Most humans are hard wired for connection as this is one of our most basic survival skills. In the firefighting profession, healthy intimate partnerships and families serve as a primary buffer for negative psychological outcomes associated with repeated trauma exposure and other stressors related to the job.Creating and maintaining healthy relationships requires that each partner recognize their needs, that of their partner, and the stresses that the profession can introduce.
FSPA Commitment:
- Train Clinicians about the Specific Challenges Fire Families Face
- Connect Fire Families with Clinicians Specifically Trained on the Needs of Firefighters and their Families to Create and support Relationship/Family Health
- Increase Research in This Area to Understand Fire Family Needs Over Time
Relationship and Family Health: The fire service can pose unique challenges for firefighters, spouses, and their children. Long shifts, mandatory overtime, ambiguous loss, post traumatic stress outcomes are just some of the variables that fire families face.
FSPA Commitment:
- Empower firefighter families with the psychological skills needed to enhance relationships.
- Connect Firefighters with psychologists (and other mental health professionals) who can provide direct intervention services when therapy and other services are needed.
- Advance research regarding the unique dynamics of firefighter families and best practices to support these units.
