A Street Survival Guide for Public Safety Officers

This guide is essential reading for both recruits and experienced personnel in this profession; as well as for those contemplating this type of career. Dr. Rudofossi more than adequately furnishes the reader with examples of negative behavioral responses to trauma that can lead to very severe consequences to individuals, careers, family, and life. He also provides methods that can be used to positively respond to trauma, thereby reducing the associated consequences of negatively dealing with traumatic stress.
—Professor Thomas C. Creelman, M.A., CEAP, St. John’s University and Supervising Investigator, New York State Office of the Attorney General

… a major breakthrough … no less than essential reading for every public safety worker seeking understanding of his/her own trauma and grief. It also serves any mental health clinician who desires to treat this population to deepen the understanding of how stress and trauma affects and manifests in public safety officer including the strategies needed for healing and restoration.
—Katherine V. Rosemond, M.Ed., LPC, EMT-B, Licensed Professional Counselor, Commonwealth of Virginia

If you have the privilege of knowing Dr. Dan as I have you will realize he is an individual who has dedicated his life to helping others. The most practical way to learn how trauma and loss can hit you hard and leave you understanding 'why' you are burnt out and reeling for cover is also delivered with 'how' to get back on your toes for another day. … If you are a public servant, a first responder who is in the trenches each day, you will be well served to visit Dr. Dan by reading this book and using it as a street guide to help you deal with the hard stuff at the end of the day.
—Jack La Torre, NYPD Lieutenant Retired and Active United States Coast Guard Officer
… details the most revolutionary methods and ideas for dealing with critical incidents and post traumatic stress. Dr. Daniel Rudofossi’s book is a work whose time has finally come.
—Louis A. Valenti, Retired NY State Police Sergeant; Currently Special Projects Coordinator, NYS Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services, Office of Counter Terrorism

… will tremendously help front line folks -- Police, Firefighters, EMT's and Medics. It offers a lot more then band-aid formulas in helping them understand their own trauma and losses as individuals.
—Rabbi Kalman Packouz, Aish Ha Torah Shabbat Weekly

We are losing far too many public safety officers to the emotional hazards of this work. It’s time we all took care of ourselves and this book is a great step in that direction.
—Dennis Conroy, Author of Cops at Risk; St Paul Minnesota Retired Sgt and Licensed Clinical Psychologist

… could not be more timely and is a "must read" for criminal justice professionals, department administrators, police, firefighters and EMTs, and our loved ones and mental health practitioners who seek to support us. … This is one outstanding clinician ,instructor and author whose blood has, and always will be, NYPD blue.
—John J Carr, M.S., DCSW, Former SWAT/FBI-trained Police Officer; Area Clinician US DOJ DEA EAP Boston Field Office

Doctor Dan has done it again! This time he has brought his sage, skilled and original Eco-Ethological Existential Analysis infused with psychology, philosophy, spirituality, and life experience as a Cop Doc to a much wider audience. This book is important for anyone seeking to learn how to better help others and understand their own trauma, losses and terrorism's impact.
—Rabbi Joseph Kolakowski, Nachalei Emunah Hasidic Institute of Virginia & Chaplain, Federal Prisons and Correctional System, Richmond, Virginia

… This book is an amazing tool for the psycho-spiritual crisis and health of public safety professionals uniform and civilian and their families. … In reading this book, you feel like Doctor Dan really knows you and understands you and in a very compassionate way he shows you the path to healing.
—Rabbi Zalman Marcus, Chabad California

Dr Rudofossi brings his many years of experience as a cop, teacher and psychologist to bear as he writes this important guide to help fellow first responders emotionally survive a career in the emergency services.
—Joel Faye, San Rafeal Police Department Police Officer Active Service, Director of West Coast Post Trauma Retreat


