{"id":1002,"date":"2026-05-19T06:33:52","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T06:33:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=1002"},"modified":"2026-05-19T06:33:52","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T06:33:52","slug":"bay-area-first-responders-graduate-from-mental-health-program-aimed-at-helping-their-own-its-a-new-tool","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=1002","title":{"rendered":"Bay Area first responders graduate from mental health program aimed at helping their own: ‘It’s a new tool’"},"content":{"rendered":"

CLEARWATER, Fla.<\/strong> – <\/span>Law enforcement officers across the country are facing a growing mental health crisis, with suicides continuing to outpace line-of-duty deaths in many years.<\/p>

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Now, a group of Bay Area first responders is hoping to change that.<\/p>

A first-of-its-kind mental health and resiliency program at St. Petersburg College graduated its latest class this week in Clearwater, bringing together officers, deputies and emergency personnel from agencies across the region.<\/p>

<\/div>

First responder mental health crisis<\/h2>

Why you should care:<\/p>

For many graduates, the certificate represented far more than another training course.<\/p>

“It\u2019s a new tool to help save lives behind the badge,” Sgt. Corey Lenczden with the Clearwater Police Department said. “We\u2019ve seen such a dramatic increase in law enforcement officers taking their lives. That\u2019s a staggering amount, and we\u2019re trying to figure out ways to combat that.”<\/p>

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The nine-month program, developed by the\u00a0Sun Coast Police Benevolent Association\u00a0and\u00a0St. Petersburg College, and fully funded by the Pepin Family Foundation\u00a0and\u00a0Tampa Bay Area Chiefs of Police Foundation, is focused on helping first responders recognize trauma, process stress and support one another through the mental weight of the job.<\/p>

Higher officer suicide risk<\/h2>

Research shows law enforcement officers face a significantly higher risk of suicide than the general public.<\/p>

\u00a0“We\u2019re expected to see anywhere from 400 to 600 to 800 traumatic events over our 20-year career,” Lenczden said. “If you don\u2019t have the proper tools to deal with that, it\u2019s going to lead down the road where we\u2019re ending up with the statistics that we are seeing.”<\/p>

What they’re saying:<\/p>

For Lenczden, the issue became deeply personal after losing a close friend and fellow officer to suicide.<\/p>

“I worked with him for many years,” Lenczden said. “Things were tragic with him, and unfortunately, he took his own life, which is one of the main impetuses of me taking this class.”<\/p>

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Recovery struggles<\/h2>

For Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office forensic analyst and former corporal Carlos Brito, the course also became part of his own recovery journey.<\/p>

More than two years ago, Brito was intentionally hit by a car in the line of duty. He has endured 17 surgeries and multiple infections since the crash.<\/p>

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Courtesy: Cpl. Carlos Brito<\/span> <\/p> <\/div><\/div>

“Seventeen surgeries later and a couple infections, and I\u2019m here standing,” Brito said. “I started walking off my cane four weeks ago, and I\u2019m not giving up.”<\/p>

Brito says the physical recovery also came with depression and emotional struggles \u2014 something many first responders are reluctant to discuss.<\/p>

“We\u2019re so quick to jump and help others,” Brito said. “But when it comes to helping ourselves and our first responders, we pause.”<\/p>

Mental health training\u00a0<\/h2>

What’s next:<\/p>

As part of their final class project, the graduates are now preparing a two-day, 16-hour peer-to-peer mental health training for law enforcement agencies across the Bay Area.<\/p>

The goal is to bring the tools they learned back to their departments and help break the stigma surrounding mental health in first responder culture.<\/p>

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Courtesy: Pepin Family Foundation<\/span> <\/p> <\/div><\/div>

“If I can help one cop, one firefighter, one dispatcher,” Lenczden said, “it would have definitely been worth it.”<\/p>

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A first-of-its-kind mental health and resiliency program at St. Petersburg College graduated its latest class this week in Clearwater, bringing together officers, deputies and emergency personnel from agencies across the region.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":998,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[244,59,144],"tags":[245,60,145],"class_list":["post-1002","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-clearwater","category-mental-health","category-st-petersburg","tag-clearwater","tag-mental-health","tag-st-petersburg"],"yoast_head":"\nBay Area first responders graduate from mental health program aimed at helping their own: 'It's a new tool' - Tampa moving journal<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tampamovingjournal.com\/?p=1002\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Bay Area first responders graduate from mental health program aimed at helping their own: 'It's a new tool' - 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