Posture & Purpose With Dr. Michelle Carr Frank
Welcome to Posture and Purpose where both healing and community come together! An inside look into Carr Chiropractic and Dr. Michelle Carr Frank.
Posture & Purpose With Dr. Michelle Carr Frank
Wellness in the Badge: A Sheriff's Journey
What happens when a Marine Corps veteran with 14 years in law enforcement takes on the mental health crisis affecting first responders? Staff Sergeant Beau Navarre opens up about his remarkable journey from changing tires at Walmart to spearheading a groundbreaking wellness program for the Lafayette Parish Sheriff's Department.
After experiencing burnout and losing six colleagues to suicide, Navarre recognized the urgent need to transform the culture of toughness that prevents many officers from seeking help. "We're raised and taught that you just got to be tough, you got to put on this facade," he explains. "But sometimes vulnerability is a good thing." His candid reflections on his own struggles with depression reveal the human side of law enforcement that citizens rarely glimpse.
Sheriff Navarre's progressive approach to officer wellness has enabled the development of comprehensive resources including a state-of-the-art gym facility and partnerships with community health professionals. The program addresses both physical and mental wellbeing, tackling critical issues like sleep deprivation, hydration, and the psychological impacts of traumatic incidents. As Navarre powerfully states, "The wounded can't help the wounded."
For listeners outside law enforcement, Navarre offers a profound perspective: "When you encounter an officer that's not to your liking, understand they may be going through some really tough things." His message of empathy extends beyond the badge, reminding us that everyone – from single parents to healthcare workers – needs permission to prioritize self-care. "We're so busy trying to help everyone else we forget that we need time for ourselves."
Join us for this eye-opening conversation about service, sacrifice, and the critical importance of wellness for those who protect our communities. What might change in your life if you applied these same principles of self-care and vulnerability?
Yeah, we're all human, absolutely, that happens.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. We always resort to what's comfortable for us. But the important thing is is that to live a healthy life, sometimes you got to be uncomfortable.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. It brings change.
Speaker 2:Absolutely, and the Marine Corps taught me that.
Speaker 3:Welcome to Posture and Purpose, where both healing and community come together. Make sure to subscribe on Apple, spotify and YouTube. Let's get into this episode with Dr Michelle Carr-Frank.
Speaker 1:So with me today I have Mr Beau Navar with the Lafayette Parish Sheriff's Department. Welcome, Thank you.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much.
Speaker 1:Well, thank you. Thank you for being here and thank you for everything y'all do for Lafayette. We appreciate all your hard work Absolutely. I wanted to just pick your brain today a little bit about everything to do with your career and what things you're bringing to the table for Lafayette. But first I'd like to ask you what drew you towards a career path in law enforcement?
Speaker 2:So, basically in a nutshell, I joined the United States Marine Corps at the age of 20. A little bit out of high school I was, you know, working Walmart changing tires. I just had this sense of service and I wanted to do something more meaningful. Joining the Marine Corps it just it set me on a different path. It really made a man out of me, taught me a lot of good core values in life, and so from then on, when I got out, when I chose to get out after my four-year contract, I tossed around, worked in the oil field, I did a few different things and I started doing private security. And it just so happened that I got mixed up with law enforcement and I started in my hometown of Crowley. I was a reserve there for a while and I just got the taste for it, I guess you know, and it was just another way to continue to wear a uniform and serve just in a different capacity.
Speaker 1:So that's just been part of your passion? It sounds like from day one Even from you know a 20-year-old saying, okay, I need to do something more.
Speaker 2:Correct. And I will say that I always tell people you know, I've been doing this a little while now and I always tell people that there's a three to five-year window in this profession where you get convicted, in a sense, you hit that wall of is this really for me or is this not for me? And it's usually within that three to five-year window. Some people you know skate by and get by, but you get to a point where you come to that realization is this really for me or is this not? And in saying that, my point is that it's a calling, doing this job and wearing that uniform, getting up every day seeing these traumatic situations.
Speaker 1:I can't. Imagine.
Speaker 2:Dealing with everybody else's problems and dealing with your own. Yes yes, it's definitely a calling. It's something that you have to feel called to do.
Speaker 1:And you obviously do.
Speaker 2:Yes, ma'am.
Speaker 1:And so you are now a staff sergeant. Yes, ma'am, so how does that connect you with the development of what you have going on at the department? Now Tell us about the wellness program.
