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The Sweeney Alliance is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization serving North America. Since 1990, we have taught specialized programs about coping with traumatic loss and grief for children and adults. Likewise, we offer help to emergency response professionals and their families following a line of duty or non-duty death. Some of the many resources we offer include:
* An on-site educational program, Grieving Behind the Badge * One-on-one conversations by phone, Skype, email or in person * Three online bereavement resources: Coursework in Grief - Grieving Behind the Badge - Journeys Through Grief.
Please help us to help them. Thank you for considering a donation to support our efforts.
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The Sweeney Alliance is proud to announce the following workshops presented by Peggy Sweeney.
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August 26, 2016
Grieving Behind the Badge 1:00 - 3:00pm
Metro Peer Support Conference, Albuquerque, NM
For more information: Chaplain Bill Henson email
September 14, 2016
Grieving Behind the Badge 8:30am - 4:00pm
There is no Super Hero! The role of the First Responder Family 6:30 - 9:30pm
Sarnia, Ontario Canada
September 15, 2016
Grieving Behind the Badge 8:30am - 4:00pm
How to Understand Grief Seminar (HUGS) 6:30 - 9:30pm
September, 2016
Women in Public Service Conference
Portsmouth, VA
For more information: WIPS
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Once upon a time, the stories will tell
About a place here on Earth, between heaven and hell.
Where one need not sleep, to have the bad dreams
Because the flashbacks seem real, the smells and the screams.
For despite valiant efforts, sometimes they lose.
For some there are answers, but not many clues.
The cards stacked against them, the odds not very good
No... they didn't give up, but did all that they could.
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by Rev Kevin Coughlin, PhD
When I was a younger man, I took an oath to protect and serve my fellows. I wore a shiny badge on my chest, a bullet-proof vest, and carried a powerful weapon. At academy, I was at the top of my class, a squad leader, and an expert shot. I wore a blue uniform and polished black boots. I loved my job. We had codes for this, and codes for that, we had our own language. We were a special breed!
Some guys thought they were John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, or "The Rock." Some were close to retirement, bitter, and gray. Others were young, inquisitive, and active. To some it was just a job, and for others it was a calling. The older guys had a tendency to look at every citizen as if they were all criminals. I guess they had seen the bad side of human beings for far too long. Some thought they were above the law, and better than other men. Me, I was the rookie! My main job was to get the older guys coffee at first. That wasn't what I had signed on to do!
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by Tami Bulik
I anxiously watched the clock's second hand slowly ticking off the seconds until this shift was over. My ears strained to hear the sound of my replacement driving up the gravel driveway as I stared blindly out the window of the shift bedroom. "To hell with the call gods," I thought and I packed up my duffel bag. Stuffing the pieces of my life that I carried back and forth to work with me into my old duffel bag, I defiantly dared the tones to drop. I glanced at the clock again and thought of how ironic it is that the last 30 minutes of any shift last the longest. With another ten minutes to wait, I rolled up my sleeping bag and tossed it into the locker. I tensed a little, thinking I had heard the slight static the speaker system puked out before the tones dropped and stopped what I was doing to listen for the staccato beeps. But not this time. This time the beeps didn't come and the speaker remained silent. This time the call gods must have sensed that I was teetering on the edge. They must have known what I did not know. Whatever it was, they waited until eleven minutes after I punched out to drop the tones and page the rig out to an assault on the other side of the reservation.
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by Kay Wilson-Bolton
Observing others in grief can be as difficult as being in your own. The emotions for those standing by can range from fear, confusion, helplessness, anger, pity, frustration and deep sorrow.
Grieving is hard work, and its different for everyone. Ask the mother who never cried over the loss of four adult children and a granddaughter. Ask the long-married wife who cannot stop crying after the death of her husband. Ask the parents who just lost a newborn to SIDS death. Read more here »
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GRIEVING BEHIND THE BADGE ~ IT'S NOT JUST ABOUT GRIEF
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We are a death and grief denying society. When a loved one dies, most people are at a loss as to how to cope with the mental, emotional and physical effects of grief. This is no different in the first responder professions. Not only do they struggle with grief in their personal lives when a family member dies, but also when they respond to a death on scene due to a motor vehicle casualty, a child's death, homicide or the death of one of their own.
Furthermore, post-traumatic stress, addiction and suicide are hot topics in today's emergency response professions. The number of responders most in need of help to deal with these issues is growing at an astounding rate. The Grieving Behind the Badge program will address these topics, teach basic grief education with special attention given to bereaved parents, grieving children and survivors of suicide, and provide resources to have at your fingertips.
Who should attend: firefighters, EMS personnel, public safety officers, 911 dispatchers, families, department chaplains, ER staff and mental health professionals.
Call Peggy Sweeney [830-377-7389] today to discuss training options.
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