Emergency Responders,
Spouses and Significant Others
I work with a variety of emergency responders and medical personnel including: firefighters (federal, state, local gov and volunteer); law enforcement; EMT and Paramedic; military; veterans; nurses and ER staff; and correctional/probation officers.
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B.R.R.A.V.E. VISION​​
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Building Responder Resilience And
Vocational Expansion
Why Second Wind Counseling
At the heart of Second Wind Counseling is a deep passion for providing support for those working in emergency services. You put yourself on the line for others, let someone else do the same for you. In addition to several of our clinicians being the spouse/partner of an emergency responder, many of our clinicians have family or friends who currently serve or have served our communities and have personally felt the gap in the psychological care and support available to our emergency responders.
It is our hope that by providing support and education to emergency responders on "trauma tripwire" and "tactical brain health (term from Jennifer Alexander, LMFT)," especially as it pertains to careers, it will create a clear understanding of brain health and wellness as a biological system in our bodies and will reduce any stigma.
Support for Spouses
There is a clear shortage in culturally competent clinicians, support and resources available to emergency responders and even greater shortage of services offered specific to the spouses and significant others of emergency responders. Often, it is the spouses and significant others who are the direct line of support to our emergency responders. They are the ones providing support at home after the long hours, difficult calls, department betrayal, and even those incidents that are simply put, a waste of resources at times. We see the toll it takes on our Emergency Responder and it inevitably causes an impact. The challenges and struggles that spouses/partners face are different in so many ways and unfortunately all too often, it can lead to living more isolating lives, putting lives on hold, putting careers on hold, and lead to struggling with personal sense of belonging and identity.
Spouses/Significant Others of emergency responders can come to feel powerless when their emergency responder is struggling to cope through departmental betrayal, exhaustion syndrome, "ERES," and difficult calls they experience on a daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly basis. This also means that often, the loved ones also don’t seek support they need to cope with ERES, or other symptoms of maladaptive coping that can often accompany ERES, PTSI, and the nature of the job.
