselves busy? And and quite frankly, you know, there's trauma flooding, everything that from all of the years that we have not handled our stuff and we have not addressed it, it all comes up and that turns into heart disease, it can turn into diabetes, you know, the body keeps score, and you know, that's so vitally important. And Catherine and I put all of this in a book. Um, it's it's things like, you know, if you're planning to move to Florida, like I did when I retired, right? Um, make sure if if your kids are there that you know they're gonna stay there because sometimes they get another job and they're going to California. Now you've packed up your whole life, used all your resources, and now you can't you can't go anywhere. And you're someplace where you don't know people, you your kids are not there anymore. And and it's things to think about that can happen in retirement. The other thing that we're doing is we just put together uh it's a training alliance. Uh, it's a global training alliance where there are people just like us, uh other trainers that do crisis intervention, de-escalation, assessments, grief. Uh, where we are all collaborating and we're under one umbrella to give a menu of trainings to help departments not have to go shop around for good trainings or things that, but something where they can go to one place and get whatever they need uh for their department with regard to wellness and retirement. That's great.
Voiceover
33:32
Yeah, we are um we are very much mission-driven on those topics as well of retirement, where um speaking personally, having gone through the you know the journey of leaving the job and then retiring, so many things you're mentioning, Lynette, are so true that we're not prepared for. And uh and we've seen such a huge need for preparing first responders, probably from day one all the way up through the you know the finish line to start to first of all be aware, but second come up with tools and resources to cope with the inevitabilities, right? The loss of identity, the loss of the mission, the team, being still feeling finding a way to feel relevant after we've done a job that makes you feel so vitally relevant and alive, right? Um so many aspects to that. Can you speak to some of the other things that you want first responders to know as far as retiring and having a be a successful, healthy retirement?
SPEAKER_03
34:34
Yeah, if we get, I mean, here's something that I know you know. We get so many trainings, and and we are, you know, we're sent to I I started in crisis intervention and and then the police academy wanted me to teach seven mental health classes um after a psychologist retired. And I was so honored to do that because I'm no psychologist, I'm no clinician, right? I don't have those, those, you know, I I've certainly worked with many clinicians because I love them. And not at first, I didn't. Um I I I thought woo-woo and and you know, take my shoes off and whatnot. That's that's what I thought. Um but when when I came to myself and I realized the importance of our relationships with clinicians, forget it. I mean, uh I I have many friends. I've taught classes for clinicians around the country to tell them how we feel. Uh, you know, that's what I have the skill in. I I'm a first responder that knows what we need and and how to get on the other side to actually heal and live. And so I am I am doing that. Uh I am absolutely doing that. And I just want to climb back over the wall, throw that rope down, and pull up as many as I can over that wall. Because, you know, we can we can actually do this. And to to your point of of relevance, right? The things that we are taught in the police academy, the extra classes that we have to get, right, they can turn in to actual jobs that just like I'm doing, right?
SPEAKER_04
36:26
Yep.
Retirement Readiness And Identity
SPEAKER_03
36:27
All the classes that I took, I took advanced stuff. And I also ran an office of veteran in military affairs at the University of uh William Patterson when the uh they came back from Afghanistan and Iraq. I actually created a program for them so that they can transition back into uh civilian life. And when I tell you that I had Marines, army from every branch, and many of them were broken. They had done three, four tours at a time, and they called me to be director of this program and to actually create it, and it's one of the proudest things that I've ever done in my entire life. I was in charge of 1,000 um service members, and when I tell you that we went through a whole lot of things, um I I was privileged, um unfortunately, but but fortunately, privileged to have a few Marines, one that tried to take his life, and I was able to find him in time. And this particular Marine is now a principal in a school, and I mean, just it's just such good, really good work where they decided to go to therapy. I was able to, you know, relate to me, you know, and I'm paramilitary, not you know, military. We serve stateside, right? But that's another thing. Those who are veterans are feeling the very same thing that we feel, it's just different, um, different situations, but the same symptoms. Um, and we could never know how anybody feels. And that that is for anybody out there. Anybody that's gonna talk to somebody, please don't say I know how you feel, because you don't know how I feel. You you can understand that I feel bad, but you don't know how I feel. Each of us, if we were to go through the same thing, um, we would feel differently about it because we're individuals, and so yeah, I think that um first responders have so much to give on the other side of the job, and that relevance thing is is you know, it's a pain point. You see somebody on the side of the road, you want to help your brother, right, or sister on the side of the road. You can't, you know. You see somebody fighting, you wanna, you know, you wanna try to de-escalate it and what it's not your job, right? You know, it's you know, and that's hard. That's hard. But if you find something that you love and you have the skills, there's no doubt that every single first responder has the skills to create their own lane, what they were good at, what they love, if they love their brothers, that that's me. I love first responders. I also love underserved kids because I was one of those underserved kids. So, what I do is I go teach underserved kids that hate cops, and I show them somebody. Oh, you oh, you hate me. I I did a class once, and like yeah, I went around. I was like, you know, your name and why you're here, whatever. And one guy said, I hate cops, right? I said, Okay, you know, nope, no problem. You know, at the end of the class, I went around. Give me something that you learned. Um, each of you never judge a book by its cover. And I love to see the change when they see that we are people too, and and that dynamic that most don't understand. I dive into the fact that we are traumatized as first responders, and those underserved kids are traumatized. And when trauma meets trauma, there's trouble because neither of us are healed. And I'd I'd like to see a world where we both understand that. So there's less killings and there's less people going astray that could do something wonderful in the world, right? But we get trauma versus trauma, and until that's addressed within us, you know, it's it's it's it's a it's a tough dynamic. She fulfilled a promise that was made to her husband and donated his organs so others could live.