Dr. Rudofossi is "one of us": he is a "Cop-Doc". He was a police officer with the New York Police Department (NYPD), having spent more than a decade as a street cop and was the first uniformed psychologist in the NYPD. This not only gave him an insider perspective, "a cop doc on the job", but he also has interviewed, assessed, and treated hundreds of officers, many suffering from PTSD, including after 9/11. This alone is reason for all police and public-safety personnel, and those mental health professionals seeking competency to work with them, and their families to read this book. Surviving policing will be easier using Doc Dan’s guide. I recommend the book to every serving and aspiring police officer for both its brilliantly written expression (he knows how to tell a story) and insightful clinical implications.
—Antoon A. Leenaars, Ph.D., C.Psych., CPQ, Author, Suicide and Homicide-Suicide among Police

From the first page to the last, it engages the reader in a conversation with a learned and experienced fellow therapist who is committed to his work and who has himself spent years as a police officer in New York City. The book contains illuminating case histories and an extensive review of the pertinent literature. Its author exhibits an admirable balance of enthusiasm and humility. He conveys to his readers how complex and difficult is the task to which he and they are committed, without losing any of the optimism and determination that are necessary to overcome its difficulties.
— Charles Brenner, M.D., Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, State University of New York, Past President, American Psychoanalytic Association, Past President, New York Psychoanalytic Society

… will prove of great value to clinicians, police administrators, and anyone concerned with learning about real trauma and its effect on law enforcement personnel. … This book is a rare piece of scholarship.
— Vincent M. Mansfield, Commanding Officer, Medical Division, NYPD Retired Chief

Dr. Dan, aka COP DOC, has captured the essentials of what America's first responders as law enforcement, firefighters/ ER RN's and Medics/EMT professionals and people involved in protecting and serving the public need.This is NOT a book written by a DOCTOR for ONLY DOCTORS.
As first responders, we are a community that interacts and works with the general public when people are traumatized and grief stricken! What is not understood by the media, the politicians, and the general public is that after we are engaged in these circumstances, we carry the baggage of the after-affects of our experiences.

Doctor Dan addresses these issues and appeals to ALL readers the importance of understanding these after affects of trauma, loss and threatened as well as actual terrorism.

Doctor Dan was an active street cop and Police Sergeant in Brooklyn North NYPD in the late 80s and 90s who became a Cop Doc to give back to the community he so much loves and respects. It takes a certain type of individual to take on the mission of being a first responder. Dr. Dan has found a way to help these officers better understand what and why they are going through as complex trauma and grief syndromes. Dr. Dan's work, although NOT politically correct, is truthful and offers the street officer and ranking supervisor an honest approach to these issues and a solution in his intervention model, including what your personality style is and how to embrace it for maximum healing and effectiveness.

Kudos to Dr. Dan Rudofossi on his newest book. … This is a book which should be MANDATORY reading for EVERYONE from recruits in police, fire and medical, military, as well as ALL civilians that are interested in the TRUTH about what our FIRST RESPONDERS NEED.—Chief Robert W. Basso, President NJ/NY Detectives' Crime Clinic and Major in NY State Guard, Office of Inspector General

Dr. Dan was a cop, and now he is a true-blue Cop Doc who walks-the-walk and talks-the talk. But I strongly believe this book is not just for cops! Law enforcement, fire fighters, EMTs and military, and those who would treat them and help them, all have much to gain from this book

Dr. Dan is a true brother warrior-healer who has assembled a tool box, a life-saving medical aid bag, to help our first responders to prepare before the event, perform in the event, and survive and thrive after the life-and-death events that these heroes must confront as a part of their job.

Our warriors must go toward the danger. They have no choice, they must go toward the event that sends all others fleeing in panic and terror, but they do not need to be destroyed by it! Indeed, they can be made stronger by it! And Dr. Dan leads the way home from the dark and dangerous paths that these heroes must travel, to survive and thrive in the face of trauma, loss and terrorism.

