E855 Your Shift Doesn’t End When You Clock Out: Processing Trauma as a First Responder

Tactical Living

This episode of the Tactical Living Podcast, hosted by Coach Ashlie Walton and Sergeant Clint Walton, tackles a powerful truth for first responders: your shift doesn’t really end when you leave the firehouse or the division office. Instead, it ends when you’ve fully recovered from it. Processing trauma is not as simple as clocking out and heading home. In this episode, we dive into five effective strategies to ensure that trauma doesn’t build up over time, allowing you to truly "clock out" and recover after each shift.

Understanding the Emotional Toll of the Job:

As first responders, we often deal with traumatic situations that don’t just disappear when we leave work. Trauma can linger, and it’s crucial to recognize that processing it takes time. We'll explore the reality of how trauma impacts mental health and why simply clocking out isn’t enough to fully recover from the emotional toll of the job. Five Strategies to Fully ‘Clock Out’ After Trauma:

Debriefing with Trusted Colleagues: Talking through difficult calls with trusted colleagues can help process the trauma. Debriefing allows you to express your emotions, share the burden, and gain a different perspective, which is a critical part of recovery.

Creating a Transition Routine: Developing a routine for transitioning from work to home helps signal to your brain that your shift is over. Whether it’s listening to calming music on your drive home, taking a shower, or engaging in a mindfulness practice, a transition routine can help create separation from the job.

Engaging in Physical Activity: Exercise is a proven way to release tension and stress. Whether it’s going for a run, lifting weights, or practicing yoga, physical activity helps your body process the emotional strain from the job, allowing you to fully recover.

Practicing Mindfulness or Meditation (Amazon Affiliate Link): Mindfulness and meditation can help you process trauma by bringing you into the present moment and allowing you to release the tension of past experiences. We’ll discuss simple mindfulness techniques that can help calm your mind and help you ‘clock out’ mentally.

Seeking Professional Support: Sometimes, the trauma is too heavy to handle on your own. We’ll talk about the importance of seeking professional counseling or therapy when needed, to ensure that you’re processing trauma in a healthy and effective way.

Recognizing the Warning Signs of Unprocessed Trauma:

When trauma is left unprocessed, it can build up and affect your mental and physical health. We’ll explore the warning signs that indicate trauma is starting to pile up, such as irritability, sleep disturbances, and emotional numbness.

Building a Support Network Outside of Work:

Having a support system outside of work is essential for recovery. We’ll talk about how to nurture relationships with family and friends who can provide a different perspective and emotional support outside of your professional environment.

Preventing Burnout by Prioritizing Recovery:

Trauma builds up over time when it isn’t properly processed, leading to burnout. We’ll discuss the importance of prioritizing recovery after each shift and the long-term benefits of making self-care a non-negotiable part of your routine.

The Importance of Self-Compassion:

We often put pressure on ourselves to be strong and unaffected by trauma, but the truth is, it’s okay to take time to heal. We’ll talk about the role of self-compassion in processing trauma and how giving yourself permission to feel and recover is an essential part of the healing process.

Join us as we provide you with the tools, tips, and inspiration to ensure you’re not carrying trauma from one shift to the next. Whether you’re a first responder navigating the emotional demands of your job or someone supporting a loved one in the field, this episode is packed with valuable insights to help you truly "clock out" and recover.

All viewpoints discussed in this episode are for entertainment purposes only and are simply our opinions based off of our own experience, background and education.

#policepodcast #policeofficer #leowarriors #thinbluelineusa #firstresponder #lawenforcementpodcast #LawEnforcement #LEOWarriors #traumarecovery #trauma

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