Intensive training, hundreds or thousands of calls, a near constant threat of danger, regular contact with the most distressing side of human life, and a 'suck it up' culture.
You're in a high-stakes profession and deserve support that serves you as you serve everyone else.
I have first responders in my family. I know their lives would be different if they'd had access to clinicians who could help them move through difficult periods rather than they get stuck in them.
Don't suffer in silence.
I have been trained (and continue to be supervised) by expert clinicians at the First Responder Support Network .
Your life has been spent protecting Sharing your experiences might with a clinician seem like exposing them to harm. Rest assured: I've been trained so that you can pass it to me without causing damage.
I will never judge you or your actions -- it is not my job -- and I will always aim for practical, actionable ways for you to heal.
Your nervous system is simply not designed to encounter this much trauma. For many responders -- especially those who a high performers -- it becomes overwhelmed.
We also know that childhood emotional or physical injuries prime our system to be on alert from an early age. Adverse Childhood Experiences are 100% not your fault, and are a very good predictor of post-traumatic stress injuries later in life.
We now have truly incredible ways to help your nervous system come back to equilibrium. I practice Brainspotting, which actually requires you to say very little, but allows your system to heal itself (sometimes, quite rapidly).
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is a helpful framework in processing experiences with your thinking mind. Healing happens when we find acceptance that bad things are a part being a human, learn what we cannot control, and choose actions that lead towards the life we want to have.
No therapist is a perfect fit for everyone. The best way to find out if we should work together is to have a quick video meeting
Click below to schedule a free 20 min consultation where we can get to know each other a little bit.
If I'm not the right fit for you, I might have some suggestions of other therapists you could try.
Chris Jinks - APCC#21845 - Supervised By Hannah Stutz - LCSW#99116
San Francisco, San Mateo and Online