The A.L.E.R.T. app is a training tool to help members of law enforcement develop and practice mindfulness-based skills. These skills integrate principles and strategies from evidence-based therapies to increase mindfulness, regulate emotions, decrease feelings of burnout, and cope effectively with stress.
The Fundamental Skills category in the app is comprised on the ONE WAY skills, which are based on Dr. Marsha Linehan’s Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) “what” and “how “ skills. The user will be prompted to Observe, Name, and Experience in order to learn “what” to do to practice mindfulness. The user will also be shown how to practice mindfulness using the Without judgment, Achieve focus, and Your effectiveness practice exercises.
In addition, the app includes general Practice Exercises, In the Moment, and After a Stressful Day mindfulness exercises. These exercises are derived from Dr. Linehan’s DBT emotion regulation and distress tolerance skills and Dr. Steven Hayes’s Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) defusion and acceptance skills, and tailored to users in law enforcement.
The Practice Exercises category contains mindfulness exercises that target awareness, acceptance, change, being effective in the present-moment, gaining perspective, and/or shifting attention. Select mindfulness exercises in this category are geared toward helping users regulate their emotion. In doing so, users may decrease mood-dependent behaviors, gain control over frequent mood shifts, and/or get some relief from a steady unpleasant emotional state.
The In the Moment category contains practice exercises that are meant to help the user tolerate high levels of distress, decrease impulsive behavior, and decrease avoidance of emotional experiences. It is essential that initially these exercises be practiced when distress is low to moderate in order for the skills to be effectively used when distress is high.
The After a Stressful Day category contains mindfulness exercise that may help the user regroup, relax, improve the moment, and/or cope effectively with chronic stress when implemented over time. It is important to note that the exercises in this category can be practiced at any time throughout the day and not exclusively at the end of the day.
**Please note that this app was specifically designed to compliment the A.L.E.R.T. In-Person Training, and help law enforcement officers practice different mindfulness skills at their convenience. This self-help tool is being studied to determine the utility and effectiveness of using a mobile app to help officers maintain gains from training over time, cope effectively with stress, decrease feelings of burnout, and increase their overall psychological resilience and ability to regulate emotions.
9Apps 4.9
