First Responder Counseling

I am a Peer Who Has Been in the Trenches

First Responders are famously skeptical of civilian therapists, and sometimes for good reason. It is difficult to trust your trauma to someone who has never worn a vest, worked a double shift, or processed a critical incident.

I spent 21 years working in Law Enforcement and with other First Responders. I know exactly what it means to carry the weight of the badge, the uniform, and the adrenaline that emergency tones create. I also know what happens after the call.

From Officer to Sergeant

My law enforcement career spanned more than two decades of diverse operational and leadership experience. As an officer, I worked Patrol, investigated Gangs, served as a Field Training Officer (FTO), and worked as a Personnel and Training Officer. After promoting to Sergeant, I led teams in the Patrol Division and ultimately took command of the Personnel and Training division. As a POST-Certified Instructor, I dedicated years to training the next generation of law enforcement at my department, the academy, and in colleges, ensuring they had the tactical and professional tools to survive the job.

Survival, Recovery, and Resiliency

In 2007, the risks of the job hit home in a split second. While working a traffic accident scene on Jamboree, I was struck by a vehicle. I survived a near-fatal line-of-duty incident, an extensive recovery process, and the invisible aftermath that follows a catastrophic event. I don’t just understand trauma from a textbook; I know what it feels like to fight my way back from it.

Clinical Expertise for the Frontline Community

Recognizing the massive gap in culturally competent mental health care for public safety professionals, I turned my post-retirement mission toward clinical psychology. I have earned Master’s degrees in Emergency Services Management and Clinical Counseling, becoming a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor (LPCC) in California.

My clinical foundation was built working in the most respected First Responder treatment program in the country. I have served as a First Responder therapist for in-patient and outpatient facilities.

My Clinical Approach: No B.S., Just Resolution

I maintain a strict boundary in my private practice: I only work with first responders and their families. If you are law enforcement, fire, EMS, dispatch, or a spouse navigating this lifestyle, you do not have to waste three sessions explaining the jargon or the culture to me. We hit the ground running on day one.

I am acutely aware that First Responders possess an extraordinary ability to compartmentalize and perform at an elite level, executing critical missions flawlessly while privately carrying the weight of profound trauma and cumulative stress. From the Academy on, you are trained to suppress your human responses in order to save lives, which means you can easily look successful, capable, and entirely “fine” to your department and your family while silently drowning beneath the surface.

I know firsthand that high operational performance does not mean you aren’t hurting; it just means you are exceptionally good at masking the toll of the job, and you deserve a confidential arena where you can finally drop your armor without judgment.

Accelerated Resolution Therapy – ART

This is a highly structured, evidence-based, rapid-acting trauma protocol. It allows us to process physical and emotional memories of critical incidents, compound stress, and hypervigilance quickly—often in just a few sessions—without forcing you to verbally relive every horrific detail over and over.

The Bottom Line…

You have spent your career backing everyone else up. Let me back you up now. Whether you prefer secure statewide telehealth sessions from Orange, California, I am ready to get to work.