Speakers
Suzanne Best
Suzanne Best is a Clinical Psychologist practicing in Portland, OR where she specializes in treating law enforcement and military personnel suffering from posttraumatic stress and other duty-related conditions. She is regularly called upon to provide post-shooting debriefings, and present and consult on critical incident stress issues. In addition, over the past 15 years Dr. Best has researched and written extensively on police stress, and recently authored a chapter on Critical Incident Stress in the Handbook of Police Psychology. She is an active member of the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) Psychological Services Section and the Society for Criminal and Police Psychology and chaired the most recent committee to revise the IACP Guidelines on Officer Involved Shootings.
Nancy K. Bohl, PH. D
Nancy K. Bohl, PH. D is the Director of The Counseling Team International, which is also The Southern California Critical Incident Stress Management Team. She is a licensed Mental Health Professional who holds a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology and a Masters Degree in Counseling/ Education. She has provided a variety of psychological support services to more than 90 law-enforcement and fire agencies and several private organizations since 1985. Nancy is an adjunct faculty member of Riverside City College and San Bernardino Valley College. She also is a frequent guest speaker at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia.
Dr. Bohl provides a three-day Peer Support conference, which provides training to emergency personnel who want to be peer supporters for their agencies. A few of the agencies that have utilized this training include the Los Angeles, San Bernardino, San Diego and Riverside County Sheriff’s Departments, the FBI, ATF, BIA, Secret Service, U.S. Marshals, Border Patrol, California Highway Patrol, Kansas and Washington State Patrols, Canadian Mounted Police, and most recently the U.S. Army.
Paige Hirt, LPC, NCC, CADC I
Paige Hirt, LPC, NCC, CADC I, is a Mental Health and Addictions Counselor in her private practice at Foundations Counseling & Consultation Services, LLC. In addition to her role as a therapist, Paige provides consultation services to educators, mental health agencies, law enforcement, medical personnel, parents and other community partners in the form of suicide prevention and intervention, mental health and alcohol & drug education, and positive behavior support. Paige has 18 years experience working in the mental health field with youth, adolescents and families and is an ASIST (Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training) Trainer. Paige has worked in residential treatment settings, community mental health settings, and within an organized health care setting. Areas of clinical focus include suicide prevention and intervention, alcohol & drug education and treatment, effective parenting strategies, depression and working with trauma, anxiety and PTSD.
Belinda Y. Maddy
Belinda Y. Maddy earned her undergraduate degree from Eastern Oregon University in 2004, graduating magna cum laude. She completed her Masters in Social Work at Portland State University in 2006. Ms. Maddy joined the Department of Veterans Affairs in 2006 as part of a newly formed Complex Addictions team. She co-founded a women's program for substance abuse treatment and a dual diagnosis group. In May 2010 she became the Portland VA Medical Center's first Veteran's Justice Outreach Coordinator. Ms. Maddy serves as the Veterans Justice Outreach committee chair for the VA VISN Region (Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Alaska) and is currently on a training committee for the Veterans Justice Outreach National Program. She participated in a grant for the first Veteran's Court in the Portland metro area, which started in March 2011.
Prior to joining the VA, Ms. Maddy worked in the criminal-justice system for 24 years. Ms. Maddy started her career as a police specialist at the Clark County Sheriff’s Office, where she was the Field Training Officer for her unit. She provided training to specialist and patrol in many areas, which included Courtroom Testifying and Effective Communication. For the next 24 years she worked as a liaison, administrator, and paralegal. She was a founding member of the Domestic Violence Prosecution Center in Clark County and served as the lead paralegal.
Ms. Maddy represents the Portland VA Medical Center as the Veterans Justice Outreach Coordinator, which incorporates an area of 21 Oregon Counties and 6 Washington Counties. Ms. Maddy provides services to Veterans incarcerated in local jails, which include clinical assessment to determine treatment needs and provide the Court a proposed treatment plan. She participates as a court liaison and assists in developing and implementing Veterans Courts.
Monica Parmley, LCSW
Monica Parmley, LCSW, serves as the Mental Health Coordinator for Portland Public Schools and a therapist at Foundations Counseling and Consultation Services. She has been an ASOS (Applied Suicide Interventions Skills Training) trainer since July 2010 and has worked with you and their families in various roles for over ten years. Since 2002, Monica has been a social worker providing individual, family and group therapy, primarily in school settings. Monica has experience teaching on topics such as suicide prevention, girls’ empowerment, mentoring, family engagement, parenting the sexually abused child, navigating the stages of grief and loss, the culture of poverty, and self-harm.
Michael F. Pool
Michael F. Pool is the Peer Director of the West Coast Post Trauma Retreat (WCPR). Mike is retired after having served 30 years in municipal law-enforcement agencies. Mike's area of experience included Dispatch, Patrol, Investigations, Narcotics and Special Response Team (SWAT). He is a past member and formerly the President of the Northbay Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) Team. Mike is a founding member of WCPR, and is currently the Peer Coordinator managing a staff of 75 First Responder peers and 20 culturally competent clinicians.
As the Peer Coordinator, Mike has participated in over 500 critical incident debriefings for all emergency services disciplines for numerous agencies, Military, Federal and State, throughout the United States, Canada, Europe and the Middle East. He has also counseled over 1,000 First Responders with relation to their experiences and how they affect their personal and work lives. He continues to do this on a daily basis.
Dr. Garen Weitman
Dr. Garen Weitman is a Licensed Psychologist and her private practice is in Lake Oswego. She provides psychotherapy, consultation, and critical incident stress management services to the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office, Portland Police Bureau, Oregon State Police and numerous other agencies in our area. She also provides psychotherapy to fire service, 911 dispatchers, and corrections personnel. She works with individuals and couples. She is also a consultant for a health promotion program for public safety officers under the direction of Oregon Health & Science University.
Prior to graduate school, Dr. Weitman was a Reserve Police Officer for the West Linn Police Department. She was employed by the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office for 9 years where she worked in an administrative role and also as a Community Service Officer serving the Patrol and Detective Divisions.
Dr. Weitman will be presenting on identifying and coping with Compassion Fatigue.