Voiceover
41:11
Five lives were saved in the process.
SPEAKER_01
41:15
He always did what was better for other people instead of himself. I would definitely consider my dad a hero.
SPEAKER_02
41:21
Getting the word out there, you're saving lives.
SPEAKER_01
41:24
Actually, their help helped my parents to be able to get me a car, so I could definitely get to dialysis.
SPEAKER_02
41:29
I heard about you and I'm gonna help you. They saved my life.
SPEAKER_01
41:33
Be a forever hero, donate life.
Voiceover
41:37
Bonnie, any other thoughts or questions for Lynette?
Training Alliances And Clinician Partnerships
Bonnie Rumilly
41:41
Yeah, I want to thank you so much for being here, for sharing such nuggets of wisdom, for all the projects you're doing. I know for everything you've shared that you are doing. I know you. If you're like Catherine, you've got five other things going on that you're not talking about right now, but they're certainly being planted, planned, and plotted, uh, which I appreciate. Um, and I'm just so grateful for everything that you've said. Certain things that you said speak to me too, um, just as a responder, as someone who's done some healing. So I really I'm so grateful for our listeners and viewers to see this and to hear you speak today. And I think we have a good title in there something about when trauma meets trouble. So thank you for for putting that out there for us.
SPEAKER_03
42:26
I so appreciate you both. And it is so amazing, you know, to meet you both. Um, I'm sure this will not be our last time talking. Um, I'm a collaborator, so whatever we can do together, um, I would love that.
Voiceover
42:42
Absolutely. And before we completely wrap up, um, any links, social media website you want to share where people can find you?
SPEAKER_03
42:50
Sure. My website is Lynchhaw Group, uh, just the Lenshaw Group. Uh, you can go there and find all of my information, including emails, uh, and my social media is Lynch Shaw Group as well, uh, on Instagram. Uh I um I'm on LinkedIn. Uh I'm out there. Um, I teach a whole lot of cumulative trauma classes and do wellness programs for um for first responders uh who departments that they don't they don't have them at all or they've not been exposed to mental health training.
Voiceover
43:32
Fantastic. And um one of the amazing things about doing this podcast is you never know how you're gonna connect with someone who's gonna be a great guest. And in our case, um I was presenting at a const uh convention called Podfest about our book. And there was a woman sitting in the front who immediately started connecting and engaging and within thirty seconds says, You have to meet my friend Lynette. Um texting you about uh what we were talking about. So it was uh it was one of those things that, you know, kind of divine intervention. So happy that we did connect and that we've had this conversation and and a few others. And I look forward to continuing uh finding ways to collaborate because you're doing amazing work and uh it's important stuff that we all need to be supporting each other in. So thank you so much.
SPEAKER_03
44:22
Thank you. And Bonnie um Catherine was right you're you're amazing and David uh you already know how I feel about you. Thank you so much for doing what you're doing. You are you're saving lives. You are absolutely saving lives so don't stop doing what you're doing. Thank you.
Voiceover
44:42
Thank you. Remember to like and subscribe we're on YouTube, Responder Resilience, Facebook, Responder TV, we're on LinkedIn, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and our website is respondertv.com for past episodes and you can find guest information there as well. Till the next time, stay safe, be kind to yourself. Take care of the
