An FSPA Conference Success Story

By: Robert Avsec, Battalion Chief (Ret.)

At our FSPA Conference in Atlanta in October 2023, I had the pleasure of meeting a fellow fire service member and a fellow West Virginian, Captain David Hodges of the Charleston (W.Va.) Fire Department. It was David’s first FSPA Conference and though we didn’t have much time to chat–I was busy with my MC duties for the conference at the time–it was good to know that we had representation from West Virginia’s capital city in the house! We made plans to get together once we were back home in the Mountain State.

We did get together back home for a breakfast meeting that included Dr. David Clayman, a clinical and forensic psychologist who had done work with David and his people. It was a good meeting, and we discussed how we could work on efforts to bridge the gap between professional psychology and the fire service in the Greater Charleston Area.

Fast forward to our most recent FSPA Conference in Washington, D.C., last October when I would again see David and this time he’d brought two mental health professionals from the Charleston area with him. During lunch on the first day of the conference, David invited me to join him and his fellow attendees, and we had a great discussion on what we might be able to do to in Charleston and the surrounding towns to build that bridge. Those clinicians agreed that being in the same room with other fire service people and mental health professionals was inspiring and reassuring that they were on the right path.

Those discussions have led to more conversations and emails that lead me to believe that our efforts are gathering momentum in the right direction to develop a mental health working group that encompasses clinicians and fire departments in the Greater Charleston Area.

Your Call to Action

Our annual conference is FSPA’s “flagship event” and I hope that you are making plans to join us for the 8th Annual Conference of FSPA in Pearland, Texas, October 9-10, 2025. I would ask that you “talk up” our upcoming conference with people in your professional circles and in the fire departments that you work with and encourage them to attend this year’s conference. The mood and passion for what we’re trying to accomplish is contagious–in a good way!