Our team is comprised of culturally competent professionals who have extensive experience working with First Responders, families, and public agencies. Many of our staff members have been first responders earlier in their careers, and many have come from first responder and military families. All retreat curriculum is developed by our clinicians and subject matter experts. We draw on our shared experiences working in trauma, post-traumatic stress, crisis response, counseling, training, peer support, and treatment.
Together, we create cultural change – for you, your department, and your family.
Dr. Stephen Odom is a notable healthcare and behavioral health treatment professional with more than 30 years of expertise in the field. He possesses an educational background in organizational behavior, clinical psychology, and healthcare administration. This valuable combination allows him to integrate current research knowledge, clinical and administrative practice understanding, and practical, directly relevant experience. Dr. Odom holds a bachelor’s degree in Organizational Behavior from Covenant College, a Master’s in Experimental Psychology (University of Tennessee), a Master’s in Clinical Psychology (Palo Alto University), and a Doctorate (Ph.D.) with a focus in Healthcare Administration (Capella University). He is also a licensed marriage and family therapist in California.
Dr. Odom has served in multiple roles during his career, including CEO, Chief Clinical Officer of New Vista Behavioral Health, a director’s post of Program Development for CRC Health and multiple Administrative and Clinical Director posts at various mental health and chemical dependency treatment centers and hospitals in California, including Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach and El Camino Hospital in the San Francisco Bay area. Moreover, Dr. Odom served as a university adjunct faculty member in Psychology and Child Development and continues to work in private practice. Dr. Odom has been coined as a wellness and behavioral health expert with peer-reviewed articles published on mental health, substance abuse and technology; was presented the national Behavioral Health Champion award in 2018; has appeared on The Today Show; the 2016 documentary film California High; and has appeared in multiple print, radio, and podcast media channels.
Dr. Odom’s focus on public safety and first responder wellness was born of his family’s career backgrounds with the military, healthcare, law enforcement and public safety, and was honed as he created and led specialty programs for physicians, nurses, first responders and their families. In his
distinguished and extensive career in behavioral health, Dr. Odom’s empathetic and therapeutic approach has allowed him to connect not only with his clinical teams but each first responder who walks through the door.
Devin is the Chief Development Officer with Shift Wellness, First Responder Wellness, and The Counseling Team International, and is responsible for the strategic direction and growth of the collective organizations. Devin has been in the behavioral health industry for over a decade and founded one of the first primary mental health residential treatment programs in California. In recent years and in response to the changing landscape in behavioral health, Devin was a champion and helped develop a treatment program exclusively for first responders. This program was one of the first in the country to offer long term treatment for public safety. Devin leads a diverse team of public safety advocates who work together to ensure trust and integrity with all of the public safety departments and organizations they serve. With a personal passion for helping the public safety community and their families thrive, Devin speaks at trainings, peer support meetings, and wellness symposiums. Devin is a trusted resource for department leaders who want to break down barriers for those seeking help, while also supporting a cultural shift with proactive wellness programs.
Joel is the Chief Operations Officer of Shift Wellness and has over a decade of experience in the Behavioral Health space. He started his career as a Case Manager and quickly found a niche for integrating experiential and outdoor education into his clinical work. He created Adventure Programming for Extended Care programs and integrated outcome measures to validate the success of utilizing the outdoors to enhance clinical care.
He has grown professionally having different roles throughout organizations including clinical, business development and marketing, compliance, and Executive Level Management. Joel has successfully guided programs for First Responder Wellness through the CARF and Joint Commission Accreditation process as well as State level licensing and certifications. Along the way, he integrated his education in business and clinics to grow programs and utilize outcomes measures to guide that growth. Joel has a passion for clinical and experiential-driven programs. He believes that quality outcomes data collection help guide staff in creating extraordinary programs ultimately leading to successful clinical outcomes for clients.
Joel has a BS in Business and Marketing from California State University-San Luis Obispo as well as a certificate from Saddleback College in Mission Viejo for Human Services.
Tiffany earned her B.A. in Psychology and M.A. in Marriage Family and Child Counseling from the University of San Diego. Before joining The Counseling Team International and opening her private practice, Best Solutions Therapy, Tiffany worked as a clinician for the Psychiatric Emergency Response Team in San Diego. During the 40 hours a week in a police unit, Tiffany learned a great deal about the needs of the law enforcement community, while gaining valuable hands on emergency response experience. Tiffany also has background as a community mental health provider and Clinical Director for inpatient psychiatric center. Her specialties include: PTSD, anxiety disorders, depression, family/relational conflicts and working with adolescents.
Tiffany is trained as a professional capable of risk and depression assessments, EMDR and Critical Incident Stress Management. Tiffany also has years of experience as an Equine Assisted Psychotherapist. She works with Simple Recovery and various treatment programs across Orange County utilizing both Equine Assisted Psychotherapy and Animal Assisted Treatment with her Canine Companion Facility Dog, Bey.. Tiffany teaches Crisis Intervention at CSU Fullerton, Peer Support training, Post Traumatic Growth, Significant Other Survival and various other courses for First Responders. . She is passionate about improving the lives of those that serve and protect and their families and has first hand experience, as she is married to an Anaheim Fire Captain.
