Who Erin works with
Therapy for EMTs and paramedics, for the calls that ride home with you.
EMS work puts you within arm's reach of people in the middle of an emergency. You ride in the back with them, hands on, then clean up, restock and take the next call. As part of the practice's focus on first responders, Erin L. Smith, MSPC, LPCC, LPC, offers therapy for EMTs and paramedics in Georgetown, KY, or by telehealth wherever you are in Kentucky, Arizona or Minnesota.
01EMTs and paramedics
Up close and hands on
In EMS, the care is physical and the space is small. You are the one doing compressions, holding pressure, managing an airway in a moving rig and answering a frightened relative while you work. That closeness is part of why the job matters, and part of why certain calls stay with you. Pediatric calls are often the hardest to set down, especially when a patient reminds you of someone you love. A scene may come back as you try to sleep, or a jolt may hit when a certain address or call type comes over the radio.
02EMTs and paramedics
Volume without a pause
On a busy shift, calls stack up with little room between them. You finish one, write the report, restock and go, and there is rarely a moment to register what you just saw. Meals happen in the rig, and fatigue becomes the background of everything. Dark humor is a real coping tool in this work, and it often helps. When the jokes stop landing, turn bitter, or become the only way you can talk about a call, that may be a sign you are carrying more than your usual tools can hold.
03EMTs and paramedics
The ending you never hear
You hand a patient off at the hospital doors, and the story stops there for you. Did they make it? Often you will not find out, and your mind may keep writing its own endings. Some calls also leave a sense that something was wrong: a delay you could not prevent, a decision that was not yours to make, a patient the system kept failing. That weight is often called moral distress, and it can stay with you longer than anything you saw. Therapy is a place to say what you think should have happened.
04EMTs and paramedics
Worn out, or something more
Burnout and depression can feel alike from the inside. Both can bring exhaustion, irritability and a flatness toward things you used to care about. Burnout is rooted in the job: cynicism about the work, dread before a shift, a sense that nothing you do there matters. Depression tends to reach further, into days off, relationships and things that have nothing to do with work. Sorting out which you are dealing with, or whether it is both, is part of the early sessions, when Erin learns your history and what has changed.
05EMTs and paramedics
Where therapy for EMTs and paramedics begins
Two things are worth knowing up front: Erin does not report to your department, and therapy records are protected health information. Telehealth also spares you a trip to a waiting room in your own town. Early sessions build the relationship and your footing first. If a specific call needs direct work later, Accelerated Resolution Therapy is one option. Erin is certified in it, a session runs about 100 minutes, and you never have to narrate what happened. Questions about your own situation, confidentiality included, are welcome on the free 15-minute consultation.
Signs this is the right page
- Dark humor that no longer does its job
- Wondering how a patient's story ended
- Bracing whenever a pediatric call comes in
- Tired in a way days off do not reach
None of this is a diagnosis, and no outcome is guaranteed. It is a starting point for a conversation.
Questions
Common questions
- What if one pediatric call is the one I cannot shake?
- That is worth bringing up early, at a pace that feels manageable. A call like that falls under line-of-duty exposure, one of the things ART is often used for, and it can sit alongside ongoing talk therapy. You decide when you are ready to work on it directly.
- Do I need a diagnosis or one big incident to start therapy?
- No. A change in how you sleep, drink, talk to your family or feel about the work is reason enough to ask. On the free consultation you can describe it in whatever words you have, then decide whether to book a first session.
- Will talking about calls make things worse?
- It is a fair worry. Early sessions build footing first, including what steadies you after a hard day, so heavier material is opened only once you have ways to settle afterward. You set the pace, and Erin checks in with you about how it is going.
In Erin's words
What she would say if you called today.
We start with the relationship and with what keeps you going on hard shifts, not with your worst call. When we get to specific calls, it will be at a pace you agree to. I will explain whatever I suggest before we try it, and you can tell me plainly when something is not working.
Free 15-minute consultation
Book a consultation with Erin
Fifteen minutes by telehealth, at no charge. You can describe what is going on, ask how Erin works, and decide afterward whether to book a first session. Scheduling opens in her secure SimplePractice portal.
Schedule your free consultationOpens the SimplePractice client portal in a new tab.
Keep reading