Choose Positive Living with Sara Troy and her guest Kevin Briggs, on air from December 20th
Tis the Season to be Jolly, but also the Season that so many people make attempts to take their own lives. Kevin Briggs, a retired California Highway Patrol Sergeant, has prevented many a soul from jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge where he was a patrol cop for 23 years.
We all have mountains to climb, we all have moments when we feel despair, we all need to be heard to know that someone cares, Kevin shares how we can recognize that someone in trouble and what we can do to help them through it.
Briggs is a retired California Highway Patrol officer who spent many years patrolling the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. While on patrol, he encountered numerous individuals clinging to life by a thread – individuals who had lost hope and could see no way out of their current situation – ready to jump off the bridge to what they assumed was a sudden death and ending of their pain and hopelessness.
Briggs, through his compassion, gentle voice, eye contact, and his innate ability of “listening to understand” encouraged more than 200 individuals over his career to either not go over the bridge’s rail or come back to solid ground from where they had been standing precariously out on the chord of the bridge and start a new chapter in their life. These challenging, but rewarding efforts earned him the nickname “Guardian of the Golden Gate Bridge.” After a 23-year career with the California Highway Patrol, Briggs retired to dedicate his life to promoting mental health awareness across the globe through Pivotal Points, an organization he founded to help Crisis Management, Suicide Prevention, and Leadership Skills.
TUNE IN HERE FOR ON-DEMAND LISTENING AND HELP PREVENT A LOSS OF LIFE
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Briggs speaks publicly about not having the right kind of professional training to effectively assist persons in crisis when he first began work as a patrol officer. Throughout his career, he reached out to senior officers who had been in the trenches, asking for their guidance – how to approach an individual in crisis, what to say, what not to say, the tone of voice, among many other things. He sought various professional training avenues including hostage negotiator training to continue to improve his skills and abilities. Over time and using all the things he learned, Briggs found a positive way to approach people in crisis, using listening skills he practised to find the “thread” that would encourage individuals to find hope for tomorrow and allow them to make the decision to live for another day. He is a mental health consumer himself – Briggs suffers from depression related to his highway patrol officer and work leader experiences (including a motorcycle accident in which he was severely injured), as well as losing his grandfather to suicide, and other personal and family experiences.
Today, Briggs is mapping a movement as he speaks publicly about his suicide prevention and crisis encounters with people on the bridge. He shares his “Listening to Understand” skills followed up with key active listening points for anyone to use; his personal triad for healthy living; his RELEASE model to assist anyone in crisis; his crisis plan, and his own mental health struggles while serving in the Army, as a police officer, as a cancer survivor, as a family member and father, and as a leader and co-worker. Briggs spends the majority of his time speaking at training events, conferences, advocacy events and walks for mental / physical / behavioral health, college and university, first responder, law enforcement (including FBI), military, AFSP, NAMI, corporations, and other venues.
In 2015, Briggs had the privilege of working across Australia with law enforcement, mental health organizations, and Mates in Construction, which works to reduce suicide in the Australian construction industry. During his time there, he conducted 22 presentations focused on suicide prevention and crisis management.
In 2016, Briggs had the privilege of Keynote and Workshop Presenter in Aachen, Germany at the International Federation of Telephone Emergency Services (IFOTES) Conference. IFOTES offers emotional support, immediately accessible to any person suffering from loneliness, in a state of psychological crisis, or contemplating suicide by telephone, mail or chat services. At the time, there were 31 Federations from 23 countries as a member of IFOTES, working with about 22,000 voluntary workers and 1,000 professionals in the member countries.
As an international Crisis Management, Suicide Prevention, and Leadership Skills presenter, Sergeant Kevin Briggs’ story and lived experiences have been featured at the Technology, Entertainment, and Design 2014 Conference as a TEDTalk, Ciudad de Las Ideas (Mexico), Yahoo News, The New Yorker Magazine, Men’s Health Magazine, NPR’s Bob Edwards Radio Show, People Magazine, USA Today, as well as other magazines, newspapers, radio, and podcasts across the world. His first book, Guardian of the Golden Gate: Protecting the Line Between Hope and Despair, was released in July 2015.
