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In today’s episode, we speak with Laura Kloosterman, a newly retired police officer formally with the Ontario Provincial Police, Canada.
Laura joined the police force at 18 years of age in 1989 and has over the course of her career worked in the areas of front-line policing, surveillance, the drug unit, witness protection, missing persons, and many more areas. She shares that it can’t really be said that those working in the police force at one point in their career have not been touched by PTSD. Laura was involved in the homicide investigation of an 8-year-old girl, at a time when she herself had an 8-year-old child. It is the culmination of events such as this that lead to the development of PTSD in those serving in the police force.
Laura now helps others with PTSD through Badge of Life Canada where she is the executive director. In this episode, Laura shares how she mentally dealt with seeing traumatic experiences across her career, some of the experiences She had while in the job, her journey to getting help with her PTSD, how she has managed her PTSD, the culture towards PTSD in the police force and how her daily life was effect by her PTSD before she seeked help.
“You as a police officer, you see things and you do things, that regular people don’t do or don’t see. I mean there have been people that have been affected by reading a book that has to do with trauma or watching a movie, or a TV show that has to do with trauma. Police officers see it in real life.” – Laura Kloosterman on this episode of Wellbeing
Tune in Tomorrow where we speak with two Victorian police officers about PTSD and police veteran support.
We would love to hear from you! If you would like to suggest topics, give us feedback, or just say hi, you can contact us on wellbeing@2nurfm.com
Host: Jack Hodgins
Wellbeing website: https://www.2nurfm.com.au/wellbeing
The show delves into the most pressing topics around mental and physical health, talking with leading experts in their fields and-those with lived experience.
