After spending weeks battling the devastating wildfires across Southern California, support programs are working to address the fatigue and mental health issues that many firefighters and first responders are facing.
In addition to traditional talk therapy, local fire and police departments are working to reduce the stigma around mental healthcare for first responders through alternative methods with positive results.
“These firefighters were in a firefight nonstop, going from house to house without a break at all for 48 hours,” said Santa Monica Fire Department Chief Matthew Hallock. “The magnitude of this incident — it was a career’s worth of fires in 48-72 hours.”
Hallock was one of the thousands of firefighters who battled the Palisades Fire. As many return home from deployment, they may be dealing with feelings of helplessness, exhaustion and mental health struggles.
“First responders face unique mental health challenges,” explained Dr. Gina Gallivan, a police and public safety psychologist. “They have exposure to trauma, threats to their life and long shifts without much physical recovery.”
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A firefighter sets up a hose while fighting the Palisades Fire in Mandeville Canyon on Saturday, Jan. 11, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer) -
Firefighters watch as water is dropped on the Palisades Fire in Mandeville Canyon Saturday, Jan. 11, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong) -
A firefighter jumps over a fence while fighting the Palisades Fire in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope) -
Lt. Matt Phillips, left, from Kitsap County firefighting strike team from Bainbridge Island, Wash., directs his crew while checking homes for structural issues in the aftermath of the Palisades Fire in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles on Friday. Jan. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel) -
A residence burns as a firefighter battles the Palisades Fire in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Eugene Garcia) -
Apple Valley Fire District Captain Manuel Lafarga, center, and firefighter James Lyons hose down hotspots in the aftermath of the Palisades Fire in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, Monday, Jan. 13, 2025. (AP Photo/John Locher) -
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – JANUARY 8: A firefighter battles the Palisades Fire while it burns homes at Pacific Coast Highway amid a powerful windstorm on January 8, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. The fast-moving wildfire has grown to more than 2900-acres and is threatening homes in the coastal neighborhood amid intense Santa Ana Winds and dry conditions in Southern California. (Photo by Apu Gomes/Getty Images) -
Firefighters protect a structure as the Eaton Fire advances Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025 in Altadena, Calif. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope) -
A firefighter tries to extinguish a fire as it damages a property in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope) -
Firefighters battle the Palisades Fire as it burns a structure in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Etienne Laurent) -
A firefighter battles the Palisades Fire around a burned structure in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Etienne Laurent) -
Firefighters are pushed back by gusty winds while removing fuel around the faculty and staff residences at Pepperdine University as the Franklin Fire approaches in Malibu, Calif., Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong) -
Firefighters work to extinguish flames engulfing a home as a brush fire rages in Pacific Palisades, California, on January 7, 2025. (Getty Images)
Over the last 20 years, Gallivan and her team have serviced over 100 police and public service agencies across Southern California, offering peer support programs and counseling tailored to first responders.
Gallivan said a major goal is to ensure these local heroes know that seeking help is not a sign of weakness.
“There’s a stigma associated with seeking help,” Hallock said. ‘We feel like this profession gives us a sort of invulnerability, that nothing can hurt us, nothing can impact us. But in reality, we’ve seen instances where firefighters are taking their own lives.”
Gallivan has been incorporating counseling with evidence-based wellness components such as bio-feedback, contrast therapy, multi-sensory feedback and more at the Reality Center in Santa Monica.
“I have found that when we provide both of those things together, their symptoms resolve faster,” Gallivan explained.
By combining lights, sound and vibration into a one-of-a-kind experience, the Reality Center provides healing in a safe, effective way without pharmaceuticals.
Around 75% of people treated at The Reality Center are veterans and first responders. The center is offering free treatment to all firefighters, police and emergency personnel impacted by the Southern California wildfires.
“When you come off the line, they’ll be experiencing a lot of the same things that we experience when we got back from war,” said Jonathan Chia, co-founder of the Reality Center. “So balancing the nervous system and allowing people to relax, calm their bodies, allow them to sleep a little bit better which allows them to feel reset the next morning, is paramount to us.”
“To get them in here, get them reset and feeling balanced their nervous system before they go back out or before it starts to escalate into something that becomes much more problematic,” explained Tarun Raj, co-founder of the Reality Center.
Gallivan said first responders should know that they don’t have to carry the burden alone.
Hallock said he’s looking into providing a comfort dog for the Santa Monica Fire Department and notes that public support for first responders is a vital part of their healing.
“It doesn’t have to be money or an item, it’s stopping by and just saying, ‘Hi,’ or ‘Thank you,’ or just acknowledging what the firefighters have done and are continuing to do,” Hallock said.
More information on mental health services can be found at helpforfire.com. Information on the Reality Center in Santa Monica can be found here.
Free IV therapy for first responders is being offered at the Hydration Room and Restore Hyper Wellness.
