The Heroes' Armor

You started off your career optimistic, empathetic, eager to learn and ready to serve.  Bust something has changed.  

You've always been very good in high stress and emergency situations.  You’re able to remain calm and set aside your personal feelings, emotions, and reactions to help others through crisis situations.  Over time, however, these strengths have led to compartmentalization, disconnection, and feeling more like a job than a human.  Experiences that occur within FR and healthcare situations can lead to post-traumatic stress, which can be compounded by the feelings of institutional betrayal.  But you aren’t the problem.

Maybe one traumatic experience has been sitting with you for a while and you can’t seem to shake it.  Maybe the long term daily exposure to stress, misfortune, death, evil, greed, betrayal, or organizational toxicity has taken a toll on you.  Maybe it’s that you’re just waiting for the other shoe to drop- the next accident, trauma, code, shooting, chronically ill patient, job loss, or the next pandemic.  

Maybe you feel like the world is against you, and now you’re questioning if you’re battling with the world or yourself.

Our clients have been there, and so have we.  But the good news is you are not alone.

This group will be bound by confidentiality, so rest assured that you can come with any experience and discuss any thought or feeling.  We want to provide a place where everyone can express their thoughts of the profession and past experiences, as well as talk about ways that we can rediscover strength, direction, and peace outside of work.  We can help you to feel like YOU and not only a nurse, firefighter, LEO, EMT, patient care tech, etc!

Ashton Sullivan, LPC, ATR specializes in working with first responders and has received specialized training to further understand the work and culture.  She completed the FAST team’s "Mile in Our Boots" Clinician’s Academy during which she was assigned to a squad, donned the gear, and responded to simulated calls to get a feel for what it’s like for you on the job (Law enforcement, Fire, and EMS).  She operated the fire hose, crawled through a "burning" building, and rode in the back of an ambulance while trying to thread a needle.  She wore a bullet proof vest and duty rig, responded to a DV situation that resulted in a murder (actors using a bullet hit squib).  She and her partners got a glimpse of what it feels like when a situation escalates as soon as you arrive on scene!  She also attended the Emergency Services Behavioral Health Summit three years in a row.  

Jennifer Irlbacher, a Clinical Mental Health Intern has worked as a nurse in critical care settings for 13 years.  She understands what it's like to work in a high stress environment helping patients in critical condition. 

Join us to find yourself among a group of like-minded individuals who will support each other in an understanding and confidential way.