Who Erin works with
Therapy for police officers, and one place you can stand down.
First responders are a real focus at Be Well Behavioral Healing, and that includes the people who wear a badge. Policing asks you to stay watchful, decide in seconds and look unbothered doing it, and those skills rarely switch off when the shift ends. Erin L. Smith, MSPC, LPCC, LPC, offers therapy for police officers in Georgetown, KY, and by telehealth for officers located anywhere in Kentucky, Arizona or Minnesota.
01Police officers
Always scanning, even off duty
On duty, you read a room before you are all the way into it. You clock the exits, watch hands and take the seat facing the door. That is training doing its job. Off duty, the same system can keep running at a restaurant or your own kitchen table, and the people with you may feel it as distance or edge. Over time it can wear down sleep and patience. The aim is not to take the skill away. It is to help your body tell a call from a quiet afternoon at home.
02Police officers
Decisions made in seconds, judged for months
Few jobs ask you to decide in seconds, on partial information, and then live with how that decision gets picked apart afterward. Even when you did what your training called for, your mind may keep replaying it: what you saw, what you might have missed, how it looked on someone's phone. Add hostility from people who see the uniform before they see you, and it is easy to feel that nobody outside the job understands. CBT offers a way to test the conclusions you have drawn about yourself and see whether they hold up.
03Police officers
A culture of keeping it in
Police culture often rewards the officer who handles it and moves on, and asking for help can feel like a risk to your reputation or career. That worry deserves a plain answer. Therapy records are protected health information, and Erin does not report to your department. Telehealth also lets you be seen from home instead of in a waiting room in your own town. In session, you can use the language you use on the job. Anything specific to your situation is worth raising on the free 15-minute consultation.
04Police officers
What the job does to home
Rotating shifts, overtime and court dates on your days off can leave little of you for the people at home. The tone that controls a traffic stop does not land well at the dinner table, and a partner may say you have changed before you notice it yourself. Often the first sign is not a nightmare but a temper that flares faster, or drinking that has become the way to come down after a shift. Addiction, anger management and trauma are three of the areas where Erin has the most experience, and they often arrive together.
05Police officers
How therapy for police officers is paced
Early sessions focus on the relationship and on what steadies you, so nothing gets opened before you have a way to close it. When one incident keeps replaying, Accelerated Resolution Therapy is an option, and Erin is certified in it. You follow her hand with your eyes while the memory is in mind, and the method works with the images your brain stored rather than the account you have given. You stay awake and in control, and you never have to say the details out loud. ART sessions run about 100 minutes.
Signs this is the right page
- Facing the door in every room you enter
- Replaying one decision for months
- A shorter fuse at home than on duty
- Needing a drink to come down after shift
None of this is a diagnosis, and no outcome is guaranteed. It is a starting point for a conversation.
Questions
Common questions
- Do I have to talk about the worst call right away?
- No. The first sessions are about getting to know you, your history and what helps you stay level. Harder material comes later, at a pace you agree to. If ART becomes part of the plan, you can work on a memory without describing it out loud.
- Can I see Erin by telehealth if I am not near Georgetown?
- Yes. Telehealth works from anywhere in Kentucky, Arizona or Minnesota, because licensure turns on your physical location at the time of each session, not on where you are from. Officers in Kentucky who would rather meet face to face can also use the office in Georgetown.
- What if anger or drinking is the bigger problem right now?
- Then that can be where the work starts. Anger management and addiction are among Erin's most experienced areas, and goals are set together, whether that means cutting back, stopping or deciding which you want. The calls underneath can wait until you are ready.
In Erin's words
What she would say if you called today.
You do not have to start with the worst call. We begin with how you are doing now and what keeps you steady, then set goals together in plain terms. I will tell you what I am suggesting and why, and if something is not helping, I want to hear it so we can change course.
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.
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