Speaker 2:Yes, ma'am. So the sheriff had been mulling that idea over for a while. Within the last five years, we've had two on-duty suicides, um, particularly in the school resource officer section which I was in. So both of them were my friends. Um, no, yeah, it's, it's, unfortunately, it's a part of the life we live today. Um, and I hate to say that it's such a stigma, suicide, but when you're in a profession especially like military law enforcement, that's why we see it so much in there, almost to a double percentile, Wow.
Speaker 1:You have to talk about it, you have to bring it to the forefront.
Speaker 2:You have to. So, with that being said, there were some other health deaths and things like that throughout the sheriff's department. The sheriff really pushed to. You know, we had other people in the agency that were doing different jobs and it was like, hey, we need one person to really focus on this and bring it to another level. It's not new to law enforcement, but it's new to this area and that's the great thing about our sheriff, honestly, is he's very progressive in trying to be the first or set a standard of professionalism and innovation.
Speaker 1:Well, that's good to hear.
Speaker 2:He really is, and me being in the position that I'm in now is a direct statement to that. It's a direct attestment, and I tell people that all the time when I talk to them hey look, our sheriff really does care about us. If you don't believe that, why am I standing in front of you, right, right, because he's putting his foot forward and saying, hey, I care, and this is how we're going to start it, and he's showing so with health and wellness, which starts with mental correct and, you know, of course exudes into the physical.
Speaker 1:But correct tell me what practices you guys have in place. Do you have a gym you work with, or is there mental health counselors, or do y'all have certain things in place?
Speaker 2:So part of the position in what I do is to help enhance what we already have. So we have our gym, which now we're building a new gym. Probably within the beginning of the year it should be done wonderful they've already broke ground. They got a lot of it, the foundation, done, so we're excited about that, because it's in my. I always say this and I'm being funny but not funny um, it looks like a mini Red Laurel.
Speaker 2:It's like it's not going to be huge like Red's, but it's. It's going to have an upstairs track. It's got CrossFit stuff downstairs.
Speaker 1:I mean state-of-the-art equipment.
Speaker 2:It's really nice. So we're doing that and, like I said, part of my position is to go out in the community and find these resources that enhance what we already have.
Speaker 1:So that's how I found you.
Speaker 2:Correct, correct. And so in saying that, you know we did the partnership with Dr Swallow, with the sleep apnea mouthpieces, things like that, just going out and finding those resources and anything that we can do to help us be better, healthier and well.
Speaker 1:With trusted professionals. Well, that always helps. Is there a turning point that you know that took this in the right direction with health and wellness? Did the Sheriff's Department go to some type of seminar and they talked about the importance of it? Or was it those unfortunate tragic events that brought you all to this place.
Speaker 2:I think it was a combination of both. I think it was a combination of both. I think, like I said, this is really taken off in the law enforcement world and first responders in general A lot of people. We have our comms people dispatchers. They went to a conference and they're like man. The biggest part of the conference was wellness. Then you had you know just everywhere.
Speaker 2:Everywhere you go now with conferences for our profession. Even the school resource officers just went to the national SRO conference and they were like man, a guy's texting me, he's like dude, they're talking about all the stuff you've been talking about oh, that's wonderful, that's great. It's really something that's taken off.
Speaker 1:And it affects so many people, from the person that gets that first phone call to the officers or the EMS that show up on scene or whatever it is. There's such a very dynamic course that it has to go through for everything to work and it doesn't always work perfect, as we know, because that's life in general. But thank goodness that y'all are really attending to your officers like that absolutely um.
Speaker 2:So if you don't mind, I'll kind of explain a little bit of what got me here, please if that's okay, is completely whatever you'd like to share with us.
Speaker 2:So when I'm at 14 years in law enforcement, in between there there was a three and a half year break. So, like I said, at that three to five year mark I was a little over five years and I was burnt out, burnout. I, you know, kind of bounced around a couple agencies dealing with the politics, dealing with the different types of law enforcement in these different areas, the different types of people, fun stuff.
Speaker 1:I guess you learn a lot.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. So I decided to take a break and I went in the oil field and then I worked for PHI, a great company, went to travel the world with them, you know doing the corporate thing, and you know, when Corporal Michael Middlebrook got killed tragically, that kind of again, that calling it tugged on my heart and I really felt called to come back to this profession.
