Berkeley Counseling for First Responders and Emergency Workers (also Online)
Have you been carrying too much for too long, and your body and mind are pushing back? Has the cumulative stress and burnout of the job started leaking into home life—short fuse, distance, sleep issues, or feeling ‘on’ even when you’re off?
In your line of work, stress makes sense. You deal with urgency, risk, and other people’s emergencies every day. That makes it easy to minimize your own stress and keep moving. It can work for a long time, until it doesn’t—and you notice you’re more irritable or more tired than you should be.
To feel like yourself again, your system needs to learn new ways to downshift from constant alert to a stable baseline. Trauma-informed counseling focuses on downshifting the body’s alarm system—not just talking about it.
How Counseling and Therapy Help
Confidentiality is the first priority. I’m a private provider, so you can speak freely without fear of administrative blowback or career consequences. Then we focus on outcomes.
Therapy should make your daily life easier, not give you more to think about. The goal is clear: less edge, more patience, and higher functioning. I’ll keep it practical and focus on what moves the needle first.
For some people in high-stakes roles, the need is straightforward: tools to reduce the stress load and the nervous-system hangover—so your body and mind can settle. We work on coming down from high alert. We build recovery habits that fit your schedule. We reduce patterns that keep you wired or shut down. We set clear targets and track what’s improving week-to-week.
For others, the impact of the job can go deeper—memories that linger too long, a startle response that won’t shut off, or a sense of numbness that shows up at home. In such cases, treatment often includes EMDR therapy.
First Responder Trauma Therapy: EMDR Therapy
EMDR therapy is a structured and direct form of therapy. We use EMDR as a tool to 'clear the cache' of the experiences that keep running in your head. EMDR is evidence-based for trauma related symptoms, and studies have shown ‘robust’ or ‘strong’ evidence for the following benefits:
Reduction in intrusive thoughts, memories, exaggerated negative beliefs, and irritability.
Reduction in physiological hyperarousal (the ‘fight or flight’ response), leading to better sleep.
Reduction in low mood, low energy, feelings of emptiness, and feelings of worthlessness and guilt.
Citations: Belli, S. R., Howell, M., Grey, N., Tiraboschi, S., & Sim, A. (2025). And: Rentinck, E. M., van Mourik, R., de Jongh, A., & Matthijssen, S. J. M. A. (2025)
With eight years of EMDR trauma therapy experience, I tailor treatment to the unique culture and stressors of emergency work. My style is direct and grounded, with a results-first mentality. I cut through the noise and focus on the objective: offloading the stress and getting you back to full functioning.
What sessions look like:
We start by getting clear on what’s not working (sleep, reactivity, intrusive replay, or shutdown) and what “back to full functioning” means for you.
If your system is running hot, we stabilize first—then we move into EMDR once you have reliable ways to stay grounded on and off shift.
We finish by consolidating gains so your response to triggers is calmer and more predictable.
You can read more about EMDR on my specialty page here: EMDR Therapy Berkeley.
My Background in High-Stakes Crisis Work
If you’re wondering whether I understand high-stakes environments, here’s the short version. I worked for eight years as a crisis counselor in San Francisco, supporting people experiencing severe mental health crises.
I won’t claim this is the same as running calls or working the ER. But I do understand the pressure you carry: the pace, the exposure, the split-second responsibility, and how it can follow you home.
Five years in homeless shelters: most days involved people who were actively suicidal, severely dysregulated, or losing touch with reality. At times, safety meant a 5150 hold.
Three years in acute diversion units supporting SF General’s Psychiatric Emergency Services: stabilize people in the community instead of cycling them through the ER. What mattered most was functional stability—safe, steady, and ready to move forward.
As a therapist in private practice, I bring a similar mentality—clear, practical, and focused on what actually helps.
Online/ Virtual Options (California)
I offer online counseling for first responders and emergency workers throughout California. These virtual sessions are available statewide, including for clients in Berkeley. Because I’m based in Berkeley, I can occasionally meet in person when clinically appropriate and logistically feasible. You can read more here: online therapy in California.
Free Phone Consultation
It’s important for you to choose a therapist with whom you feel comfortable talking with, so I invite you to book a free, 20-minute phone consultation here.
Or, contact me directly to schedule a time:
tim@windingriverpsychotherapyservices.com
(510) 761-9818
You can ask any questions you have about counseling for first responders and emergency workers or my other Berkeley therapy services.
Using Aetna or Quest? I’m in-network—see Contact and Fees.
