First Responder Therapy
First Responders face high-stress situations including exposure to trauma and several unique challenges throughout their career. Police, Firefighters, EMT, and Military. These challenges have a significant impact on your well-being, and your loved ones. Chronic Stress, PTSD, Depression, and Anxiety are common in your field.
True North Counselling Supports encourages Early Intervention, Assessment & Treatment, and Understanding PTSD and the symptoms.
Understanding Your Path to Recovery
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a condition that can develop after experiencing or witnessing a traumatic event. While not everyone who experiences trauma will develop PTSD, for some, symptoms persist and interfere with daily life.
Common Symptoms of PTSD:
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Re-experiencing: Flashbacks, nightmares, or intrusive thoughts about the event.
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Avoidance: Steering clear of places, people, or activities that trigger memories of the trauma.
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Negative Changes in Thinking & Mood: Feeling numb, detached, or having persistent negative beliefs about oneself or the world.
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Heightened Arousal & Reactivity: Difficulty sleeping, irritability, hypervigilance, or being easily startled.
Healing from trauma is a process, not a switch, and it looks different for everyone. There’s no “right” timeline or single path. What matters most is safety, patience, and self-compassion.
Navigating Recovery with Patience and Care
Here are some grounding principles that many people find helpful:
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Understand what trauma is doing to you
Trauma isn’t just a memory—it can live in the nervous system. That’s why reactions can feel automatic or out of proportion. Nothing is “wrong” with you; your body learned ways to survive. -
Focus on safety first
Healing starts when your body feels safer.
Reduce exposure to people or situations that retraumatize you
Practice grounding (slow breathing, feeling your feet on the floor, naming what you see) -
Go at your own pace
You don’t have to relive everything to heal. In fact, pushing too fast can backfire. Healing often happens in small, steady steps, not breakthroughs. -
Let emotions move—without judging them
Anger, grief, numbness, shame, fear—these are common after trauma.
Feelings aren’t facts
Emotions come and go when they’re allowed, not suppressed
You’re not “weak” for having them -
Support matters
Healing is harder alone. You don’t need to explain everything to be worthy of care!
A trauma-informed therapist can be life-changin
Supportive friends, groups, or even creative outlets can help you feel less isolated -
Be gentle with yourself
Trauma often leaves people harshly self-critical.
Try to practice:
a. Speaking to yourself as you would to someone you love
b. Rest without guilt
c. Celebrating progress that others might not see -
Healing isn’t linear
Good days don’t mean you’re “fixed.” Bad days don’t mean you’re failing. Both are part of recovery.
Send Us a Message
We’d love to hear from you. Whether you have a question, need support, or would like to schedule an appointment, please reach out through the form below or by email.
Fill out the form below and a member of our team will respond as soon as possible.