Helping PTSD Survivors with a Way to ‘Struggle Well’

By James Careless

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) affects first responders just as much as it affects military veterans. But there is hope: The non-profit Boulder Crest Foundation’s ‘Struggle Well’ training programs help first responders deal with PTSD to achieve what its CEO Josh Goldberg calls ‘Posttraumatic Growth’ — at no cost to participants.

Goldberg is one of the scheduled speakers at the plenary session entitled, ‘From Broken to Breaking the Mold: How Boulder Crest Helps Public Safety Personnel Struggle Well’. It is now  at the 2024 Vision FirstNet Users Summit (Vision 2024) on 9:30 am, Wednesday October 9, 2024. The Sahara Hotel in Las Vegas is the location of this year’s Vision 2024, which is hosted by the Public Safety Broadband Technology Association (PSBTA) on October 7-10, 2024. The goal of this plenary is threefold: To inform attending FirstNet users how wellness needs can be addressed via the Struggle Well program in their organizations, to detail how the FirstNet Health and Wellness program supports the wellness needs of public safety, and to explain how the the Struggle Well approach works and why it is so effective.

“Boulder Crest’s mission is to ensure that members of the first responder, military, and veteran communities can live great lives in the midst of stress, struggle, hardship, and trauma,” Goldberg told AllThingsFirstNet.com. “The focus of our organization is the development and delivery of Posttraumatic Growth-based programs that are done at our retreat centers, which are located in Virginia, Texas, and Arizona, as well as out in the world. We are really trying to give people the skills they need to transform struggle into strength and growth in their lives.”

Since opening its first facility in 2013, Boulder Crest has served over 100,000 members of its three target communities. Initially, the foundation’s focus was tightly confined to people with severe PTSD. But during COVID, they decided to broaden their service to include people whose stress had not progressed to this level so far. “If you wait for people to get to really bad places, you’re going to miss a lot of folks,” said Goldberg. “You’re going to have a lot of suicide, a lot of substance abuse; a lot of issues that you can’t fix. That’s why we launched Struggle Well in 2021, with a real focus on first responder communities. Too many people in this world feel that they are destined to develop PTSD.”

Thanks to an investment from FirstNet, Boulder Crest launched its first Struggle Well programs in 2021, in partnership with public safety agencies in Arizona and Miami. “Over the last three years, we’ve trained about 60,000 first responders across 18 states in the US,” Goldberg said. “And as I love to tell our team — we’re just getting started.”

Along with Josh Goldberg, the Vision 2024 plenary session features Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue Deputy Chief Patrick Fale and Boulder Crest Vice President of Strategy and Operations

Joe Wood, with Ryan Fields-Spack (Associate Director – Responder Wellness, FirstNet, Built with AT&T) serving as moderator. “A big part of our conversation will be on shifting the lens through which we view challenges regarding mental health and wellness,” said Goldberg, “with our emphasis on Posttraumatic Growth rather than PTSD. Another point that we will cover is that these stress-related challenges are not just about individuals; they also involve organizations, cultures, and systems; and what has to be changed to help everyone ‘struggle well’.”

Given FirstNet’s support of Boulder Crest, it makes sense for Goldberg and his team to tell their story at Vision 2024. “There are a lot of key stakeholders from across the spectrum who are here at this Summit that we need to have this conversation with,” he said. “Whether those folks are providing different kinds of services to the public safety community, or are significant leaders in the public safety community, we need to talk with them all to explain the concept of Posttraumatic Growth, and what we can do collectively to help first responders struggle well. As such, Vision 2024 is a perfect setting for us to have some great conversations with people in the FirstNet community, for us to learn from them about what they really need, and to continue to build connections and relationships as we do that.”

For those wanting to learn more about the Boulder Crest Foundation and its many programs, including Struggle Well, more information can be found at BoulderCrest.org. “Visit us and you can learn about the range of courses we offer,” said Goldberg. “You can see the ‘Short Films’ we’ve posted that really capture the essence of the experience, the struggle, and the opportunities for growth that our programs provide. And remember, our programs are free for those who take part in them.”