Being a first responder offers a very unique set of challenges. One of those is feeling like mental health is an inconvenience…that no one will understand what you’ve experienced…that you’ll scare off any counsellor. While Karen Gawne, the Counsellor, has not served, she has been married to a First Responder for over three decades and she promises you won’t scare her off.

Do you have a dark sense of humour? Of course you do. Bring it. Do you have memories and nightmares that you can’t shake? Let’s deal with those so you can live your life. Workplace trauma should not be a life sentence.

You may have heard of EMDR therapy. Take a moment to click on the EMDR tab above if you need more information. In short, EMDR empowers you to take your life back. Is it painless? No. But neither is living with echoes from the past.

EMDR tends to be faster than talk therapy and there’s a lot less need to talk about your feelings. After all, it was designed in the 1980s for Vietnam Vets experiencing PTSD, so you know there’s nothing warm and fuzzy about it.  Not only does EMDR treat PTSD, it has been expanded to treat anger, trauma, C-PTSD, OCD, anxiety, depression, relationship issues, and substance overuse. On top of that, EMDR significantly reduces the chances of the therapist receiving vicarious trauma because you don’t need to go into detail with EMDR, so go ahead and remove that from your list of things to worry about.

Will you be forced to choose EMDR therapy? Absolutely not. Karen will work with you to choose the right type of therapy for you. You’re in control, and both talk therapy and EMDR are covered by Medavie Blue Cross.