First responders don't hold back. You show up, you serve, and you save as many lives as you can. It's what you do.
But if you do it too long, without self-care and support, the sacrifices of your job take a heavy toll.
When you clock out, you may experience a rollercoaster of stress responses and racing or negative thoughts. Perhaps irritability, self-protective pessimism, or indifference are coming between you and your loved ones.
Traumatic memories, sensory experiences, and more can make life terribly uncomfortable if you don’t know how to unload them.
For so many dedicated healthcare, law enforcement, and emergency workers, the idea of caring for yourselves gets shoved far back in your mind. Too often, it is your own unfortunate health crisis that drives you toward the help you need.
The adrenaline rush and "fight or flight" experience are commonplace for first responders. So much so that you may not even realize that the trauma of witnessing trauma as a profession fuels your own physical pain and emotional shutdown.
Under normal circumstances the burden is heavy. The extraordinary work conditions of the pandemic now make the need for therapeutic intervention and options undeniably clear.
Fortunately, there is a therapy approach that brings swift relief and a healthier path forward.
How EMDR Treatment Can Bring Frontline Workers Relief
EMDR is highly effective at tempering distress and discomfort in several key ways.
EMDR helps without a surplus of words.
One of the advantages of EMDR is that it does not rely heavily on talk therapy. Rehashing the trauma is not required. A qualified EMDR therapist is sensitive to the idea that you may not have the words to pinpoint what's disturbing you. Even if you do, the energy spent retelling terrible things can be counterproductive and lead to inconsistent or incomplete treatment.
EMDR is proven and effective without being a complicated process.
Your job requires you to be ready at a moment’s notice. Thus, you need therapy that isn't overly complex or prolonged. EMDR affords relief in a relatively short amount of time with few issues or homework assignments for the participant.
Sessions are intentionally directed at locating unproductive thoughts, assumptions, and ideas linked to the trauma of your job and reprocessing them specifically. Therefore, freedom and normal daily functioning are more effectively restored in a more straightforward way.
EMDR uncouples the trauma from the event.
You have to work. Yet, your work can be a frenetic, high-alert environment that slowly wears you down. Your mind and body can only take so much. If you don't take time to sort through your internal reactions to what you see and hear, you may feel unable to bear the chronic strain. Being repeatedly triggered, avoidant, and tense is unsustainable. EMDR offsets this state by encouraging you to acknowledge and face stuck memories and sensations.
The goal? To access memories quickly so that the technique can help you reframe and reprocess the chronic exposure to trauma you endure.
EMDR works so well because reprocessing the experience fosters an ability to tone down the vividness of the traumatic events that trouble you. You are trained to notice them without feeling triggered and reactive. In other words, you can learn from the interactions with those you serve without getting caught up in a loop of overthinking, self-blame, and distress.
EMDR restores positivity by challenging the deceptive perceptions fostered by post-traumatic stress.
A traumatized brain tends to incorrectly store information related to the even. Thoughts and physical reactions are stored internally, but not resolved. Thus, self-defeating perceptions about your capacity to do the job are common as you cope with nightmares and flashbacks.
EMDR Therapy attempts to help you deal with these memories and reactions by tapping into the mind-body connection. Using eye movements and taps or tones, your therapist helps you rewire the cognitive and emotional connections that make it harder and harder to go to work.
The result? Relief via the removal of unproductive, unprocessed thoughts and memories. Each session is dedicated to seeking out problematic mental and physical connections to the trauma. Soon you can replace them with more positive associations.
Let a Compassionate Therapist Respond to You Now
Finally, if you are a first responder, please know that you are not alone. While it's true that strength and stoic professionalism are job requirements, you don't have to give up your right to your own healing and support.
There is no shame in seeking emergency medical care or help put out a fire. The crisis you may feel building inside you deserves just as much attention.
Reaching out for help is not a weakness. It is a responsible action that keeps you, your community, and your future safe and productive. Your service is much appreciated. You deserve your mental health.
Don't wait to feel better. Don't put off relief and true resilience. Let us help. It’s important to connect to a compassionate, qualified professional now.
Find out more about EMDR therapy and contact us soon for a consultation. Serving Boulder, Longmont, Denver...