WELL done, Dr. Dan!
—Lt. Col. Dave Grossman, author, On Killing, On Combat, and Warrior MindsetMy friend Dr. Dan has written a book that should be read by all our first responders in law enforcement, fire & rescue, EMS/EMT, and even military personnel. In my 28 1/2 years in the U.S. Army, I experienced the impacts of trauma and loss that Dr. Dan so aptly addresses. However, he not only addresses the impacts, but provides the road to surviving and becoming an even better professional by dealing with it in the proper manner. This is a perfect first responder book written by a true street cop and a doctor (licensed psychologist) ... his creditability is unquestionable. Great Job!
—COL (Ret) Danny R. McKnight, US Army, Author, Streets of Mogadishu
… I can think of no scholarly or scientific work from within the mental health, social science, or law enforcement community which carries the weight of wisdom of Dr. Dan’s new book. I encourage all my colleagues to read and truly absorb the message contained within this landmark work.
—Jack Kitaeff, Ph.D., J.D.

This guide is essential reading for both recruits and experienced personnel in this profession; as well as for those contemplating this type of career. Dr. Rudofossi more than adequately furnishes the reader with examples of negative behavioral responses to trauma that can lead to very severe consequences to individuals, careers, family, and life. He also provides methods that can be used to positively respond to trauma, thereby reducing the associated consequences of negatively dealing with traumatic stress. —Professor Thomas C. Creelman, M.A., CEAP, St. John’s University and Supervising Investigator, New York State Office of the Attorney General

… a major breakthrough … no less than essential reading for every public safety worker seeking understanding of his/her own trauma and grief. It also serves any mental health clinician who desires to treat this population to deepen the understanding of how stress and trauma affects and manifests in public safety officer including the strategies needed for healing and restoration.
—Katherine V. Rosemond, M.Ed., LPC, EMT-B, Licensed Professional Counselor, Commonwealth of Virginia

If you have the privilege of knowing Dr. Dan as I have you will realize he is an individual who has dedicated his life to helping others. The most practical way to learn how trauma and loss can hit you hard and leave you understanding 'why' you are burnt out and reeling for cover is also delivered with 'how' to get back on your toes for another day. … If you are a public servant, a first responder who is in the trenches each day, you will be well served to visit Dr. Dan by reading this book and using it as a street guide to help you deal with the hard stuff at the end of the day.
—Jack La Torre, NYPD Lieutenant Retired and Active United States Coast Guard Officer
… details the most revolutionary methods and ideas for dealing with critical incidents and post traumatic stress. Dr. Daniel Rudofossi’s book is a work whose time has finally come.
—Louis A. Valenti, Retired NY State Police Sergeant; Currently Special Projects Coordinator, NYS Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services, Office of Counter Terrorism

… will tremendously help front line folks -- Police, Firefighters, EMT's and Medics. It offers a lot more then band-aid formulas in helping them understand their own trauma and losses as individuals.
—Rabbi Kalman Packouz, Aish Ha Torah Shabbat Weekly

We are losing far too many public safety officers to the emotional hazards of this work. It’s time we all took care of ourselves and this book is a great step in that direction.
—Dennis Conroy, Author of Cops at Risk; St Paul Minnesota Retired Sgt and Licensed Clinical Psychologist

… could not be more timely and is a "must read" for criminal justice professionals, department administrators, police, firefighters and EMTs, and our loved ones and mental health practitioners who seek to support us. … This is one outstanding clinician ,instructor and author whose blood has, and always will be, NYPD blue.
—John J Carr, M.S., DCSW, Former SWAT/FBI-trained Police Officer; Area Clinician US DOJ DEA EAP Boston Field Office

Doctor Dan has done it again! This time he has brought his sage, skilled and original Eco-Ethological Existential Analysis infused with psychology, philosophy, spirituality, and life experience as a Cop Doc to a much wider audience. This book is important for anyone seeking to learn how to better help others and understand their own trauma, losses and terrorism's impact.
—Rabbi Joseph Kolakowski, Nachalei Emunah Hasidic Institute of Virginia & Chaplain, Federal Prisons and Correctional System, Richmond, Virginia

… This book is an amazing tool for the psycho-spiritual crisis and health of public safety professionals uniform and civilian and their families. … In reading this book, you feel like Doctor Dan really knows you and understands you and in a very compassionate way he shows you the path to healing.
—Rabbi Zalman Marcus, Chabad California

Dr Rudofossi brings his many years of experience as a cop, teacher and psychologist to bear as he writes this important guide t