Speaker 1:Did you know him personally?
Speaker 2:I did not know him personally. I'm sure, in passing, we've met, but I didn't know him personally, we weren't friends, but it just tugged on me Still, yeah. So I applied with the Sheriff's department. That was the only place I wanted to go. I saw what Sheriff Garber was doing with the agency and just the change that was being made, and so I applied and he gave me a chance. And so, in saying that, like I said, my goal was to come back and help the younger generation understand the differences and the things that happen. And hey, look, you need to look out for this, you need to, you know, focus on this.
Speaker 1:Almost like a mentor.
Speaker 2:Correct. That's really what I wanted to do. Now, going on eight years being at the Sheriff's Department, I kind of started my own business doing my own thing. I've lost six people in my life, in my professional life, to suicide. Really, Six.
Speaker 1:I'm so sorry to hear that.
Speaker 2:Four in law enforcement and two in military service.
Speaker 1:That will change you.
Speaker 2:Correct and it just part of me leaving in that burnout was that depression.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 2:And so, you know, I focused on me, I changed the way I was living, the way I was focusing on things, and I started my own business and tried, you know, doing my own education, you know paying for my own business and tried, you know, doing my own education, you know paying for my own schooling and things. And obviously COVID hit and that kind of went flat right. But there's always a light at the end of the tunnel, you know, and there's always hope. And it really was such a blessing for me that this position presented itself, because now I'm able to do what I love but still wear the uniform.
Speaker 1:And it sounds like you're the perfect person for it.
Speaker 2:That's what everybody keeps saying.
Speaker 1:Again. That's how I got to know you, and I definitely wanted to let other people know that we have you in our community.
Speaker 2:Yes, ma'am.
Speaker 1:And, of course, the sheriff as well. It sounds like he's turning things in a positive direction.
Speaker 2:Absolutely.
Speaker 1:But I want to ask you how do you encourage your own physical wellness?
Speaker 2:So obviously I've always been it's always been at the forefront for me. I've always focused on different diets and different workout routines. It's just something that's always been important to me.
Speaker 1:So weights like weight training.
Speaker 2:Just any and everything. Okay. I mean, if you more than likely, I've done it Okay and I've always had this standard in my mind. I'm just different. I'm a thinker.
Speaker 2:Different is good, I'm always trying to, you know, I guess in a sense outdo myself or prove something, and I've always had this mentality of there's a guy named, I believe his name is Drew Manning. His whole thing is fit to fat to fit. And so I've had that philosophy of I want to be the one who can show and say I've done it. So yeah, I've tried all kinds of stuff.
Speaker 2:Correct and it's just a, it's a holistic approach. You know, you just, you just. I try to be mindful of everything. When I see that maybe I'm putting on a little weight, or whatever the case may be, or I'm eating too much, I always try to revisit that and say, hey look, I need to back off of this, I need to start doing this again, and I just get back in a routine.
Speaker 1:We're all human, absolutely. That happens, that happens.
Speaker 2:We always resort to what's comfortable for us, but the important thing is that to live a healthy life, sometimes you got to be uncomfortable.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. It brings change.
Speaker 2:Absolutely, and the Marine Corps taught me that right, I guess. So I would imagine.
Speaker 1:I would definitely imagine what is your ultimate goal for this program Like what would you like to see happen? I know it's kind of in its infancy at this point, but what would you like to see happen?
Speaker 2:I know it's kind of in its infancy at this point.
Speaker 1:But what would you like to see happen?
Speaker 2:Honestly, it's going in such a great direction. I mean it's unbelievable how responsive everybody's been towards it and how much attention it's already getting.
Speaker 1:They needed someone to come out and say it.
Speaker 2:Correct that it's already getting. They needed someone to come out and say it Correct. It's crazy to me because, honestly, I knew Like I have a quiet confidence about myself, so I know what I bring to the table, but I knew the challenges, because the problem is culture Mm-hmm and you have to change that culture.
Speaker 2:I hate to say it, men, sometimes the worst it's it's so true. Because it's so true, because honestly it's it's. You know we're we're raised and taught that. You know you just got to be tough, you got to put on this facade and just do it. And you know, leave it alone and move forward, and more so in the military and in the law enforcement community. You can't show weakness. But now we're doing a very good job of changing that culture and that's kind of like that's what I mean by it's so surprising because but it also helps again with having the right person yes, the things that I've done in my background.
