The Other Side of the Badge It is not easy to relay feelings as a firefighter. Our whole career we have been told to suck it up and leave work at work. This is complete shit! There is no way we can leave all the death and destruction we see behind when we take our uniforms off. Its not some magical cloak that we can don and doff at leisure. We carry those images with us everywhere we go and see faces of our patients on people we pass every day. I am big on traditions, but this is one that needs to go. It is killing us and ruining our marriages. The divorce rate in first responders is ..read more

Relationship on the Rocks? Whether you’re a first responder or in a relationship with one, if your relationship is on rocky ground keep reading to learn how to solidify the foundation. In case you didn’t know I am not only a Licensed Professional Counselor, but I am also a fire wife. My husband has 23 years of experience so far and we have been married for 14 of those years.  It hasn’t always been easy, and I know relationship issues are a big hurdle for a lot of first responder families. Here are some tips to increase your understanding of healthy relationships and communication.  I ..read more

Who Rescues the Rescuer? Did you roll your eyes when you read the title? Why? So many first responders identify with being a rescuer, helper, or fixer and DO NOT want to be the ones who are rescued, helped, or fixed. Tough. I’m here to help. Think back to what got you into the first responder profession. What’s your why? What are some of the things that make you good at your job? Now, where did those skillsets originate? Many members of my first responder family struggle with constantly putting others first even to their own detriment. Where did you learn this? Did you need someone to rescue o ..read more

Why don’t you teach about CISM in your peer support class? What’s the difference between peer support and CISM? Which is the best approach? These are some complicated questions, and can be some hot button issues, so please bear with me and read the whole post. We get asked these questions a lot. As the Clinical Director for VFRSS I always defer to the research. Yes, interventions to help first responders have been studied over and over in the scientific community. What have they found? In a nutshell they have found that a CISM debriefing has a “negative to neutral effect” for the populations ..read more

We teach a variety of departments who are at different stages in developing a peer support team. Where is your department with supporting it’s members’ mental health needs? Take a peek at the different situations below and hopefully you can find some answers… “My department doesn’t know I’m here, but I want to help my brothers/sisters”. Great! And welcome! We teach a lot of people in your shoes. And you know what? You don’t need your department’s backing to learn about how to help those you work with. A lot of the teams we’ve helped build have started with one person who had a passion that tur ..read more