First Responders & Military

Asking for help is not a sign of weakness, it's a sign of strength.

First responders and military have some of the most intense jobs on the planet. Many work days involve stressful and often unpredictable situations. Do you feel exhausted, maybe dreading going to work? Is there a particular situation that you remember vividly, and find yourself reliving or seeing images on a daily basis? Do you feel that you can't control your emotions or feel like no one understands you? Are you struggling with your significant other or with family relationships?

Recent research has shown that vets and first responders are one of the highest risk groups for PTSD and trauma after effects, related to the job. Reacting to trauma is not being weak, it's being human. Our biology warns us when something is not safe and we, as humans, have a trauma response that is our build-in natural defense system.  Feelings of being alone, losing control, depression, emotionally unstable, feeling anxious or hyper vigilante are all symptoms of trauma and trauma can be treated.  What is even more difficult is that first responders and military operate in a warrior culture, people don't want to admit when something is wrong, show that they have a problem or not be a team member and unfortunately this creates a culture of suffering, isolation and feeling alone and weak if you experience trauma symptoms.  People in your life who are not part of the culture may not understand the pressure or judgement to perform at high levels and that speaking up about your mental health is difficult and may even have consequences at work.

Military and first responders often learn to box up emotional responses and thoughts. This technique makes sense for a crisis situation or a high intensity day of work, but when is there time to process what you experienced? Often there are years of built-up traumatic situations that have never been processed and this internal holding can lead to depressive thoughts, PTSD, anxiety and reliving experiences, intrusive images, panic attacks and feeling alone. It can feel like there is no safe space to talk and no escaping what you are feeling and thinking.

You are not alone, and  you do not have to deal with this alone. At Northern Sun Therapy, I offer innovative therapy modalities that are specialized in design for military and first responders. Together will can use  EMDR and SE therapy or other modalities that can work on dissipating trauma stuck in the brain and nervous system. We can work on single incident events or long-term traumatic situations that may be coming up in your life. You may only need a few sessions to clear a single incident and find relief.  My approach is to treat both the mind and body together to throughly process and move the trauma out of the PTSD symptoms and emotional intrusion state. We also can work together on childhood events that may be effecting your adult life and relationships, vicarious trauma situations from on-the-job work and changing negative beliefs.

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My background includes training at the Meadows Behavioral Health, which is an in-patient hospital that specializes in the treatment of trauma and addiction. I have worked with active duty coast guard, army, air force, navy, first responders and retired first responders and veterans.  I am also EMDR trained with the Florida EMDR educators and I trained under Dr. Andrew Dobo, who has 20 plus years of EMDR work with veterans, first responders and active duty military.