Positive Psychology

Positive Psychology & Resilience is the science of promoting well-being and optimized lives. It is a new branch of psychology that uses scientific understanding and interventions to aid in the achievement of a flourishing life. As such it provides an additional piece to psychology by focusing not on the treatment of dysfunction, but rather on the enhancement and strengthening of human functioning. IPRU work in this area focuses on training of critical skills that allow first responders to become resilient practitioners. Professionals within the caring professions, particularly in the field of law enforcement, the military, and the health professions, often work in challenging and high risk situations that require long or shift hours in high risk and high stress situations and working with clients facing emotional, psychological, physical and legal challenges. It is well documented that professionals within these fields often suffer high levels of stress, exhaustion and burnout due to the emotional nature of their jobs. Practitioners in these fields therefore need high levels of resilience skills and resources in order to withstand the demands of these types of careers, protect their own well-being. Healthy and flourishing people lead to professionals who lead with a disposition and energy that has a positive impact on their clients and organizations, and as such function at a higher level of effectiveness as professionals, and in addition possess the toolkits to advise their clients and organizations to flourish. 

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Research Projects

The Law Enforcement RESilience (RES) Project aims to build an evidence base to support practice-informed and evidence-based resilience training for law enforcement and other first responders. The project includes a number of sub-projects, which are outlined below.

First Responder Psychological Trauma: A Systematic Review

A systematic review providing an overview of what different groups of first responders (police, corrections, fire, etc) meet in terms of adversity on the job, and the reported types and prevalence levels of psychological impact (eg PTSD, Compasion Fatigue, Burnout) .

Key Talks & Publications

Law Enforcement Burnout: A Systematic Review

A systematic review of the scientific literature on Burnout in law enforcement. Review includes almost 150 published between 1983-2024 across 32 countries, including over close to 150,000 officers. 

Key Talks & Publications

  • Salfati, C. G. (manuscript in preparation) The Great Resignation & The Burnout Crisis in law Enforcement
  • Salfati, C. G. & Niremberg, K.* (manuscript in preparation) Burnout in Law Enforcement: A Systematic Review.
  • Salfati, C. G. & Niremberg, K.* (manuscript in preparation) Burnout: A Comparison of Measures Used in Law Enforcement Research.
  • Salfati, C. G. (2024, March) Invited Talk: Leading With Your Strengths To Fight Burnout & Increase Resilience in Yourself and Those You Lead. US Bureau of Prisons, Denver CO.
  • Salfati, C. G. (2024, February) Invited Plenary: Burnout in Law Enforcement: Definition, Causes, Prevalence, Prevention & Intervention. Fraternal Order of Police, Officer Wellness Summit. Nashville, TN.
  • Salfati, C. G. (2023, September) Invited Talk: Developing Resilience as a Supervisor, Preventing Burnout by Fostering Engagement in Yourself and Your Teams. US Bureau of Prisons. Online
  • Salfati, C. G. (2023, September) Invited Talk: Burnout & Resilience Corrections Support Team Context. US Bureau of Prisons, Washington DC
  • Salfati, C. G. (2023, April) Invited Talk: Burnout & Resilience in Forensic Practitioners, Corrections & Law Enforcement. US Bureau of Prisons, Denver CO.
  • Salfati, C. G. (2022, October) Invited Keynote: Law Enforcement Burnout and Resilience. Law Enforcement Executive Training Program, NA Session 284. FBI National Academy Quantico, VA.
  • Salfati, C. G. & Niremberg, K.* (2022, September) Burnout in Law Enforcement: A Systematic Review of the Problem. Presentation at the Society of Police and Criminal Psychology, Quebec City. Canada.
  • Salfati, C. G. (2022, May) Invited Talk: Law Enforcement Burnout and Resilience. CJ-5660 Advanced Concepts of Wellness & Vitality in Law Enforcement. FBI National Academy Quantico, VA.
  • Salfati, C. G. & Korzun, E. A.* (2022, March) Burnout in Law Enforcement: A Critical, but Missing Element of Resilience Training Programs. International Associations of Chiefs of Police Officer Wellness & Safety Annual Conference. Atlanta, Georgia.  
  • Salfati, C. G. (2022, February) Invited Talk: Law Enforcement Burnout and Resilience. CJ-5660 Advanced Concepts of Wellness & Vitality in Law Enforcement. FBI National Academy Quantico, VA.
  • Salfati, C. G. (2022, February) Invited Plenary: Burnout in Times of COVID. Fraternal Order of Police, Officer Wellness Summit. Nashville, TN.
  • Salfati, C.  G. (2021, November) Burnout in Law Enforcement. P.36-38. Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) Journal. PDF

Law Enforcement Resilience: A Systematic Review

A systematic review of the scientific literature on Resilience in law enforcement. Review includes close to 80 articles published between 2006-2024 across 19 countries, including a total of almost 40,000 officers. 

Key Talks & Publications

  • Salfati, C. G. & Korzun, E. A.* (manuscript in preparation) Resilience Training in Law Enforcement: A Systematic Review.
  • Salfati, C. G. & Korzun, E. A.* (2022, September) Resilience Training in Law Enforcement: A Systematic Review of What Works. Presentation at the Society of Police and Criminal Psychology, Quebec City. Canada.
  • Salfati, C. G. (2021, September) Invited Talk: Law Enforcement Resilience Training. Behavioral Sciences Education and Training Division (BSETD) Symposium on Trauma, Complex Crimes, and the Importance of Multidisciplinary Teams. US Army Military Police School, Ft. Leonard Wood, Missouri.