Speaker 1:Right People respect me.
Speaker 2:So when I come to the table and I say, hey guys, like I've been there, I've done this, I've done that, and you need to realize that we've got to change that.
Speaker 1:You're peeling off the layers oh yeah, absolutely, you've got to get past that tough exterior, sometimes Absolutely. And look tough exteriors are good. Sometimes you need them in the military, you need them in law enforcement, but healing mentally and physically. Sometimes you've got to realize things.
Speaker 2:Honestly. We have to drive home this message to them and they need to understand that Culture change doesn't mean that it's a complete change. Right, we just need to stop thinking with the stigma of I'm this, I'm that and I can't get help. Right, we can still be tough guys and do our job like we need to be, but we also need to understand that sometimes, vulnerability is a good thing. Yes, you can't expect to show up at 100% every day and help people if you're still wounded.
Speaker 1:Exactly, exactly.
Speaker 2:Wounded can mean a lot of things too. The wounded can't help.
Speaker 3:Still wounded, exactly, exactly Wounded can mean a lot of things too.
Speaker 1:The wounded Right, right and sometimes strength means knowing when you need help Absolutely, and that's hard for some people. Absolutely Myself included, to admit sometimes, you know, because you want to be. You know, I'm a business owner, I'm a mother, I'm a wife. You know, sometimes I run my household. Business owner, my mother my wife, you know sometimes I run my household. Ask anyone that knows me, but sometimes you know you need a. Everyone needs a break, everyone needs that outlet, whether it's a physical well-being or going out to the shooting range and getting some stress out whatever the case is, but to recognize it and address it.
Speaker 2:So Absolutely, and that's that's what I focus. I focus on driving that. That message home is hey, you have to have an outlet and you have to have a confidant, whether it's a friend or if it's your wife or your partner. You have to have somebody that you can go vent to, cause if we don't, or we vent to somebody we can't trust, then there's more, more problem exactly that's part of the psyche of this profession. That's the culture that we're trying to change so cool.
Speaker 1:Well it's. It's so glad to hear you. You know you're doing this and bringing it.
Speaker 3:Is there a?
Speaker 1:message, like for people listening for the community who don't really know. You know, we go about our little daily lives and we don't know the struggles that you guys put yourselves under. Um, is there something, a message or some sort that you'd like the community to know?
Speaker 2:The biggest thing that I would impart to a community is and I tell our deputies the same thing is you have to understand that when you're dealing with somebody, especially in a traumatic situation or experience, you don't know what they're going through in their personal life, and so my message would be that we all have to do a little bit of self-reflection and have a little bit of empathy when we're dealing with these types of situations. So if you encounter a law enforcement officer that's not to your liking, I'll keep it PG not to your liking understand that they may be going through some really tough things.
Speaker 2:You know there's a lot of things that we balance in this profession our personal lives, the mental strains and stresses of you know the politics of it all.
Speaker 1:I can't. Imagine.
Speaker 2:Keeping up an image in the public. Some people battle addictions of many types. You know, some people battle addictions of many types. There's so many different things and ultimately I will say this the two biggest things that will surely ensure that you die is sleep deprivation and dehydration. So people are drinking sodas and energy drinks all day. They're not hydrating properly, they're not eating properly. So there's so many factors. So again, my message would be just try to be a little empathetic and understand that we all join for the same purpose, most of us to serve, to protect our communities and to try to make a good difference, a positive difference, in our communities. And sometimes we can be human too.
Speaker 1:Yes, you all are human, of course. That's like when I walk into the room with a patient and they may be, I'll just say, a difficult patient. Okay, they may be hurting, they may have waited a month before they came to see us, and so sometimes, you know, it's not the most pleasant visit.
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 1:But I have to put myself in the same situation as you now, of course not as I'm not comparing myself to you at all, absolutely, but the message of being empathetic
Speaker 1:and having patience with people. I don't know what they went through at home. I don't know, you know, the car accident that they went through and they're hurting because of. I don't know if they're dealing with getting a new car and the finances and everything else. We don't know if an officer shows up to help us change a flat and they're in a hurry. We just want them to be a nice guy, but they may have just come from a horrific, you know, incident at a home or something. So we just have to in general, no matter what we do in life, we have to have patience and empathy with people.
