What actually happens in therapy for first responders?
Have you ever wondered what therapy looks like as a firefighter, paramedic, or law enforcement officer? No one likes the unknown, especially when it comes to psychotherapy. I’m going to show you what the process looks like and how it may unfold for a first responder beginning therapy.
Initial Contact
First, you reach out to me via phone, text, or through my contact page. Once I get your information, I will see when you have free time for a 15-30 min phone call. This is a good time to ask questions and see if I am the right therapist for you. Next, we’ll schedule your first session. We can have an in-person session or a virtual one over Zoom.
Intake Session
We finally meet each other for the first session! The initial session can last 60-90 minutes. Please ask as many questions as you want about me, therapy, and the process. I am going to be asking you about yourself, your career history, some family history, and some medical history. You can disclose as much, or as little, as you want. Before we leave, we will schedule our next session, which will be a little less formal.
Working stage of therapy
Here is where we do all the therapy “work.” We meet once a week or once every other week to discuss the issues you are experiencing. In reality, we can talk about anything each week. Therapy does not have to be about “deep” work all the time. What you want to talk about is entirely up to you. Will we talk about heavy emotional events in your life? Yes, we will likely discuss those eventually. Will can also discuss how unrealistic the Chicago Fire & Chicago Med shows are.
I’ll tell you a little secret about therapy. If you don’t get along with your therapist (me) it is perfectly okay to talk about that and ask for a referral to someone else. I’m not going to get my feelings hurt. I want you to have trust in your therapist so you can heal. Without trust, improvement is a difficult journey.
Now you should know I am going to occasionally challenge you. Self-deprecating humor or thoughts are challenged, no matter how funny they seem to you (and sometimes me, too). You also might encounter long periods of silence. In counselor speak, we call this ‘therapeutic silence.’ It is an intentional way to leave space for reflection. It is normal for you to feel the need to fill the silence, but you don’t have to.
You may hear me notice some body language and ask you what that is about (like, ‘I see you shifted back to lean against the back of the couch and crossed your arms, what’s that about?’). Noticing physical actions can help us understand what is going on inside. You may not be aware that you do that when you don’t want to talk about a topic. That’s okay, we don’t have to talk about it right now. Maybe when you are ready, or when I feel you have been intentionally avoiding a topic for a long time, we can delve into it.
You will learn some techniques to calm down when feeling overwhelmed. Grounding techniques are really effective for this, and if one doesn’t work for you, we can find others. Of course, since we are only meeting one day each week, some of the work will be for you to practice as you go through the other 167 hours each week. Occasionally, I will assign you homework to help us learn more about your beliefs, thoughts, and family life.
There is no time limit or definitive end to therapy. Ideally, as you improve, we can reduce maintenance sessions to once every other week or once a month. The determination will be up to you and me, having a discussion.
Termination phase
Once you have achieved your goals, we can begin the end of our professional relationship. Just like I said above, this will be a conversation between us. I will not suddenly say you’ve been terminated and end all contact. We will have a few weeks to work on you leaving therapy and moving forward. Termination is not an end; it is a beginning to your mental well-being.
If you’re a firefighter, paramedic, or law enforcement officer in Orlando looking for support, I offer therapy specifically for first responders.
