“We’re human, we’re not immune.”

The force is breaking down barriers and tackling the stigma around poor mental health.  

A passionate team of psychotherapists are working hard to challenge traditional views and have been embedding themselves into teams and department across Humberside Police, to better understand what their colleagues might be going through.

Senior Psychotherapist and Clinical Lead for mental health, Louise Robinson has been instrumental in driving forward a culture in which all ranks and roles feel free to talk openly about any mental health struggles or concerns they may be having.

The former public health nurse retrained as a psychotherapist after becoming particularly interested in the effects of exposure to violence on mental and physical health outcomes.  She began working with the force as an external psychotherapist in 2016, offering trauma therapy for staff and officers, and by 2020 she had officially joined as a police staff member tasked with recruiting a new team to expand the services on offer.  

Louise said: “Working with police is an incredible opportunity, but it can also be complex because they naturally want to help people and put others first. These are traits which make excellent officers and staff, but for so many people across the emergency services, taking care of others can get in the way of self-care, and this can have profound affects on mental and physical health.

“Many people working in policing develop a strong defensive exterior because showing vulnerability has historically been seen as a weakness and a barrier to performing their jobs.  I understand the reason for this completely, however, my team and I are actively promoting the cultural message that there is immense strength and courage in acknowledging vulnerability and our service is set up to support and disseminate this message.

“My role is partly clinical which means working with staff and officers in the therapy room on challenges such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, anxiety, depression and current or historical trauma. This is the reason I became a therapist, and I am passionate about it. An additional and extremely important element of my role involves working closely with the talented therapists within my team to promote improvements and cultural changes within the police service and thus drive the mental health agenda forward. Much of this area of development has included gaining trust and developing a rapport and understanding with police officers and staff and increasing our understanding of the different roles within policing."

One of Louise’s first big projects was creating a short film called ‘Strength in Being Blue.

The video features six officers and staff from Humberside Police, who showed immense courage by sharing intimate details of their own mental health journeys and was launched at the force’s mental health conference in 2023.

One of those who took part was Detective Chief Superintendent Simon Gawthorpe, now head of Humberside’s crime department.

At the time the video was shot, the 43-year-old was working in the force’s state-of-the-art control room, leading a department of around 400 staff, but struggling with anxiety and finding decision making more and more difficult as a result.

Det Ch Supt Gawthorpe said: “There was no single event or catastrophic incident that caused me to feel this way, it was a slow build up over years of policing and life in general.

“I attended a yearly psychological health screening appointment and found that I was scoring highly on both the anxiety and depressions tests. In truth I had found myself severely hampered by the anxiety and feeling like I wasn’t good enough to be in the role that I was in. Being a senior leader, I knew I had a lot of people looking at me for support and guidance and I definitely felt worried that I wasn’t able to do what I was supposed to be doing.

“I went to therapy once a week and it was a big step. I definitely had preconceptions about it, but I changed my mind quickly. There shouldn’t be a stigma around this support. If I was assaulted on duty or injured my knee I’d go and see a doctor. It’s no different.

“As an officer, every day we see logs and reports and deal with the worst things which can happen to people – we’re all human and it’s only natural that over time this will have an impact. We’re not immune.

“There is no shame in accessing support and no shame in talking. As a leader, I advise all my staff of the support that is available and I’m a big advocate. I’m really proud to say that several of my colleagues have heard my story and accessed support themselves. Talking to someone can be a friend, a manager, it doesn’t need to be a therapist, just as long as we share.”

You can watch the video here Strength in Being Blue | HUMBERSIDE POLICE - YouTube

You can access a number of support tools and advice here: The National Police Wellbeing Service | Oscar Kilo