Episode 31: Brandon Cassinelli

Brandon Cassinelli is a 5th generation Nevadan and a Reno native.  Hailing from a law enforcement family, he followed his father and two uncles into work at the Reno Police Department beginning in 2007.  Throughout his 14-year career he has occupied numerous roles within the Department, including Tactical Flight Officer in the region’s helicopter response unit, detective with the family and sex crimes divisions, and downtown enforcement officer focusing on bicycle patrol for focus directed issues.  

While at the Department, he returned to the University of Nevada and received his bachelor’s degree in Human Development and Family Studies in 2015, followed by his Master’s in Marriage and Family Therapy in 2019 and began his Nevada state internship in counseling the same year.

His current position with the Department—the Embedded Resource Officer—was established in 2019 and is a full-time role directed toward the reduction of stigma surrounding and engagement with mental health services in first responders, one-to-one & group peer support provision and inter-agency community behavioral health project management.  He has also been a critical incident negotiator for the Reno Police Department for more than 10 years and has performed successful de-escalations with suicidal people in mental health crisis, armed and barricaded subjects and active assailants.

To practice his own mental health; when he isn’t working he enjoys writing, narrating audiobooks and woodworking.

Yes, that is Irvin Yalom in his picture.

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