2021 Chicago Police: Mental & Emotional Resilience Training Program

In 2021, a half-day resilience program grounded in positive psychology was delivered to over 11,000 officers of the Chicago Police Department. The project aimed to identify at-risk groups, track how officers applied resilience strategies, and evaluate training impact. The pre-training survey provided the first large-scale picture of officer wellness through a positive psychology lens. While most officers reported average resilience and wellbeing, a significant minority were at high risk, with lower resilience linked to burnout, compassion fatigue, and stress. Officers with higher resilience consistently reported stronger wellbeing and flourishing (as measured through the positive psychology based PERMA model: positive emotion, engagement, relationships, meaning, and accomplishment), underscoring positive psychology as a critical foundation for resilience and thriving in service. Post-training, 6 months after training, more than 80% of officers who answered the survey reported using the strategies they had learned, most often in mental resilience areas related to reframing challenges, and proactive emotional resilience areas of practicing gratitude, and strengthening communication. However, reactive emotional resilience such as emotional regulation, proved harder to address with the existing training which was broad, pointing to the need for more tailored training in this area (which was subsequently done in the next training in 2023, see below).

Key Talks & Publications

  • Salfati, C. G. & Schultz, E. (2025, under review) Mapping Resilience and Stress: The First Step Toward Effective Resilience Training
  • Salfati, C. G. & Schultz, E. (2025, under review) Baseline Resilience And Wellbeing In Law Enforcement: Informing Culturally Relevant, Evidence-Led Training
  • Salfati, C. G. & Schultz, E. (2025, under review) From Training To Practice: How Officers Apply Mental And Emotional Resilience To Personal, Operational, And Organizational Stressors
  • Salfati & Schultz, E. (2025, under review) From Training Room to the Street: How Officers Apply Resilience Skills
  • Salfati, C. G. & Schultz, E. (2023, January) Invited Talk: Identifying The Relationship Between Officer Demographics And Reported Types And Levels Of Stressors, Wellness And Resilience To More Systematically Structure A Comprehensive Law Enforcement Resilience & Wellness Program. Fraternal Order of Police, Professionals Forum, Officer Wellness Summit. Nashville, TN​

2023 Chicago Police: Advanced Emotional Resilience Training Program

In 2023, a 1/2 day training program focusing on emotional regulation was created and implemented for the full Chicago Police force of almost 11,000 officers. The training was detailed and scaffolded from basic skills to advanced skills, using experiential exercises to practice the skills, learning how to apply the skills learnt in practice. A 3-month online post-training implementation program accompanied the initial in-person training of the full program. The training focused specifically on pre and post measures to evaluate the impact of the training on officer resilience and use of skills in practice post-training. 

Key Talks & Publications

  • Salfati, C. G. & Schultz, E. (manuscript in preparation) Law Enforcement Emotional Resilience Training Program Outcomes
  • Salfati, C. G. & Schultz, E. (manuscript in preparation) Law Enforcement Emotional Resilience

2020-2023 New Jersey Police: An Evaluation of the Impact of the NJ Resiliency Training Program

The New Jersey RESilience project is a collaboration between Dr. Salfati and Dr. Wiltsey at New Jersey City University. The project is based on The New Jersey Resiliency Training Program, delivered out of the New Jersey Division of Criminal Justice in the Office of the Attorney General. The program is being delivered to 35,000 New Jersey police officers and aims to provide a healthier environment within the organization, promote better relations with officers in the community, and quell the current epidemic of law enforcement suicides, and aims to change not only the impact on individual officers, but also aims to change organizational culture to support increased officer wellness. The research connected with the program is surveying officers using a number of key measures prior to the resilience training, and 6 months post training to measure the overall impact of the training on officer wellness. 

Key Talks & Publications

  • Wiltsey, M. & Salfati, C. G. (manuscript in preparation) Resilience: A Comparison of Measures Used in Law Enforcement Research.
  • Salfati, C. G,. & Wiltsey, M. (manuscript in preparation) New Jersey Resilience Training Program: Officer Burnout & Organizational Culture Post COVID, Protests & Defunding.
  • Salfati, C. G,. & Wiltsey, M. & Korzun, E.* (manuscript in preparation) New Jersey Resilience Training Program: An Evaluation of Officer WELLness and ILLness.
  • Wiltsey, M. T., Salfati, C. G., & Korzun, E. A. (2022, September) Building Evidence-Based Wellness Programs by Contextualizing Training in Officer Illness & Wellness. Presentation at the Society of Police and Criminal Psychology, Quebec City. Canada.
  • Salfati, C. G,, Wiltsey, M. T., and Korzun, E. (2020, November) Law Enforcement Resilience Training Impacts. Annual Meeting of the Society for Police and Criminal Psychology. Online.

2025-2026 Israel First Responder Resilience: Strength During Wartime & Terrorism (RES-OZ)

Following the October 7th 2023 terrorist attacks on Israel, Israeli first responders have been working under the extreme conditions of terrorist attacks and war. Experts in Israel currently show that PTSD levels are increasing to critical levels for both first responders, and the general population. 

The RES-Oz project focuses on first responders who operate during times of war and terrorism. RES-OZ combines evidence-based tools with cultural relevance to support those who serve on the front lines. The project centers on Oz (עוז) the Hebrew word for Inner Strength. The focus centers on how deep connection to Meaning and Purpose provides the inner strength that allow first responders to stay resilient. 

The project is collecting video testimonies of first responders, and the nature of the inner strength that is allowing them to stay resilient. The project is additionally developing a training program centered on inner strength and Meaning and Purpose, aimed at supporting those who support others. 

Trainings

 Webinars

Publications & Talks

Contact us

Email

IP_Info@jjay.cuny.edu