On September 8th, we participated in training with members of the Charleston Fire Department as Amanda Custer of The Middle Path in Knoxville, Tennessee presented her new program “MindResponse.” The program is based on the use of Dialectic Behavioral Therapy (DBT) as a method of learning mindfulness, interpersonal effectiveness, emotion regulation, and distress tolerance. While DBT is not new to the clinical world, it uses different techniques not seen often in emergency services behavioral health care. Amanda was one of the original clinicians for our Charleston Firefighter Support Team when we began in 2007 after the tragic Sofa Super Store where nine of our CFD brothers perished. She has played a huge part not only for our Team but in the success of emergency services behavioral health programs throughout our State.
In 2012, when we transitioned to the Lowcountry Firefighter Support Team, Amanda continued to collaborate with us. In 2018, Amanda retired from the South Carolina Department of Mental Health after twenty-eight years of service, and thankfully, we were able to persuade her to continue to be a part of our Team. She spent the last eleven years of her DMH career serving our first responders and their families and we are thrilled to see her in the classroom today with her new program. “MindResponse” is quite amazing as it has provided us with training we have not been exposed to before. Our Team is determined to continue to pursue other programs to meet the needs of our emergency services personnel and their families.
Special thanks to the members of the CFD Peer Support Team and the CFD command staff for your attendance and participation today and to Hope Reneau of The Middle Path for believing that we can make a difference and supporting the creation of this program.
For more information or for scheduling a “MindResponse” class for your organization, contact us here or Amanda at 843-297-2520.