Guns and Mental Health by Walk the Talk America
The Walk the Talk America Podcast is where firearm culture and mental health meet with curiosity, not confrontation.
Each episode brings together voices from the firearm community, mental health professionals, researchers, and everyday gun owners to have honest conversations about suicide prevention, culture, and practical solutions.
We focus on education over outrage, nuance over noise, and collaboration over division, because reducing negative outcomes requires diverse perspectives.
And because this work is personal, every episode closes with a simple but powerful question: How do you stay mentally healthy?
Guns and Mental Health by Walk the Talk America
Episode 33: Christy Butler and Ryan Hale
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In this episode we discuss what it's like for mental health professionals to intervene in mental health crises with alongside law enforcement. Our outstanding guests come from two different programs in two different states, and they outline their experiences beautifully with regard to all the laws and policies that fold into and regulate this effort, including so-called "red flag laws."
Ryan has been a mental health co responder with the Estes Park, CO Police Department for two and a half years. He spent ten years working as an EMT on the Estes Park Health Ambulance Service before becoming a counselor. Ryan has also worked in education, both as a counselor and an instructor at Colby College in Kansas and continues to teach part time. He is also a PhD candidate in positive neuropsychology.
Christy is a military veteran currently licensed in Nevada as a Clinical Professional Counselor, and Clinical Alcohol and Drug Counselor, as well as being nationally certified as a Master Addiction Counselor. She is the mental health counselor supervisor for the Mobile Outreach Safety Team (MOST). She has worked with law enforcement in the capacity of MOST for eight years and is part of the Critical Incident Negotiation Team (CINT) with the Reno Police Department. Christy attends the CINT monthly trainings and is part of the team that is called out during critical incidents and negotiation is needed. She is certified to ride a bike with the Downtown Enforcement Team (DET) to have that face-to-face interaction with the homeless and those struggling with severe mental illness who reside in the downtown Reno area.
