Therapists on the Hostage Negotiation Team and Supporting Police Work: An interview with Dr. Andy Young

Therapists on the Hostage Negotiation Team and Supporting Police Work: An interview with Dr. Andy Young

Curt and Katie interview Andy Young about hostage (crisis) negotiation and his work with SWAT and crisis negotiation in Lubbock, TX. Content warning: discussion of violence, suicide, and homicide. We talk about what therapists can do within police departments, the interplay between mental health and law enforcement, what that work looks like – especially when involved in crisis negotiation, and skills therapists need when working in these settings. We also look at trauma response and how it is handled when things go south.

Transcripts for this episode will be available at mtsgpodcast.com!

An Interview with Dr. Andy Young

Dr. Andy Young has been a Professor of Psychology and Counseling at Lubbock Christian University since 1996 and a negotiator and psychological consultant with the Lubbock Police Department’s SWAT team since 2000. He also heads LPD’s Victim Services Unit and is the director of the department’s Critical Incident Stress Management Team. He has been on the negotiating team at the Lubbock County Sheriff’s Office since 2008 and is on the team at the Texas Department of Public Safety (Texas Rangers, Special Operations, Region 5). He is the author of, “Fight or Flight: Negotiating Crisis on the Frontline” and “When Every Word Counts: An Insider’s View of Crisis Negotiations.” He was recently added as a third author for the 6th Edition of “Crisis Negotiations: Managing Critical Incidents and Hostage Situations in Law Enforcement and Corrections”.

In this podcast episode, we talk about the role therapists can play in crisis negotiation

There have been many calls to defund the police and create roles for mental health professionals in law enforcement. Dr. Andy Young has already been doing this for 20 years. We talked with him about what that experience looks like.

What can therapists do for law enforcement?

• Crisis counseling
• Hostage or Crisis Negotiation support (advising on the negotiation)
• Psychiatric consultation
• Predicting violence or suicide, assessing subjects’ mental health

What is the interplay between mental health and law enforcement?

• Police officers get 40 hours of active listening and mental health
• Officers started out a bit stand-offish, reported increased mental load due to needing to protect mental health professionals at the scene
• Finding value in taking mental health out of scope of law enforcement
• There is a huge importance in developing relationship with the officers
• Specialized training needed that can support integrating mental health providers into law enforcement teams

What does work look like for therapists in law enforcement and crisis negotiation?

• Coaching on communication
• Assessing the situation and the subject
• Strategizing interventions to de-escalate the situation
• Provide context and reassurance to law enforcement professionals
• Hostage Negotiation calls are typically once to twice a month (and not every month).
• There are successful outcomes 97% of the time

How do these law enforcement and mental health providers handle things when they go south?

• Crisis support
• Critical Incident Stress Management
• Mental health providers who are accepted within the law enforcement culture
• The political, investigative and personal elements of a lethal force incident
• Processing and debriefing within the team

What skills should therapists have to work with law enforcement and hostage negotiation?

• Pragmatic and understanding the situation you’re in
• Practical, knowing your own limits
• Ability to manage emotional situations calmly
• Navigating the extreme stakes out in the streets
• Understanding law enforcement

The benefit of having a mental health provider on a hostage negotiation team

• Training the team on mental health concerns
• Improving “batting average” on successful outcomes
• The importance of a well-trained team

Resources for Modern Therapists mentioned in this Podcast Episode: