Put simply, therapy – also called psychotherapy or counseling – is the process of meeting with a trained and licensed mental health professional on a regular, ongoing basis to help you recognize and change deep-rooted and potentially self-sabotaging mental and emotional behaviors, thoughts, and patterns that are keeping you feeling stuck, in pain, and away from the life you want to live.

The ability to recognize when your usual coping skills are ineffective or are causing additional distress to yourself and/or loved ones, and/or are negatively impacting your ability to do your job, is highly respectable and admirable. It takes emotional strength to bypass pride and ask for help.

First responders are repeatedly exposed to the pain and suffering of others, often witnessing horrific events and, on occasion, some of the worst in humanity. Over time, the capacity to cope with those stressors can exceed your best attempts. When you can objectively recognize your own signs of distress, compromised integrity, irritability, and/or angry outbursts, and an increasing withdrawal from loved ones, friends, or co-workers, or from formerly enjoyed interests and activities - that’s a flag that you’re needing to seek help.

Being in crisis is optional but not required. We are here to help when you need it. You don’t have to wait until your life is falling apart - and we also recognize that sometimes unmanageability can be an important wake-up call to seek help. You can also proactively choose to seek therapy to strengthen your ability to live a well-balanced life, providing service with integrity, peace of mind, happiness, and meaningful purpose.

Increasing sleep disturbance, irritability, and anger are early warning signs that you’re beyond your capacity to effectively cope. Much like seeking medical attention for a sudden physical symptom or a chronic medical condition, working with an Evergreen Counseling therapist can help you update your coping tools, address underlying causes, and proactively strengthen your ability to show up in your life with integrity and self-respect.

Here at Evergreen, we believe there’s a big misconception out there that therapy means just talking and talking about the past without ever taking action on the present. We certainly don’t operate that way as therapists. While we will always create space to talk about your past and the feelings that surface as we explore this, we are very direct and engaged therapists and actively work with our clients to design interventions, exercises, and thoughtful action steps if that’s what you’re looking for as part of therapy. We truly and firmly believe that we’re in the business of creating change for our clients.