It wasn’t supposed to end like this.
There should have been a last roll call.
There should have been a retirement party.
Maybe a physical injury ended your career, and you didn’t reach some milestone year or personal goals. Maybe the physical pain you endure now is nothing compared to the anguish of the memory of the incident.
Maybe you were forced to make a choice – retire or be fired. Maybe it wasn’t fair and it’s hard to move on now.
People say, ‘you are young, you can still find another job,’ but they don’t understand this was all you ever wanted to be, it was not just a job.
An abrupt ending can leave a first responder feeling confused, rejected or abandoned. What happened to the ‘Blue Family?’ It’s hard to put your feelings into words. Even the people who were there at the time don’t seem to know or be able to help.
I work with first responders at various ranks in various stages of their careers. Therapy should be a place where you are seen as a whole person, not just the version portrayed in the media, captured on the cell phone or body camera footage.
You can stop feeling like a broken toy the city had fun with and threw away. You can start feeling useful even if your physical body isn’t the same as it was in the beginning of your career.
Therapy doesn’t change the past. We won’t re-write history together, but we can think of how your career ended in a different way – one that doesn’t leave you with the taste of metal in your mouth. You don’t have to feel guilty about leaving or think you let someone down when you were injured.
Once you can let go of how things ended you will have the freedom to set new life goals and start taking action again. Once certain people (from the past) aren’t living rent free in your head you will have more time and attention for the people in the present.
Therapy is your chance to press reset.
First, just pick up the 500 lb. phone 510-797-4911