Police College offers training in
positive emotions and
resilience
Police College has joined forces with the Department of Psychology of the Chinese University of Hong Kong in piloting four workshops on "Emotional Fitness" for frontline officers between July and December this year. Each workshop consists of six training sessions.
Though officers are required to attend the workshops at their own time, hundreds of applications have been received, well exceeding the limited training places. Finally, 90 officers at the ranks of Police Constable to Senior Inspector have had their applications accepted.
The workshop aims at providing professional training in positive emotions and resilience to help officers cope with the challenges of their jobs and lead a happier life. The contents of training include understanding of emotions, self-understanding, strategies of developing positive emotions, management of negative emotions in daily life, and sessions for participants to share their feelings and experiences.
"The training is based on scientific research findings and the practices of overseas military and law enforcement agencies," said Force Training Officer Cammie Leung. "With resilience, we will be more capable of coping with difficulties and setbacks, as well as bouncing back more quickly from stressful experience. Positive emotions such as joy, gratitude, and optimism are closely related to resilience, and are considered beneficial to physical and mental health as well as interpersonal relationship."
The first two workshops were completed on August 9, and feedback from the participants was generally favourable. Some of their comments were: "I've learned how to use different skills to stop thinking negatively when there are quarrels among my family members", "I am using the strategies learned in class to enhance my relationships with my colleagues, friends and family", and "The skills help me handle better the disputes among members of the public".
The other two pilot workshops will be held in late October. If the results prove satisfactory, training would be extended to more officers.
Trainees
participating
in a group activity