CHAMPAIGN, IL (CHAMBANA TODAY) – Military members and first responders are some of the toughest guys and girls out there. They’re also some of the last to admit they need help.
Michael Jenkins was struggling with his own mental health, thankfully he had a great counselor at the time and the counselor suggested, ‘This kind of clicks for you. Did you ever consider becoming a therapist?’ Initially hesitant, he eventually pursued a career in therapy. After grad school, he opened his own practice focused on military and first responder mental health. That journey has defined his path in the therapy field.
Never Forgotten Services is Jenkins’ practice. “We have NFS217, which is our non-profit. And I’m the co-founder and clinical director of the East Central Illinois peer support,” Jenkins says. For almost as long as he has been practicing in the area, his practice has been working with firemen on what he says is a regular basis.
He became involved in the peer support program, a 16-hour training designed for firefighters and first responders. In this program, participants learn mental health first aid and become part of a dedicated safety net, providing a resource for non-emergent support. This service is intended for situations that don’t require calling 911, like when someone is suicidal, but for times when someone is having a bad day and needs someone to talk to.
Initially, the program was limited to the Champaign Fire Department. However, this segmentation presented problems because not everyone in the department wanted to discuss personal issues with their colleagues. When Jenkins started with NFS217 after leaving his previous counseling group, he helped develop the idea of a regional team. Now, there are 30 participating departments. This setup allows for more personalized support, including connecting someone who prefers to speak with another female about numerical problems, or finding a peer from a different department if someone prefers not to talk to colleagues from their own department.
Jenkins says his approach is based on cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). While he incorporates some elements of medical acceptance and a few other techniques like somatic therapies to understand how the body reacts to stress and stressors, his primary focus is on addressing issues on a personal level. He says he believes this personal touch sets his practice apart and contributes to its growth and effectiveness.
Additionally, he collaborates with another group to provide culturally competent race counseling. He says he understands that having lived the life of a first responder and military member makes it easier to relate to and address their unique challenges, which often involves more intense and violent experiences. