Counseling Services For Fire Fighters Hosts First Clinician Workshop As Part Of
Their Triangle of Hope™ Support System
The numbers of firefighter suicides are jawdropping. As often as a few times a week, Counseling Services For Fire Fighters (CSFF) Founder Jeff Dill finds himself answering calls for help from fire chiefs around the Country.
It is because of these calls for help from our nation’s firefighters and their families that
CSFF developed the Triangle of Hope™ behavioral health support system. Each point
of the triangle represents a support system for a firefighter in need.
• Point I – Clinicians: Educate professionals on the unique lifestyle and emotions of
firefighters and their families.
• Point II – Senior Fire Officers: Train Officers to recognize the warning signs of a
firefighter in behavioral distress and how to direct them to the appropriate
resources.
• Point III – Peer Group: Designated non-officers who are educated to watch for
signs of turmoil and offer an in-house support system for fellow firefighters.
Including options for behavioral health resources.
On December 7, 2010 CSFF conducted its first behavioral health workshop specifically
geared for clinicians to help develop quality relationships between the clinician world and
the fire service. This clinician workshop titled A Firefighter’s Life, open to LCPC, LPC,
LCSW, LSW, and Marriage Counselors, involves a careful examination of a day in the
life of a firefighter. It focuses on providing a basic understanding of a typical day at a
firehouse, fire service terminology, emotional and physical stressors that firefighters are
faced with, mock scenario role-playing exercises, tactical execution, as well as open
discussion allowing clinicians to gain a greater understanding of the fire service culture.
To ultimately assure support is confidential and easily accessible to all the men and
women of the fire service, CSFF has created a Certified Clinician Directory section on
their www.csff.info website listing clinician contacts that have completed the CSFF
Certified Clinician Workshop. With an enhanced comprehension of the fire service
culture, clinicians are then able to better assist firefighters and their families when
working with them in a professional setting. The CSFF website receives many hits daily
from fire service personnel specifically searching for clinicians that have an enhanced
knowledge base of the fire service culture to help them in their time of need. Firefighters
seeking a licensed counselor can now easily connect with a CSFF Certified Clinician
from this listing database.
For more information on the workshops CSFF is currently offering, view the calendar of
upcoming workshop dates and locations, learn more about PTSD Screening or the
critical topic of suicide within the fire service in CSFF’s Firefighter Suicide Awareness
workshop due out in February 2011, visit www.csff.info
About CSFF
Counseling Services For Fire Fighters, LLC (CSFF) conducts workshops that offer
behavioral health support to firefighters, train senior fire officers and educate clinicians
on the benefits of understanding the life and emotions of firefighters. Established based
on the tragic events that surrounded Hurricane Katrina, Founder Battalion Chief Jeff Dill
spoke with firefighters who returned after serving the community of New Orleans that
had a difficult time talking with counselors who did not have any firefighting experience.
These firefighters became frustrated and never did seek the help they needed. CSFF’s
workshop formats are designed to help improve the awareness of behavioral health
within the fire service and provide knowledge to better read the signs and symptoms.
Role playing exercises facilitated by CSFF Founder Battalion Chief Jeff Dill, teach how
to listen, talk and recommend guidance so that awareness of at-risk firefighters can be
identified before tragedy strikes. Being a firefighter himself, Jeff wants to let his fellow
brothers and sisters know it is okay to ask and seek help when struggling emotionally in
their lives. Those that give help should also be able to receive the same treatment of
compassion when they are faced with their own behavioral health problems.
Jeff Dill holds a Master’s Degree in Counseling and is currently a Battalion Chief at
Palatine Rural Fire Protection District in Inverness, Illinois. He is a member of the
American Counseling Association, Illinois Counseling Association, Illinois Mental Health
Counselors Association, Illinois Fire Chiefs Association, International Association of Fire
Chiefs, Illinois Professional Firefighter’s Association and is also an alumni member of
International Association of Fire Fighters. He is dedicated to educating firefighters and
emergency personnel on the importance of behavioral health and suicide awareness.
Contact Information: Counseling Services For Fire Fighters, LLC
P.O. Box 1141, Woodstock, IL 60098
Jeff Dill, Founder – Mobile (847) 209-820
jeff@csff
