First Responders
We value those who protect, serve, and care for our community. We are your trusted guide through dark times. Things will get better.
The first one there.
The first contact.
The first to respond without having all the details and without the assurance of safety. First responders confront evil, pain, human suffering, and tragedy to serve our community.
Daily exposure to high-risk, high consequence
environments
Begin Counseling recognizes the unique nature of public safety professions. Law Enforcement, Fire Service, Emergency Medical Services, and Emergency Communications, among others, experience daily exposure to high-risk, high-consequence environments. Over time, the images, sounds, smells, thoughts, and details can build up and negatively impact sleep quality, relationships, mood, and overall quality of life.
Succeed personally and professionally
Mental and psychological health is essential for success both personally and professionally. Begin Counseling diligently pursues effective treatments, expands access to wellness solutions, and strives to reduce the stigma and barriers to facilitate true hope, wholeness, and connection for first responders and their families.
It is possible. You are not alone. We get it.
Our counseling process is tailored to comprehensively address the impacts of emergency service careers from training to retirement. It is possible, and our team is specifically equipped to come alongside first responders, to promote healthy, full careers, and transition into retirement with confidence and purpose. The decision you make now to address the ways your experiences, career, or circumstances (past or present) are affecting you, not only changes the trajectory of your life, but impacts generations.
We understand the unique challenges first responders and their families face at work and at home.
We do not provide psychological evaluations, and we do not perform fitness for duty exams. Your privacy and confidentiality are of utmost importance to us.
You will be respected, understood, and valued in our work together.
Counseling specialities
Trauma
Therapy
Addresses the impact of trauma on both the mind and body
EMDR
Therapy
Specialized approach to treat trauma and associated symptoms
Christian
Counseling
For clients seeking to integrate a biblical perspective into therapy
Our first responder counseling is for:
Corrections
Emergency Communications
Emergency Medical Personnel
Emergency Responders
EMTs
Firefighter
Fire Service
Law Enforcement
Local, State, and Federal Government Personnel
Military
Nurses
Paramedics
Physicians
Police
Hear from first responders
“Seeking professional help is one of the best things I have done, and it doesn't make you a weak person. I wish someone had pushed or recommended that I seek professional help earlier in my career but back then, you would have been looked down on. It was also something that was never talked about.
As Troopers and first responders we see the worst of society and just pushing it down will eventually catch up with you. Being emotionally numb is not normal even though we think it is sometimes. Seeking professional help doesn't mean you still won't have bad days because you will, it will just teach you how to get through the bad days easier than you did. Find a therapist who understands our world and if the first one doesn't work out, keep looking. Don't give up just because you have a bad experience with someone.
The support from my wife has been so instrumental because no matter what, she has been standing right beside me. She is one of the toughest people I know because of the things she has been through with me in my career. She has been a single mom at times and now even a single wife because of the travel and she is always there waiting on me with a smile on her face when I walk back in the door, which makes the bad days and times away from home better. She is such a strong Trooper's wife and that is one of the toughest roles I know.”
“I know I expose my family to things normal families probably never deal with. It’s extremely taxing on your family just existing in this career. Critical incidents add additional stress to families in law enforcement. I initially felt well-prepared managing the mental health challenges of the job.
I feel I did a good job for years until an extreme critical incident occurred. Shortly after that incident, I began to see myself spiral downhill. My wife has supported me beyond measure. It’s easy for spouses to 'be supportive' when things are good. But when things got really bad personally my wife was by my side the entire time. She continued to listen and support me in everything. She supported me going and continuing to go to therapy and even supported me going back to work after each critical incident I was involved in. Just knowing she was there and in my corner helped me mentally prepare myself for the job after those incidents.
Although I was the same way, I wish people wouldn’t be so hesitant to seek professional help. I have had life changing experiences through EMDR and really think it is a major factor in how I’ve continued a career in law enforcement. I am much more patient. I am more emotionally available and a significantly less stressed out. Find a professional to talk to if you are struggling. Find someone you like. I can see why people try it once and never go back but there is so much help and healing if you find the right place. You don’t have to suffer. It 100% gets better.”
First responder spouses and partners
Call us. Call someone. Start with what you have control over. You weren't trained for this career, but you're living it too. You're watching someone you love carry things that would break most people, and you need support as well.
A law enforcement career is simultaneously the most difficult and most rewarding path a family can choose. You need preparation and support just like your officer needs tactical training. You need to understand what cumulative trauma looks like, how hypervigilance affects home life, why your usually emotionally available partner might seem distant after certain calls and how to deal with that. We help spouses find routine, purpose, and thrive in their critical role.
Hear from first responders' spouses
“They are never off duty. When we are in crowds, they are anxious. When we are seated in church, they have to sit where there is a quick escape. When we are at dinner, they have to sit facing the exit. When we are at family functions, they will still answer their phone because someone may need them. Family outside of our home does not understand the magnitude of their job and the effects it has on their spouse and children. They are always protectors, but sometimes we don't understand why.
No one trains the spouses and children. I think that being the spouse of a trooper is one of the hardest things I have ever had to do, but one of my proudest aspects of our relationship. I wish that there were more resources for families. We don't support one another enough. It is almost looked at as a 'just deal with it and figure it out' situation and it shouldn't be this way. No one prepares spouses for when your trooper arrives home after that bad call.
Him seeking professional mental health support definitely helped our marriage. It has opened the line of communication for us. We know how to deal with certain situations better now because of this. Don't wait until something happens or someone notices that you have changed.”
Emergency responder cultural competence model
Begin Counseling recognizes the unique nature of public safety professions. Our counseling process is tailored to comprehensively address the impacts of emergency service careers from training to retirement. Our team of culturally competent therapists are specifically trained and equipped to come alongside first responders and their families.
We're a first responder trauma counseling in-network provider for Blue Cross Blue Shield, PEIA (WV), and Peak Health insurances and a non-network Tricare Certified Provider.