Kevin Briggs Speaker Biography
Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Expert, Known as the Guardian of the Golden Gate
As an international Crisis Management, Suicide Prevention, and Leadership Skills presenter, Sergeant Kevin Briggs’ story and lived experiences have been featured at the Technology, Entertainment, and Design 2014 Conference as a TED Talk, Ciudad de Las Ideas (Mexico), NBC’s Access Live, Yahoo News, The New Yorker Magazine, Men’s Health Magazine, NPR’s Bob Edwards Radio Show,People Magazine, USA Today, as well as other magazines, newspapers, radio, and podcasts across the world. His first book, Guardian of the Golden Gate: Protecting the Line Between Hope and Despair, was released in July 2015.
Golden Gate Bridge
Briggs, a retired California HighwayPatrol sergeant, spent many years patrolling the Golden Gate Bridge. While on patrol, he encountered numerous individuals clinging to life by a thread – individuals who had lost hope and could see no way out of their current situation – ready to jump off the bridge to what they assumed was a sudden death and ending of their pain and hopelessness.
Mental Health Awareness
Suicide prevention keynote speaker Kevin Briggs, through his compassion, gentle voice, eye contact, and his innate ability of “listening to understand” encouraged more than 200 individuals over his career to either not go over the bridge’s rail or come back to solid ground from where they had been standing precariously out on the chord of the bridge and start a new chapter in their life. These challenging, but rewarding efforts earned him the nickname “Guardian of the Golden Gate Bridge.” After a 23-year career with the California Highway Patrol, Briggs retired to dedicate his life to promote mental health awareness across the globe through Pivotal Points, an organization he founded.
Keynote Speaker
Today, Briggs ismapping amovement as he speaks and trains others in suicide prevention, crisismanagement and negotiations. He shares his “Listening to Understand” skills followed up with key active listening points; his personal triad for healthy living; his RELEASE model to assist in communicating with someone in crisis and his crisis safety plan for those who may be struggling. He also discusses in depth his own personal mental health struggles. Briggs spends the majority of his time speaking/teaching at conferences, advocacy events, colleges and universities, first responder conferences, law enforcement (including FBI & Secret Service), and military bases. Kevin addresses mental health in a way that focuses on bringing us all together, from places like Borneo and the outback of Australia, the pilots and crew of Air Force One, law enforcement personnel, medical professionals and community events worldwide. He also works with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP), National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), corporations, and other venues.
Quality of Life
Kevin shares about the importance of self-care, support and professional care to gain and maintain a higher quality of life. His talks and workshops include helpful tools to evaluate your quality of life and start moving towards a more enjoyable and fulfilling life. Kevin Briggs’ Quality of Life Triad is a framework for maintaining a healthy mental and physical lifestyle, focusing on three key elements: Self-Care, Support, and Professional Care.
Kevin Briggs Speaking Topics
The High Price of Mental Illness in the Workplace
• Understanding employee burnout • The effectiveness of wellness programs • Creating a mentally healthy workplace • Quality of Life: A guide to making every day count • Fostering a culture of well-being
Interventions with Individuals in Crisis
• Understanding the importance of empathy and understanding in crisis communication • How “Listening to Understand” is critical in the communication process • Specific interactions (case studies) with individuals contemplating suicide • Enhancing communications skills
Crisis Communication
• Signs presented by an individual in crisis/contemplating suicide • Familiarization with practical communication tools • Interacting with adolescents in crisis/regarding the suicide of a peer • Utilizing a Crisis Safety Plan • Understanding Non-Suicidal Self-Injury and coping strategies • Understanding Grief and Loss
Quality of Life
• Resiliency and Post-Traumatic Growth • Quality of Life Triad: A guide to maintaining a healthy mental and physical lifestyle o Self-Care: This is the foundation of the triad, emphasizing the importance of prioritizing your own well-being. It encompasses aspects like self-worth, self-compassion, nutrition, fitness, recognizing and addressing your feelings, and journaling your emotions and coping mechanisms for future use. o Support: This refers to the network of individuals and systems you can rely on for assistance and emotional support. Examples include family, friends, peers, colleagues, mentors, clubs, social media, audiences, and your belief system. o Professional Care: This element highlights the value of seeking assistance from trained professionals when needed. This can include behavioral and physical health clinicians, as well as other professionals who contribute to your overall well-being, such as life coaches, gym and yoga instructors, and nutritionists. • The importance of support systems and professional care • Understanding how stress affects our health
Suicide Prevention and Postvention
• Understanding factors that play a role in the development of mental illness • Specific case studies from encounters on the Golden Gate Bridge • Mental Illness: Facts, myths, and how YOUR life may be affected • Understanding how to approach and communicate with someone who may be in crisis • Determine a course of action utilizing empathy, understanding, and active listening skills • Provide insight to suicide loss survivors on coping, their emotions, and acceptance of loss
Law Enforcement/First Responders & Mental Health Professionals
• Crisis negotiations. Specific interactions with suicidal individuals • The impact PTSD, Burnout, and Compassion fatigue can have on YOU • Administration’s role in officer/staff well-being. • Self-care/Quality of life • Courageous Conversations: Communicating with an officer/staff member in crisis • Enhancing communications skills: What to say and what to avoid
Kevin Briggs Books
Guardian of the Golden Gate: Protecting the Line Between Hope and Despair
Purchase BookKevin Briggs Videos
Kevin Briggs Articles
Kevin Briggs Speaker Testimonials
Kevin provided an excellent example of how ordinary people can do extraordinary things and make a real difference in the lives of others. He was flexible and prepared to go to extreme lengths to get things to work for us as conference organizers – I suppose this attitude is what he took to work on the bridge.
- Jorgen Gullestrup, CEO | Mates in Construction (Australia)
Your talk was awesome! That email you added late on was incredible. Really breathtaking. And the fact isyou had everyone's rapt attention throughout the talk.I was really struck by your willingness to take a few small tweaks to your already excellent talk. It's rare that someone who's as talented as you as a public speaker is willing to listen like that and be so enjoyable to work with. Many, many thanks for that... and for lighting up our event.
- Chris, Curator | TEDtalk
