2024 New England Security EXPO Platinum Sponsors
UPCOMING CHAPTER EVENTS

October 27, 2022
Soul Toll: The Invisible Wounds of Covid19 and the Journey to Recovery

Joint IAHSS and ASIS Meeting

The last three years have taxed our workforce beyond anything we had ever truly imagined. And yet, our security professionals, even those who often are not given the credit they have earned, show up to their jobs day after day, week after week. There is a price they have paid, and this keynote will highlight some of the ways in which all professionals, maybe especially those in security and safety, have been deeply impacted by the pandemic.

Sarah will examine the mental health consequences of Covid19 and, with a small twist from your average mental health keynote, this presentation will also ask participants to consider beyond the mental health realm and towards the impact Covid 19 has had on our souls, also known as the essence of “who” we truly are.

This keynote will conclude with out of the box recommendations for anyone who may feel that the “who they are”, their soul, has been altered by this global pandemic.

Date
Thursday, October 27, 2022
5:00-6:00pm: Registration and Social Hour
6:00 6:45pm: Dinner
6:45-7:45pm: Keynote Presentation

Sponsors

  • Social Hour and Open Bar Sponsored by USI Security and Salient Systems
  • Dinner Sponsored by Ontic
  • Keynote Speaker Sponsored by Motorola

Location
Mass General Brigham Assembly Row
399 Revolution Drive, Assembly Square
Somerville, MA

Map | Directions

Registration
$40 / Person


Keynote Speaker

Sarah Gaer is a Master's Level Clinician with 24 years experience in the field of mental health care. Her graduate degree work was focused on military veterans and trauma. Sarah spent 10 years as a Suicide Prevention Specialist focused on men in the middle years and first responder and is a QPR (Question, Persuade & Refer) Master Trainer for the QPR Institute. Through her trauma response work, Sarah has responded to suicides, homicides, natural disasters, and terrorist attacks. Most recently, she was the Senior Team Leader for MassSupport Network, the FEMA funded Crisis Counseling Program responding to Covid19 in Massachusetts and was the Team Leader for the CCP in 2011 responding to the tornadoes that impacted Western & Central Massachusetts. Sarah currently works as a consultant in suicide prevention and trauma recovery and is spearheading long term recovery efforts at a medical facility in Western Massachusetts that has been deeply impacted by the pandemic. She is also a consultant and trainer for the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health specializing in Law Enforcement mental health and suicide prevention.

Sarah is a member of the Executive Committee for the Massachusetts Coalition for Suicide Prevention, and Co-Chair of the Central Mass Suicide Prevention Coalition. She has presented her work at National and International Suicide Prevention conferences and her writings have been published by SAMHSA and the Good Men Project. She authored the novel “The Price” which chronicles the suicide death of a police officer as well as co-authoring Guts, Grit & The Grind, which is an anthology series about Men’s Mental Health. Sarah is a recipient of the Massachusetts Coalition for Suicide Prevention 2022 Leadership award. To learn more visit SarahGaer.com.