Every Hero Has Their Breaking Point
You have a heart to help. You chose a profession where you could make a difference and contribute to your community. You worked hard, you completed the training, and you felt ready.
But the work is different than you expected. You knew there would be hard calls, but you were unprepared for the politics, the bureaucracy, the wear of being on guard all. the. time. It takes a toll and you can feel it - you're different than when you started. And those who care about you are noticing too.
You might be noticing feeling anticipation, anxiety or worry, exhaustion or constant fatigue, stress, anger, numbness, irritability, being on edge, experiencing adrenaline rush & crash, being not present, disconnected, burnt out, disinterested...
Do these sound familiar? For many First Responders and Front Line Workers, this is daily life. But should it have to be? You work hard, you invest hard in your community...you deserve to live a great life.
You Deserve Better
You deserve to have access to better support, better training, and better tools to promote your wellness and sustainability. We need to do better for you, because you do so much for all of us.
Assess
How do you know how you're doing? When do you pause to check in and ask the tough questions of yourself? What should you be asking?
Awareness is the most significant key in helping ourselves. You need tools to help you self-assess and determine next steps for burnout prevention/reduction.
Support
Once you know where you're at with burnout...then what? When you are tired, burnt out and struggling, do you have what you need to make it different?
When things already feel overwhelming, you need the guess-work taken out. You need a guide to help break things down into do-able, practical steps.
Guide
Once you've got some steps in place, how do you keep it sustainable? You know what it feels like to hit burnout and you don't want to come back.
You need a plan. You need a strategy for maintaining your wellness and this means finding continued ways to prioritize you. The plan needs to be rock solid.
Catch Burnout & Stop It In It's Tracks
Use our free Indicators Checklist & Triage Guide to assess where you are at with burnout, and for specific actions you can take at any stage in burnout to help stop it in its tracks and turn it around. Designed specifically for First Responders & Front Line Workers.
Dive Into Our Free Resources
Created Specifically for First Responders & Front Line Workers
We all have a breaking point, but First Response & Front Line Work includes a risk level all its own. The nature of the work involves perpetual stress - either from calls that involve the adrenaline rush & crash cycle, or from organizational level stress that seems unavoidable. It's a pressure cooker, and we all know it, but no one is talking about it.
We see colleagues taking stress leaves, and those around us who are jaded and hardened. We wonder if this is an unavoidable glimpse of the future. We hope we're different somehow.
The training includes some components on mental health and supporting one another - but it doesn't give us strategies for how.
I created the Beating the Breaking Point Indicators Checklist & Triage Guide as a tool to support you right where you're at. I know the pressures you're facing, and I know that you are not given the tools to support those pressures meaningfully or sustainably. I want to give you a guide to assess the degree of burnout you are experiencing, support to make some steps in a better direction, and a plan to make it sustainable. I believe you deserve better, and I want to try and help you get better.
What the hell do I know about it??
Let Me Tell You...
My name is Lindsay Faas. I am a lot of things: I am a clinical counsellor who has specialized in trauma therapy for over a decade. I am the owner and director of a large counselling practice in Fort Langley, BC (Canada). I am a wife and a mom to two young kiddos who are covered in bruises because they believe they can fly (remember being that blissfully naïve??). And I am full of ideas and want to make what I've learned readily accessible to those who need it.
As a trauma therapist, I have spent a lot of time working with Police, RCMP, Corrections Officers, Military Personnel, Fire Fighters, Paramedics, 911 Dispatchers, Nurses, and Social Workers. After years of working with First Responders & Front Line Workers in the context of therapy, I have come to learn a lot about what the early signs of burnout, compassion fatigue and trauma look like for those sacrificing on behalf of their communities. I am tired of hearing clients say, "I wish I knew this stuff earlier, maybe I wouldn't be here now." So, I decided to do something. I hope you'll check out our free resources and dig into assessing your own wellness, and taking steps to support your sustainability. I want you to have a great life, both on the job and off, and I hope these tools will be a step in the right direction.
Stay safe out there,
~ Lindsay