Speaker 2:Absolutely Like you said. I mean, it could be anything, you know. Um, we've had situations where deputies were going to the gas station to get a meal or a drink, something to drink, and somebody pulls up in the parking lot and hands them a baby that's not breathing and they are you serious? Instantly going into cpr mode, and I mean so again. It could be something like that, and then then internally they're dealing with the. Well, if this child doesn't make it I fail right um, or the world's not fair because you know.
Speaker 2:So there's all these these things that happen in the psyche, that affect everything else Over cortisol production, sleep deprivation, all these things. So again, it all plays together. It's all the same thing. But in saying what you said, we had a leadership class a while back and they had a guy I can't remember his name, right off the top of my head solid guy. This guy was um, he's taught at the fbi national academy. He, he's, he's solid, he's from south carolina and he kind of said the same thing to a degree.
Speaker 2:He, you know, when you said I'm not trying to compare, we should compare Because leadership in our profession is no different than balancing a family and that's how it should be treated. And that's the problem is, the culture needs to change so that we can have effective leaders who are leading like a father in a household. Yes, and he explained, he's like it helped when he when that switch flipped for him. It changed the way he looked at everything. He said you know, I can't talk to my daughter a certain way because I wouldn't want to talk to my officers that way and vice versa.
Speaker 1:Interesting.
Speaker 2:And so he just laid it out like a family system and it was like leadership and I was like, wow, that spoke to you, you kind of have to take a step back and really let that sit Right. I mean I got goosebumps just talking about it, because it's that simple. We overcomplicate too much today in this world.
Speaker 1:Humans in general. We've always done that. I guess we're good at it. So have you noticed other law enforcement agencies, either in our state or elsewhere? I know you said you attended a lot of conventions and whatnot. Are they also making these changes? So we have.
Speaker 2:There are some agencies that are if they have like a wellness program or they're trying to develop a wellness program. I know I've reached out to several. I won't say the agency's names, but they've reached out to me and I've helped them because I'm building this from the ground up. I mean, there was no, I'm the first. You know I'm building, I'm laying the foundation. That's wonderful.
Speaker 1:And so it's a legacy to leave Right For years to come. People are going to benefit, Like I said, it's a complete blessing.
Speaker 2:I really did not expect to be in this position.
Speaker 1:But it came from your personal experience and passion for helping others.
Speaker 2:Absolutely.
Speaker 1:I mean what better?
Speaker 3:reason to do it right, Absolutely.
Speaker 1:So I always like to ask each patient at the end of my our chat how do you maintain your posture while pursuing your purpose in life?
Speaker 2:So I will say this I have a deep-rooted faith. That's not for everybody, but my faith is strong. I consider myself a warrior for Christ, so Ephesians 6 is like a big thing for me. So I just try to maintain that balance of reflection, time, self-reflecting, making sure that I have one of those zero-gravity massage chairs at home. I try to go spend time in that I have a sauna. I try to get in the sauna and just doing things that you have to take time for yourself, find the thing that you like. That's the biggest problem with, with our profession is we're so busy trying to help everyone else we forget that we need time for ourselves.
Speaker 2:You know, even if, being a single parent, you know, if you're a single parent, I would say the same thing. We, you know especially, they devote their lives to raising their kids and it's everything and the kids. And you have to learn that you have to take time for yourself.
Speaker 1:Right, just like, just like spinal health.
Speaker 3:Tell my patients it's not going to just happen, you have to get out there.
Speaker 1:whether you like to swim or jog or play tennis, get out there and do something, not only to keep moving and stay healthy, but also for your mental absolutely.
Speaker 2:I'll try to go get massages at least once a month. Um matter of fact, I'm gonna be coming to see you soon because I need to get I need to get cracked up, okay.
Speaker 1:Well, crack is a bad word here. We just adjust, adjust I'm sorry but that's okay, I'll forgive you this time.
Speaker 2:It's a law enforcement thing, that's okay.
Speaker 1:I won't hold it against you, but thank you so much for being here. I really appreciate it and I thank you for the rest of the from the Lafayette community for doing everything that you guys do and for, you know, really spearheading this project. So thank you.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 1:Yes, sir, until next time, sit up straight, stay happy, stay healthy and stay adjusted.
Speaker 3:Thanks for listening to the Posture and Purpose podcast with Dr Michelle Carr-Frank. Make sure to subscribe on YouTube, Spotify and Apple podcasts Until next time.