Financial Wellness and Mental Health

A Guide for First Responders

As a counseling practice working with first responders and helping professionals, our team has noticed the connection between financial stress and mental health.

You're already carrying a lot: difficult calls, shift work, the weight on you and your family. Adding money worries to that load makes everything harder. Access to practical information and financial stability gives you options when you need them most. The nature of your work means increased trauma accumulation and potential moral injury. What's rarely discussed is how financial strain can compound mental health challenges, or how a lack of financial planning could leave you without options when you need support.

Whether you choose therapy, peer, family, or spiritual support, time off, or other forms of self-care, having your finances in order means you can effectively access resources when you need them.

Building a Foundation: Basic Budgeting

While we are not in any way a financial advisory service, we see how much easier it is for individuals to prioritize their wellbeing when they have a clear picture of their finances.

Here's a straightforward approach:

• Track your income realistically. Include your base pay and average overtime, but don't count on overtime that isn't guaranteed. Your income might fluctuate, so working with conservative estimates helps you avoid stress later.
• Know your fixed expenses. Housing, utilities, insurance, car payments: the things that don't change month to month. These are your foundation.
• Be honest about discretionary spending. This isn't about deprivation. It's about awareness. Those streaming services, eating out, hobbies, they're important for quality of life, but knowing what you're spending helps you make intentional choices.
• Build in breathing room. This is crucial. Set aside something for unexpected expenses (car repairs, medical bills, home maintenance) and something for your wellbeing, whether that's therapy, a gym membership, or just having the option to take an unpaid day(s) off if needed.

Tools like YNAB or even a simple spreadsheet can help you see where your money goes. The goal isn't perfection, it's clarity.

Understanding Your Health Insurance

Your health insurance is part of your compensation package, but many people don't fully understand what they have. Here's what's worth knowing:

• Deductibles are what you pay out-of-pocket before insurance kicks in. High-deductible plans usually have lower monthly premiums but higher upfront costs. Low-deductible plans are the opposite. Mental health services count toward your deductible.
• In-network vs. out-of-network: In-network providers cost less, but they may not always be the best fit for your specific needs. It's worth understanding what your out-of-network benefits are, as many plans do offer partial reimbursement.
• Annual resets: Most plans reset at the start of the year, meaning you'll hit your deductible again. Knowing this helps you anticipate higher costs in January or the month of your plan’s reset.
• Read your Summary of Benefits document. Yes, it’s dry, but it tells you exactly what's covered and what you'll pay.

HSAs and FSAs: Tax-Advantaged Options

If you're eligible for a Health Savings Account (HSA) or Flexible Spending Account (FSA), these can be genuinely helpful tools. HSAs (for high-deductible plans) let you save pre-tax dollars that you can use for medical expenses, including mental health care. The money rolls over year to year and can even earn interest. In 2025, you can contribute up to $4,300 if you're covering just yourself. Many employers contribute to HSAs too. FSAs work similarly but are "use it or lose it" within the year (around $3,200 for 2025). They're available with most health plans.

Both can cover therapy copays, deductibles, and sometimes out-of-network care. They're essentially giving you a discount on healthcare by lowering your taxable income.

Mental Health Care: Know Your Options

Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) may offer initial support, but their general approach may not meet the depth of your needs or understand your line of work. Peer support programs can be invaluable lifelines from others who understand the work. It’s not therapy, but it can significantly impact your mental wellness.

Professional counseling with someone experienced in trauma and first responder culture can provide more intensive, ongoing support. This is especially important after critical incidents or when you're noticing patterns that concern you: trouble sleeping, increased irritability, withdrawing from people you care about, relying more on alcohol or other substances.

The right fit matters more than the modality. Someone who understands the culture of your work: the gallows humor, the hypervigilance, the difficulty of “normal” conversations, will be more helpful than someone who doesn't.

Making It Sustainable

The biggest thing to take from this: your mental health isn't a luxury expense. It's infrastructure. Just like you budget for housing and transportation, building in support for your wellbeing is part of maintaining your ability to do this work long-term.

That might mean:

• Setting aside money each month in your HSA, even if you don't use it right away
• Knowing what your insurance covers before you need it
• Having a rough idea of what professional support costs in your area
• Identifying providers and practices before a crisis happens
• Giving yourself permission to spend money on your health without guilt

The Bottom Line

Financial stress and mental health challenges both thrive in darkness and isolation. Getting clear on your finances doesn't solve everything, but it removes one significant barrier to getting help when you need it. You spend your career showing up for others. You need to have support available when you're struggling, and you deserve not to have to choose between your mental health and your mortgage.

This work takes a toll. That's not weakness; it's math and neuroscience. Planning ahead means you have options when you need them. Take the first step today: seek out and partner with a provider equipped to support you, align your budget, and commit to your mental health. This investment is about honoring your well-being, ensuring you can serve with clarity and live fully for those you care about.

Begin to unburden.

‍