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physically prepare to do the wrong things! Counselling gives you the opportunity to talk through your
By using Neurolinguistic (NLP) tools combined with ‘stuff’ with someone who is trained and skilled, yet also impartial,
coaching techniques and Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) respectful and understanding, so remember… it’s good to talk!
the Paradigmatic coach can identify the flawed language the
person is using in their ‘thinking’ and any emotional spikes that COnFidentiAlity And the PFOA
their language is creating. Coaching the individual to use more The PFOA respects the importance of confidentiality as regards
appropriate language and reducing the resultant emotional spikes these sessions and will ensure that they remain strictly so.
enables the person to think differently and feel differently about However due to the nature of the role undertaken by armed
the issue. officers the PFOA will, in exceptional circumstances, bring
concerns to the attention of the officer’s own service. However it
ShArOn dOdd, PFOA must be stressed that this will only occur with the knowledge of
COunSelling CO-OrdinAtOr / and in collaboration with the officer concerned.
mAnAger
getting PFOA SuPPOrt
COunSelling If you are a member, or a member’s spouse, partner or child
As an organisation we decided to develop and you feel you require assistance from the PFOA you can
our counselling provision to ensure that either contact the PFOA direct or go to your local PFOA
we can meet the needs of our members Coordinator. Normally you will be contacted by the PFOA
throughout the UK. Support Coordinator within 48 hours and additional information
In order to make sure that we deliver the highest possible obtained. Contact will then be made by a designated Contact
standards of therapy to our members, we identified the following Officer or, in certain circumstances, you may be sent directly to
criteria that the counsellors needed to meet or exceed: counselling, EMDR or CBT. In all circumstances the PFOA will
• counsellors have to be fully qualified with recognised maintain contact with you to ensure you are receiving the best
counselling qualifications (which usually takes between three support possible.
and four years plus on-going additional training); But do please remember that we are not a private health
• they needed to be at least members of the British Association provider and we do operate under strict guidelines. There may
for Counselling & Psychotherapy (BACP), many are be occasions where an officer request for support does not fulfil
accredited members of the association; the criteria laid down. In such cases the reasons for refusal will be
• have a minimum of five years post qualification experience. explained and the PFOA will endeavour to assist and advise that
As well as meeting the above criteria, all counsellors had to individual in any way we can ■
provide two professional references in relation to their counselling
work. Additionally members of the PFOA team are currently
visiting our counsellors to ensure suitability of location, premises
and accessibility.
The very last thing that we requested from our new counsellors
was that they had a good sense of humour… for obvious reasons!
Once the criteria has been met we are content for the
counsellor to become PFOA approved. This has been a big ask
and a demanding process for the counsellors to go through. We
are now in the enviable position of having a thorough network of
professional, highly skilled and well trained counsellors who we
can access at short notice when required.
Counselling can help with stress at work, low mood, anger
management, relationship difficulties, trauma, grief, loss, life
changes, anxiety and low self-esteem. The list is endless, however
we will always try to match members’ needs with the skills and
experience of the counsellor.
We also have specialist counsellors who can work with
children and young people, PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress
Disorder), phobias, addictions and such like using a myriad of
counselling approaches and techniques including CBT (Cognitive
Behavioural Therapy), Person-Centred, EMDR (Eye Movement even the strongest need
Desensitisation and Reprocessing) and many more. support sometimes
Some of our counsellors have already attended PFOA training
and found this to be invaluable. Further training is planned for the pFoa provides discreet and confidential specialist counsellors or coaches (paradigmatic)
support for you and your family. For just £1 a week or just need some reassurance, we can help.
the near future to provide further insight into the firearms world. you can have access to a professional network hopefully you’ll never need us, but by joining the
pFoa you’ll be helping us support others that do.
that can make all the difference should you or
If you are referred for counselling within the PFOA, six a member of your family need help following a call us now or register online to join. the pFoa is
work related incident that causes you distress or
a registered charity created for firearms officers by
sessions are usually allocated to you. The counselling Co- worry. so whether you need to speak to one of our firearms officers.
ordinator/manager will pass your contact details on to the most T 0845 543 0163
appropriate counsellor in your area and they will be in touch E info@pfoa.co.uk www.pfoa.co.uk
directly to organise meeting for your first session.