I Love a Cop

What Police Families Need to Know

Nothing worth doing is easy—and that includes loving a cop. Being a member of the law enforcement community is a source of pride for officers and families alike. It can also be a source of worry. Will police work change the person you love? Are police marriages destined to fail? What are the chances of your loved one being killed in the line of duty? Separating fact from myth, I address these and other critical questions. After working with police officers and their families for more than 30 years I know practical ways to deal with the challenges that come with the territory. Go behind the scenes with other police families as they discuss the benefits and pitfalls of police work; learn how to manage the effects of organizational stress and the pressures of unpredictable schedules, long hours, worry and loneliness; gain awareness of the emotional, physical, and behavioral warning signs which can lead to such extreme situations as posttraumatic stress, alcoholism, suicide and intimate partner abuse; find out where and when to go for help and counseling; and get an inside look at cop couples and the special challenges facing women, minorities, and gays and lesbians on the force.

With 125,000 copies in print, I Love A Cop is used by hundreds of police academies, spousal academies, and departments around the country. Whether you read it from cover to cover or reach for it when problems arise, it is my hope “I Love a Cop” will be an indispensable tool that everyone in your family can depend on.

I Love a Fire Fighter

What The Family Needs to Know

This second edition of I Love a Fire Fighter is, like the first, intended to raise awareness of the psychological consequences of being a fire service family. It is my goal to describe the subtle and obvious ways the demands of this unique occupation spill over to home and to suggest strategies that you—as a parent, a child, a sibling, a spouse, a friend, or a significant other—can use to manage the spillover and/or learn to live with it. I’ve added many new stories, updated research on trauma and addictions, and included two new chapters, one on couple’s relationships and one on the challenges to the family from wild land fire fighting.

Counseling Cops

Grounded in clinical research, extensive experience, and deep familiarity with police culture, our book offers practical guidance for psychotherapists and counselors. Using real life stories from our practices, we depict the pressures and challenges of police work and explain the impact that line-of-duty issues can have on officers and their loved ones. Numerous concrete examples and tips show how to build rapport with cops, use a range of effective intervention strategies, and avoid common missteps and misconceptions. Approaches to working with frequently encountered clinical problems—such as substance abuse, depression, trauma, and marital conflict—are discussed in detail.