Psychosocial support for work-related stress

The Central Office for Psychosocial Support (ZPSU) at the LAFP NRW in Münster performs overarching tasks for the networking, further development and quality assurance of psychosocial support (PSU) in the NRW police. It therefore forms an important pillar of PSU in the police. One of its main tasks is to provide low-threshold psychological counseling on topics, questions or problems in the context of official duties.

In a confidential setting, ZPSU employees support clients according to their individual needs. They work together to develop ways of coping. 
In training and further education, the psychological specialists provide support with their practical and scientific experience in seminars and further training courses on psychosocial and psychological topics.

Involvement in psychosocial support also means contributing to the destigmatization of the consequences of stress, including any mental illnesses, as well as raising awareness of psychosocial and psychological issues among all police employees.

Regional Psychosocial Support Units (RPSU for short) are currently being set up at various locations in North Rhine-Westphalia in order to be able to offer PSU measures nationwide and at low thresholds.

In future, the RPSUs will be linked to the six main police stations in Bielefeld, Dortmund, Düsseldorf, Essen, Cologne and Münster. The total of 47 district police authorities are assigned to the criminal investigation headquarters, so that the responsibility of the psychological specialists in the RPSU extends to several police authorities in the region.

The tasks of the police psychologists in the regional offices are varied and, in addition to the core task of maintaining health in the sense of direct support work for employees, also include close coordination and networking with the central office and local support staff (e.g. police employees with specific knowledge of psychosocial emergency care).

Regional offices in Bielefeld, Dortmund, Düsseldorf, Essen, Cologne and Münster

RPSU employees are integrated into the relevant authorities and can therefore provide specific advice on psychosocial and psychological issues and participate in internal police training. 
The counseling services (e.g. individual, group and team supervision) can focus on different areas due to the different expertise of the psychological specialists, but are always based on current scientific and ethical standards.

In addition, participation in and cooperation with regional committees of the public health management system takes place with a view to the common goal of maintaining the health of all employees. The aim is to promote exchange between the various internal and external support systems and to strengthen networking and cooperation.