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A therapist-in-training discovers purpose, perspective, and a profound respect for the fire service through an immersive experience
If you had asked me in May 2024, when I began my master’s program in clinical counseling, what population I wanted to work with, I would have said I wasn’t sure. Recently, I completed the Fire Service Cultural Competency Certificate Program offered by the Fire Service Psychology Association (FSPA) and hosted by members of the Corona (Calif.) Fire Department’s peer support team. After having completed eight 10-hour ride-alongs and one 24-hour ride-along with CFD fire companies, I can say I feel deeply compelled and passionately inclined to work with firefighters and first responders in my community.
I entered this internship with a limited awareness of the immense pressures and responsibilities firefighters carry, and with a narrow understanding of what their job entails. Like many civilians, I associated the fire service primarily with fire suppression. I quickly learned how incomplete that view was. Firefighters are medical responders, crisis managers, team leaders, and often the first point of contact in people’s worst moments. As a therapist-in-training, being able to observe this work from the inside, spending time in the station, going on calls, watching them train, and sharing conversations during long shifts, was both eye-opening and deeply impactful.
My role during this internship was not to provide therapy, but to immerse myself in the culture of the fire service through the lens of a clinician in training. That immersion led to some of the most meaningful conversations I have had about mental health, psychology, and the realities of working in a high-risk, high-responsibility profession. Firefighters openly discussed stress, trauma exposure, relationships, teamwork, coping strategies, substance use, and the stigma that still surrounds mental health in the fire service. These conversations were intentional, honest, and rich, and they highlighted just how complex the psychological impact of this career can be….
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