Short fuses and easily offended
Interview with trainer and advisor Roderik Bender
Through ARQ IVP, Roderik Bender assists organisations with training and advice on mental resilience in the event of a threat. Something that professionals are confronted with more and more often. “Threats and undermining are gaining ground.”
It hasn’t been raining prosperity in recent years. First there was the COVID-19 pandemic, now Ukraine, plus all the lingering issues. Roderik: “It hasn’t been scientifically proven, but it would make sense if we were all becoming less mentally resilient. We are allowed to feel more than before, and it is more normal for you to express your emotions. But with this increased sensitivity, we also hurt each other more than before. Fuses are shorter and people are more easily offended. In the past, our work mainly concerned officers who had seen something unpleasant in an accident. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, we have seen more aggression across the board than ever before. Society has become more rebellious. Threats and undermining are gaining ground.”
"We are allowed to feel more than before, and it is more normal for you to express your emotions."
The PPS is under pressure
“The Public Prosecution Service (PPS) is one of the organisations where employees are under pressure. People are being killed, threatened, in a society that is more critical of the PPS than grateful for the work they do. Employees aren’t allowed to talk at home about the intense things that are going on. And often employees don’t want to talk about threats at home because they don’t want to frighten their loved ones.
There are judges and lawyers who are seriously threatened. Surveillance and security should reassure threatened people, but often it is disturbing. You have to go into the fitting room with a security guard. People around you see the security guards and make comments about them.”
ARQ promotes mental resilience in the face of threats
Since 2021, the PPS has had its own team of employees who support colleagues when major events occur. Roderik: “It helps to be able to talk to a colleague who knows the tricks of the trade in the event of a threat. People often withdraw and isolate themselves when threatened. Colleagues can help you to see what you can do safely so that you can relax. I train such teams from ARQ IVP.”
More organisations have been asking ARQ IVP lately to help them take a broader view. They no longer just want training, a mental check-up (MCU) or incidental care. They want to prevent employees from quickly burning out. At ARQ IVP we advise and train organisations in boosting mental and emotional resilience. The demand for this work by ARQ will increase rather than decrease.”