Therapy for First Responders
Trauma‑informed support for those who run toward danger
If you are exploring this website today, you are probably ready to take the courageous step to get help. As a first responder, you run toward the danger where others run away. That is the attitude I would like to encourage you to adopt as you respond to the call to heal from the stress and trauma you have experienced. Moving toward what causes you pain is hard, but it often results in healing and growth.
Whether you are a police officer, a firefighter, paramedic, or other first responder, you know first-hand what it means to encounter emotionally difficult situations on a daily basis. You are or have been exposed not only to traumatic scenes, but you are also in constant contact with the negative, abusive, and violent side of humanity. You also deal with the stress and pressure caused by the administration and the media. These experiences change most of us in ways we never envisioned when we first started serving the public. Depression, anger, anxiety, addictions, and other trauma related symptoms are common. These symptoms can be insidious and sneak up on us when we don’t expect it. We may not realize, or we may even deny, that our work has anything to do with how we have changed.
Police officers, firefighters, EMTs, paramedics, dispatchers, and other emergency and law enforcement professionals carry a unique kind of weight. You are trained to stay calm in chaos, to make split‑second decisions, and to hold it together for others; often at great personal cost. My practice is a dedicated space to set that weight down, tend to what you’ve carried, and reconnect with your sense of steadiness, purpose, and equanimity. To move from post-traumatic stress to post-traumatic growth.
What first responders often experience after years of service:
You might be noticing:
· Hypervigilance, irritability, or a short fuse
· Trouble sleeping, nightmares, or intrusive memories
· Emotional numbing or feeling disconnected from loved ones
· Moral injury—carrying events that don’t sit right with your values
· Burnout, compassion fatigue, or loss of meaning in the work
· Loss of joy
· Anxiety, depression, or increased reliance on substances to cope
· What else are you noticing? See my PTSD page for more on post-traumatic stress.
These are not personal failures. They are signs your nervous system has been working overtime to keep you and others safe.
What happened before you were a first responder and what is happening outside of “the job”?
I also want to make the important point that sometimes it isn’t the job that is the source of your problems. First responders are often drawn to this work because of experiences from childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood. Traumatic or adverse experiences that you endured prior to becoming a first responder may be the biggest source of the problems you are experiencing in everyday life. There also may be issues in your personal life that are bringing you here. It is important not to blame “the job” for everything! There may be other things from the past or the present that are the driving force behind why you are seeking therapy at this time. In my practice we will explore this with curiosity and open-mindedness. Together we will creatively and resourcefully make a plan to improve the issues you are struggling with and move you toward post-traumatic growth, healing, and equanimity.
A Trauma‑Informed, Culturally Aware Approach
Therapy for first responders requires more than generic talk therapy. It calls for an approach that understands the realities of the job; shift work, cumulative trauma, dark humor, chain of command, and the unspoken rules about vulnerability.
Our work together is:
· Confidential and discreet, with a clear understanding of professional and legal concerns
· Collaborative, honoring your autonomy and pace
· Grounded in neuroscience, focused on nervous system regulation and resilience
· Respectful of first responder culture, without minimizing the impact of trauma
You remain in control of what we explore and when. Therapy is not about reliving the worst moments; it’s about helping your system process what it has already survived.
My experience
In 2012, I retired from a 20+ year career in law enforcement. I have a unique background as a former police officer, detective, lieutenant, corrections officer and dispatcher. After working alongside all types of public safety personnel for so many years, I have a deep desire to partner with first responders to explore what is contributing to, or causing, dissatisfaction, distress and disappointment. And we don’t just explore the cause because simply understanding what is causing your problems doesn’t resolve them. We collaborate and make an action plan to process your trauma with the therapies described below.
Trauma Therapies Tailored for First Responders
My practice integrates evidence-based, trauma-informed modalities that are especially effective for the kinds of stress and exposure first responders face. Here are the primary forms of therapy I use with first responders:
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing)
EMDR helps the brain and body reprocess traumatic experiences so they no longer feel like they are happening in the present. Rather than requiring you to retell every detail, EMDR works with how memories are stored in the nervous system.
For first responders, EMDR can be especially helpful for:
- Critical incidents and line-of-duty calls
- Cumulative trauma over years of service
- PTSD symptoms such as flashbacks, nightmares, and hypervigilance
- Performance blocks, startle response, or emotional reactivity
EMDR allows your system to keep the skills that keep you effective on the job while reducing the distress that comes with unresolved trauma.
Many first responders develop strong internal protectors—parts of you that stay guarded, numb, hyper-controlled, or quick to anger in order to survive the work. IFS helps you understand these parts rather than fight them.
In this approach, we:
- Identify protective parts that developed in response to the job
- Reduce internal conflict and self-criticism
- Create more choice around reactions and coping strategies
- Strengthen access to calm, grounded leadership from within
This work respects that your defenses were adaptive—and helps them relax when they no longer need to be on high alert.
Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy (When Appropriate)
For some first responders, especially those experiencing treatment-resistant depression, PTSD, or burnout, ketamine-assisted psychotherapy (KAP) or Ketamine-assisted EMDR Therapy™ may be an option.
In a carefully screened and supported therapeutic setting, ketamine can:
- Reduce symptoms of depression and suicidal ideation
- Loosen rigid trauma patterns and negative self-beliefs
- Increase emotional flexibility and perspective
- Support deeper processing in EMDR or parts-based work
Ketamine sessions are always paired with preparation and integration therapy, and are approached with a strong emphasis on safety, consent, and meaning making. This is not about escaping experience, but about creating space for healing and reconnection.
A Space Where You Don’t Have to Be the Strong One
In this work, you don’t have to:
- Hold it together
- Have the right words
- Take care of the therapist
- Justify why something affected you
You are allowed to arrive exactly as you are—tired, uncertain, grieving, hopeful, or all of the above.
You spend your days showing up for others in moments of crisis. This is a space where you get to be supported without having to prove anything.
With my background, I feel like I have more of an insider’s view and therefore may have a greater capacity than other counselor’s without such experience, to offer you the help you deserve. Your profession is a tough one that few people are courageous enough to face every day. It can leave wounds, deep wounds that can bleed over to our personal lives. Wounds heal better when some kind of treatment is applied, don’t they? Let’s get started!
Invitation
I see clients in person and via telehealth. My office is located in West Seattle.
You’ve carried enough alone. I would consider it an honor to partner with you as you work toward regaining your joy, increasing your health, and finding more peace. Please use the contact form below to reach out.