In honor of his work, Briggs has received several awards:
- 2016 recipient of the National Council for Behavioral Health Visionary Leadership Award
- 2015 recipient of the joint American Psychiatric Association and California Psychiatric Association Warren Williams Award
- 2015 recipient of the Matthew Silverman Memorial Foundation Matt’s Hero Award
- 2013 recipient of the ASIS International Outstanding Officer Award
- 2013 Harvey’s Heroes Award (Steve Harvey Show)
- American Foundation for Suicide Prevention Public Service Award
- California State Senate Resolution for Public Service
- Bay Area Jefferson Award for Public Service
- Heroes Award, given by the Northern California Association of Public Safety Communications Officials International
- 2004 International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) Outstanding Service Award
Kevin is also a member of Bravo748 helping veterans find their way back into a productive meaningful life.
Buy his book
AMAZON
http://pivotal-points.com
http://bravo748.com/presenters/kevin-briggs
Suicide Hot Line
facebook.com/PivotalPoints
twitter.com/PivotalPts
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A song of love to heal our souls
Jeffrey R. Fidel, MD refuses to live his life medicated for Bipolar I disorder. In near complete solitude, he endured nearly a full year of intense mental anguish. Utilizing mainly the ancient teachings of Lao Tzu’s Tao Te Ching, he learned how to connect to a voice originating from his heart. The “voice within” teaches him that our true identity is “beyond thought” and that we and the universe are I(One)… Dr. Fidel is now sharing these ancient teachings to help others discover their answer inside. He says, “By quieting the constant chattering of our minds, we begin to hear the inner voice that originates from our hearts. By surrendering the ‘thought of who we are,’ we can begin to accept this inner voice as our teacher. This inner voice teaches us that we are one.” Jeffrey R. Fidel graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree from Brandeis University in Waltham, MA. He earned his Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree from Tulane University in New Orleans, LA. Dr. Fidel is a board certified-MRI fellowship trained diagnostic radiologist who completed both his residency and fellowship training at the University of Miami in Miami, Florida. His hobbies include classical piano, snow skiing, math, and science. He currently resides in Florida with his son Andrew.
I discovered that many of our health challenges can be tracked down to old trauma and unhealthy beliefs and emotions stuck in our system. These programs can be changed and when you do the inner work, your outer reality will begin to shift accordingly.
Jenny was born in Yellowknife, but lived the majority of her life in Vernon, British Columbia. Jenny graduated Grade 12 with Honors and Scholarships and then moved right after High School to Vancouver to attend Vancouver Film School for Animation and is now a 2D Classical and 3D Digital Character Design Animator. Jenny recently just finished working on a film for Super Channel with her animation and about to start on another film. Jenny also published her novel of a Trilogy in May 2015 and right from pre order was an Amazon and Canadian Best Seller. She is currently working on the second novel for the Trilogy. Despite being diagnosed with very low functioning Autism at 3 years old, Jenny has blossomed and always remained focused on pursuing her dreams and is passionate in inspiring others to do the same. She has just turned 23 this month, 95 % out of her Autism and is living proof and a role model to show others that Autism is not a Death Sentence but a rich fulfilled Life Sentence.
Janet Walmsley is a born and raised Manitoban, where she lived 20 years of her life and the who has also lived in Vernon, BC, Yellowknife, NWT and Germany. Janet was a Dental Assistant & Hygienist for 27 years and Head Marketer for a Canadian Company for 14 years. She now lives in Vancouver, BC Canada and along with being a Mother to Jenny and her son Chris, Janet has an active professional career in acting, with her theater career spanning decades and been in Film, TV, Commercials, Voice Overs and much more, for the past 6 years. Recently Janet was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for a Comedy at the 6th Annual Indie Awards in Los Angles and was submitted for Leo Award nomination here in BC. In June of 2016, Janet was awarded the 2016 Unlimited Woman of Creativity in Victoria, BC. When Jenny was first diagnosed with Autism it has been Janet’s mission to support Jenny 110% and raise Autism awareness and bring out the positive of Autism and not the usual stigma with it. Janet has and does work tirelessly in every avenue to provide all the support and opportunities for her daughter and be her constant rock, her voice and sounding board. Even going out of Canada to research Autism, find more support and further her knowledge about caring for her daughter. Even though diagnosed with Breast Cancer in July of 2014, Janet published her own book, The Autistic Author and Animator, A Mother’s View of a Daughter’s Triumph, as Janet and Jenny wanted to publish their books at the same time and do book events and talks together. It is also a best seller and Jenny’s story is reaching out and touching the hearts of many people. Her story is not only to reach out to the Autistic community, but to everyone.
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