UFLAC Center of Health and Wellness Webinar

If you missed the webinar or would like to watch it again please click on the image below. After you submit your name and email you will automatically be taken to the video.

 


2021/03/23 – Conflict Management Webinar
Conflict Management WebinarWho hasn’t found themselves experiencing conflict from time to time, whether at home or at work? Take a moment and think back to the last conflict or two that you have been involved with… Was it with your spouse or significant other? Was it with your child or teenager? Or was it at work with your boss or a co-worker? As you know from your own experiences, conflict can be a very uncomfortable and challenging thing to go through. Conflict Management is “the process of limiting or eliminating negative aspects of conflict while creating solutions to increase positive outcomes.”
United Firefighters of Los Angeles City, Local 112 and the Los Angeles Fire Department invite you and/or your significant other to join us for a webinar designed to help improve your understanding and increase your ability to

navigate conflict in both your personal and professional life. We will have a panel presentation led by subject matter expert Anita Avedian, MFT, along with Peer Support Team members Chief Nikki Brodowy and Captain Charles Boswell, EAP Director Nancy Mraz, and Director of Behavioral Health Dr. Steve Froehlich.


2021/11/11 – Fire Marriages Webinar

Fire Marriages WebinarMarriage isn’t easy. Throw in the complications of the fire life and sometimes it can seem impossible. It is no surprise that firefighters have a higher than average divorce rate. Multiple days away from home, stressful calls, sleepless nights, interrupted communication, managing issues at home while spouses are away… the list could go on. A functioning, long-term marriage in the fire service is uncommon, but not impossible.

To have and maintain a good marriage takes work. This seminar will discuss the issues related to a fire service life that can pull a relationship apart. It will also give couples tools to help navigate difficult situations.

The panel will consist of current and retired fire personnel, peer support team members and UFLAC Behavioral Health professionals Dr. Steve Froehlich, Vera Rodriguez, Nancy Mraz and Dr. Sami Tamburro.


2020/07/23 – Growing Up in a Fire Family

Growing Up in a Fire FamilyAs many of you know, UFLAC and the LAFD jointly conducted the very first Family Webinar on April 14, 2020. Together, the Union President and the Fire Chief began this conversation. Based upon the comments that we received, we realize the need to continue the conversation. The focus of the next webinar, “Growing Up In A Fire Family,” came about through your feedback and we thank you and look forward to receiving your input for additional topics that you are interested in learning more about from the behavioral health field.

Also, UFLAC is thrilled to announce the expansion of our Behavioral Health Staff. UFLAC has hired a Clinical Psychologist, Dr. Samantha Tamburro, to work alongside Dr. Steve and we have brought on board a recent graduate from USC, Vera Rodriguez, who has joined our staff as our Behavioral Health Intern. Recognizing that the fire service is a unique workplace, we knew that we did not just want to find good, competent clinicians, but we sought professionals who also had knowledge of the fire service culture. It is widely recognized today that cultural competency is important for a clinician to be effective in the fire service environment.

We are excited to be able to share with you that both clinicians, Dr. Sami Tamburro and Vera Rodriguez, meet that standard. Sami is not only a Clinical Psychologist, but she is also a mother of three and married to a Glendale Firefighter. Vera comes from a fire family herself. Her dad is a Captain with the LACoFD and can help us better understand some of the issues that kids face growing up within the fire service since she brings both her higher education as well as her personal experience of the unique dynamics present in a fire family. Vera will take the lead in the upcoming discussion and Sami will guide the next Webinar, which will focus on the dynamics of being married to a Firefighter.

In this Webinar a variety of topics will be addressed from stress, anxiety, developmental growth, and as a parent, how to assist your child from a fire family perspective.


2020/04/14 – Family Webinar

Family WebinarThe “Family Webinar” is designed to create and find supportive resources to maintain a first line of defense on the home front for our first responder families and their relationships. The goal is to build a community of firefighter families to support, guide, inform and provide informative resources in the fire life.

It is not often that the UFLAC, Local 112/LAFD Peer Support Team reaches out directly to our family members. The COVID-19 Virus has changed our lives for the time being.
While it is true that everyone will deal with life situations in their own unique way, we do know that for the most part, our lives do not look like the lives we were living just days ago. The term “social distancing” has become a regular part of our vocabulary, children are home and not in school, many of us are not going to our jobs if they are civilian non-essential occupations, and Firefighter families are living with the day-to-day reality that their Firefighter spouse or significant other, their Firefighter mom or dad, or their Firefighter adult child may respond to a COVID-19 call at any moment.

The Union President and the Fire Chief have been proactive in opening lines of communication to all Fire Personnel and Fire Families. They want the members and their families to have the most up-to-date and accurate information available. The goal is to take care of the citizens of Los Angeles, our Fire Personnel, and our Fire Families.

It appears that we will be dealing with this “new normal” for a while and it is up to each one of us to find the best way possible, under the circumstances, to live the healthiest life that we can. To that end, we want to remind everyone that we do have resources available to assist in times just like these. Sometimes just talking about things provides the relief that we need. Both UFLAC and the Fire Department offer Behavioral Health Services at no cost for our members and families.