Bridging the Gap: PALS and MAPPS as Complementary Peer Support Models for Police Wellness

The psychological demands placed on law enforcement officers continue to rise, with burnout, trauma exposure, organizational stress and risk for suicide taking a serious toll on officer wellness and retention. Research has consistently shown elevated rates of PTSD among police, firefighters, and emergency dispatchers (Klimley et al., 2018). In response, unique peer support models are emerging across the country to fill critical gaps in mental health care and reduce the stigma associated with seeking support in police culture.

Two programs – Peers as Law Enforcement Support (PALS) and the Multi-Agency Police Peer Support (MAPPS) –  are proving particularly effective when combined, creating a multifaceted, interdisciplinary approach that empowers officers and agency members to support one another in both personal and professional times of need (Walsh et al., 2021). This collaboration embodies a unique model of cross-specialty training, combining the strengths of advanced educational training, applied field experience, and board-certified oversight.

The MAPPS program, co-led by Jennifer Kelly, PhD, ABPP, a board-certified police and public safety psychologist, and Captain Bill Walsh of the Voorhees Police Department, who is a counselor in training, takes a macro-level approach to peer support. Rather than isolate each agency’s efforts, MAPPS encourages departments to build partnerships across jurisdictions enhancing scalability, reducing costs, and addressing staffing and cohesion challenges unique to smaller or mid-sized departments.

The PALS (Peers as Law Enforcement Support) program was developed by Vincent Van Hasselt, PhD, clinical psychologist and Director of the First Responder Research and Training Program at Nova Southeastern University (Van Hasselt et al., 2019). PALS is a structured, voluntary training designed to reduce stigma and equip officers with the tools to support one another in emotionally charged or high-risk situations. Training modules cover active listening, depression, PTSD, anxiety, substance use, suicide awareness, resiliency, relationships within law enforcement, and crisis support, with scenario-based practice tailored to the realities of law enforcement life. The curriculum is informed by research on officer wellness and emphasizes trust, confidentiality, and culturally competent communication.

In this collaborative model, the PALS program serves as the foundation for the multi-agency peer team training. Once officers complete the 16-hour PALS training, the MAPPS program developers offer an additional 16 hours of training that involves more opportunities for role playing, with deep dives into topics including ethics and confidentiality, grief and loss, moral injury, critical incident stress debriefings, and family as an additional support system. The MAPPS model serves to operationalize peer support across member agencies with added oversight and sustainability. Established in a strong clinical foundation, the MAPPS program maintains quarterly in-service trainings, and family outreach efforts to further reinforce the program’s sustainability. A distinguishing feature of MAPPS is its unique blend of clinical oversight and internal credibility. Dr. Kelly provides ongoing clinical consultation to peer team members, offering guidance on ethical concerns, role clarity, and referral procedures to maintain program integrity. This is powerfully complemented by the leadership of Captain Walsh, whose presence as a trusted peer within law enforcement helps foster buy-in and credibility among officers who might otherwise be hesitant to engage in mental health initiatives led solely by external professionals.

Currently, PALS is delivered by doctoral students Naysha Rivera-Hartley, MS, Olivia Wallman, MS, and Amanda Nephew, MS, who bring clinical experience paired with academic precision ensuring relatability to course participants, increasing engagement and participation. Their involvement not only strengthens the pipeline of future public safety psychologists, but also demonstrates how doctoral-level trainees can play an active role in addressing critical community needs under skilled supervision.

Together, PALS and MAPPS demonstrate how the integration of student-led instruction with board-certified oversight can create a flexible, scalable framework for peer support in law enforcement. While PALS emphasizes early intervention and the normalization of help-seeking through peer engagement, MAPPS ensures formal infrastructure, clinical consultation, and inter-agency coordination, creating a continuum of care that is both responsive and resilient.

This collaboration has already shown meaningful impact in several participating departments. Agencies report increased engagement in wellness activities, greater comfort among officers in seeking support, and more open dialogue around topics that were once considered taboo, such as suicide, moral injury, and cumulative stress (Walsh et al., 2021). The hybrid training model, which was delivered successfully during the COVID-19 pandemic, has allowed programs to remain accessible even amid staffing shortages and operational demands. MAPPS has established meaningful research partnerships with academic institutions and is in the process of data collection (Walsh et al., 2021).

At a time when psychologists are being called to respond to complex collective needs, combined models like PALS and MAPPS show how specialty training can extend far beyond the therapy room and into the heart of the systems that need it most. Future directions for this collaboration include continued research on program efficacy, the development of sustainable funding and training pathways, and the formal evaluation of outcomes across diverse settings. While initially designed for law enforcement, PALS is now also being delivered to correctional and fire service personnel, demonstrating its adaptability across high-risk occupational groups[4]  (Van Hasselt et al., 2019). Ultimately, the combined power of PALS and MAPPS lies not only in what they provide to those on the front lines, but in what they represent: a model for how ABPP specialists and emerging professionals can come together to enact change, reduce harm, and support those who serve.