First Responders
& High Stress Occupations

If your work a high stress job, you likely do so with pride and consider your profession to be an important part of your identity. Despite the training these jobs come with, however, chronic stress can lead to burnout and carry other costs.

Some of these include:

Trouble "switching off"
Difficulty sleeping
Increased anger or irritability
Chronic anxiety or worry

Numbing out through substance use, extreme sports, pornography or other high-intensity activities
Feeling alone or unable to relate to others

None of this is permanent, however, and all these symptoms can be worked through to give you back your best self.

Asking for Help

Often, professionals in high-stress occupations do not seek therapy until they receive an ultimatum, maybe from their job or spouse. Perhaps the idea of seeking help can feel like some kind of failure. If you choose to look a problem in the eyes and say “I see you”, however, you can begin to change. Like any wound, acknowledging a mental health challenge is the first step to healing from it.

“Trauma is not just an event that took place sometime in the past; it is also the imprint left by that experience on mind, brain, and body...It changes not only how we think and what we think about, but also our very capacity to think.”

Bessel van der Kolk

How Does Counselling Work?

Whether you are seeking therapy for post-traumatic stress, burnout,
or some other challenge, it generally follows three steps.

Immediate Relief

Phase one is immediate relief. This involves tools to manage stress or other intense emotions and learning what is happening inside your body and brain. There is often a good reason for all the confusing things going on. Your body is not broken, it has just adapted to stress.

Action and Change

With safety and stability established, we can now begin the work. In this phase, we will actively address and resolve the lingering stress and emotions that you're seeking help for. This is the part where you really get to feel like you are getting your old self back.

Self-Mastery

A primary goal of therapy is to give you the tools you need to be your own therapist. That is what this phase is about. By understanding yourself deeply and knowing what helps or hurts, you gain insight into how to relate to the world in a way that brings you meaning and fulfilment.

Contact Me

Please reach out to book a free 15-minute consultation.

778-860-4434