Is the constant weight of running toward the flames, dodging gunfire, or saving lives finally impacting your mental and physical well-being?
Ruminate on bad calls, rehash events, or second-guess your abilities?
Struggle with the loss of friends, co-workers, or the lives of people you never knew?
Worry about being judged, stigmatized, or alienated for your pain?
Perhaps the stress is slowly starting to affect your relationships or job performance. Or maybe, like many first responders, you’ve experienced so much trauma that you’re finally realizing you could use some support, too.
After all, you’re only human, and the burden you carry is profound—and almost always overwhelming. The stress and trauma can lead to burnout or tension at home. You may feel anxious, over-reactive, or angry, which makes you worry about your ability to carry out your duties properly.
You’re probably not eating right, taking care of yourself, or sleeping well because of sudden shifts in routine or the odd hours you work. To numb your thoughts or feelings, you may turn to alcohol or substance use. If not, you might be so hypervigilant that you can never really relax and just be a person.
At The Therapy Team, we understand how difficult life can be as a first responder—whether you’re a firefighter, paramedic, or police officer. So whatever weight you carry, we want to help you get back to feeling confident, grounded, and capable of performing at your best.
Being a first responder means being responsible for lives on the line, so it’s no wonder that the community you’re a part of commonly struggles with mental health challenges. In fact, it’s estimated that over 70,000 Canadian first responders have experienced PTSD.* That’s twice the rate of civilians!
As the stress, self-doubt, and trauma inherent in the job build, it can slowly begin to affect every area of your life, possibly causing…
After all, you’re regarded as heroes, warriors, superhumans—so asking for help seems like a betrayal of those expectations. Plus, there is often a fear of being judged, penalized, or seen as weak when it comes to therapy or admitting vulnerability. As a result, you probably feel like you’re not even allowed to experience pain or sadness or fear.
The truth is: you are only human just like the rest of us, and you deserve support. As caregivers and protectors ourselves, our therapists know that you take your role seriously, and we understand that life as a first responder can be isolating.
That’s why we do what we do. At The Therapy Team, we’re dedicated to helping first responders like you process painful experiences, repair relationships, and build practical coping skills for managing the physical and emotional demands of the job.
Trauma, shock, grief and loss, the ever-changing schedules and direct threats to your life—it doesn’t stop just because you change out of uniform. The stress is ongoing, so it’s crucial that you have a space where you can let it all out and learn how to navigate the pressures of the job.
Therapy for first responders is about giving you the support and guidance necessary for enduring the emotional hardships of your career. It provides a safe and confidential space where you can share your thoughts and feelings without judgment or the fear of repercussions.
Working with a therapist specializing in treating first responders gives you an ally, a partner who can understand and bear the pain of your experiences. At the same time, it’s a powerful way to manage and reduce trauma symptoms, promote healthy coping strategies, and improve communication and harmony in your relationships.
In therapy, we’ll explore the complex challenges that affect you in both your personal and professional life. That may include identifying and processing any traumatic experiences that have left you feeling depressed, burnt out, or stretched to your limits. We can look at alcohol or substance use to see if it’s sabotaging relationships, your job performance, or career transitions that you may wish to explore.
Ultimately, we want to help you understand how to plan for and cope with the stress of your job while still feeling connected to your peers and loved ones. To do that, we draw from a number of both holistic and research-driven therapeutic strategies:
Combined, these tools can help us develop a dynamic, mind-body treatment plan that’s unique to your situation. However, because trauma is an ever-present part of the job, we often use DBR and EMDR for first responders in counselling—a strategy that helps us tackle PTSD on a neurobiological level.
We don’t believe that simply reframing thoughts or using willpower can always help people overcome challenges or create lasting change. Rather, we believe in using a trauma-informed, bottom-up approach to therapy that focuses on regulating the autonomic nervous system, thereby shifting your actions, behaviours, and mental well-being.
So whatever you are going through, no matter how heavy your burden, there is a place you can bring your pain where you’ll find validation, support, and relief. Our uniquely skilled therapists will help you (and yours) approach, process, and resolve the complexities inherent in your job.
You deserve to live your best life. So why not let us help you heal, become whole again, and finally feel grounded within yourself, your professional role, and the relationships most important to you?
The number of sessions you would attend depends on a number of factors:
All of these things can play a part in how long therapy will take. That said, it’s our job to help you find relief and learn how to overcome obstacles on your own as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Though you are directly responsible for payment of sessions, you can use the receipts we provide to obtain reimbursement from your insurance provider. If you have any questions, we’re happy to work with you and discuss provider information in greater detail during your free intake consultation.
At The Therapy Team, we consider your confidentiality our top priority. We’re committed to the highest privacy standards and won’t release any information to your place of employment without your written permission. As therapists, we are bound by the privacy laws in Ontario and honor them to the highest degree—so whatever you decide to share in sessions is safe with us. As an added measure of security, all of our services are available online, so you don’t have to worry about being seen coming into a physical location. At The Therapy Team, we consider your confidentiality our top priority. We’re committed to the highest privacy standards and won’t release any information to your place of employment without your written permission. As therapists, we are bound by the privacy laws in Ontario and honor them to the highest degree—so whatever you decide to share in sessions is safe with us.
Life as a first responder can be complicated by negative thoughts, overwhelming feelings, and painful experiences—which is why our counsellors at The Therapy Team want to help. Whether you’re a firefighter, paramedic, or police officer, we invite you to contact us for your free, 15-minute consultation to learn more about our approach to counselling for first responders.
First responders often have a natural sense of duty to serve and protect the general public. They are the unsung heroes of our nation for all that they do to help the people of our nation. Taking care of other people in their time of need comes at a cost, though.
The Therapy Team are a group of passionate registered social workers and psychotherapists delivering leading edge evidence-based therapies and accessible mental health care to help you live your best life.