Shonna received her doctoral degree in Clinical Forensic Psychology from the Chicago School of Professional Psychology. Dr. Hill is certified in Emergency Crisis Response and Forensic Traumatology by the American Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress, in collaboration with the National Center for Crisis Management. In addition, she has been placed on the International Registry of the American Academy of Experts. Dr. Hill extensive experience in law enforcement and has worked in several divisions, which included patrol, high risk entry teams, and task force assignments. Her professional experience has focused on the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, anxiety, grief, and loss.
Kim Statham, M.A. is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, LMFT #132749. Kim possesses a master’s degree in Marriage Family Therapy and is completing her MFT Doctorate Degree from Alliant International University, an APA accredited Professional School of Psychology. Kimberly has dedicated her professional career to gaining a comprehensive understanding of client’s needs and applying therapeutic methods that produce change. She is well versed in working with addiction and trauma in the first responder community. As a mental health professional, Kim brings a uniquely authentic approach to the first responder clients that allows a safe space for healing to happen. She provides therapeutic support to outpatient clients and their families, facilitates wellness retreats, and provides training throughout the first responder community.
Katie has a deeply rooted passion to help others. Katie holds a bachelor’s degree in Psychology and as a self-proclaimed “Neuro Nerd”, she has achieved advanced training and licensing through the Biofeedback Certification International Alliance in Neurofeedback.
While practicing neurofeedback, Katie realized she not only loves building stronger, healthier brains, but that she also loves building stronger businesses. Around this same time Katie also realized she had fallen in love with her future husband, who happens to be a career firefighter.
As Katie continued on her journey in business and brain health, always on the lookout for a new opportunity, she started to wonder if there might be an opportunity to help first responders. It was through this curiosity that a new passion was born.
Drawing on her professional experience and her passion for brain health, while leaning into her intimate understanding of the “lifestyle”, Katie now dedicates her work to collaborating, partnering, and educating department leaders to build better, stronger departments, a more resilient workforce, and healthier, happier first responder families.
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Patrick McCurdy has a long-standing passion for helping others, especially for serving those that courageously go into harm’s way to serve others. He grew up in a public safety family. His grandmother was a nurse, and his father, mother, uncle, brother, and wife all served in Law Enforcement.
Patrick grew up in California and his first job was in corrections before he moved to Seattle as a Deputy for the Sheriff’s Office. In his 32 Year career he served in patrol operations, FTO & MPO, was a trainer at the Washington State Basic Law Enforcement Academy, was in a bicycle patrol squad, and in the counter-terrorism team. Patrick also served as a Sergeant in patrol and as the Sergeant of several specialty teams, including metro transit, counter terrorism, explosive detection K9’s, and a special emphasis undercover team.
Patrick saw the toll that exposure to critical incidents and trauma had on his own family as he grew up. His first experience with a line-of-duty death occurred before he was even working in law enforcement, when a patrol officer assigned to work for his father’s squad was murdered on the same street where Patrick and his family lived. Over the years, Patrick lost numerous close friends to the violence, accidents, depression, and addiction that occurred in or because of the job.
Though he had taught officer survival skills for many years, Patrick quickly realized that tactical, physical, and legal survival were only pieces of the whole puzzle, and the most important piece, emotional survival, was missing. The once ‘invincible warrior’ began to realize that he had significant gaping holes in his own armor that were having a negative impact on him and his family and that he wasn’t actually ‘invincible’ after all.
Patrick became a member of the Sheriff’s Office Peer Support Team as a peer support counselor, critical incident debriefer, trainer, program developer and team leader. He assisted debriefing other police and fire departments after significant critical events throughout the region and helped numerous agencies to develop training and programs to provide peer support to their departments. Patrick continues to volunteer as a lead peer, trainer, and peer support counselor at retreats for police officers and firefighters battling against PTSD/ PTSI, and also helps to build effective teams and policies nationally.
Patrick retired in 2022 and lives in the Seattle area with his beautiful wife and three awesome children. Patrick is thrilled to join the team at First Responder Wellness as a contractor in his role as a Public Safety Advocate to help others move through the fog of trauma to a clearer place where they can live in light once again, instead of darkness.
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Chris Catren served as the City of Redlands (CA) Chief of Police for over five years. He has a master’s degree in public administration, a bachelor’s in business administration and is a graduate of the California Peace Officer Standards and Training Command College. Chris is a career policing professional who began his career as the first crime analyst for the Redlands Police Department in 1994. He quickly built a national model crime analysis unit before transitioning to a police officer in 1996. His experiences in crime analysis, patrol and investigations gave him a foundation for keenly focusing on violent crime and the evidence-based strategies to impact it for the benefit of the community. He promoted through the ranks of sergeant, lieutenant and commander before becoming Chief of Police in 2017. During this time, he remained focused on implementing technologies, data-driven strategies, evidence-based practices and relationship building to reduce crime and improve the quality of life in the city.
Having recently completed his service as the President of the California Police Chiefs Association, he is now the Immediate Past President. He has served as the President of the San Bernardino County Police Chiefs and Sheriff Association and sat on the League of California Cities Board of Directors. He has taught at the graduate and undergraduate level at both the California State University and University of California systems.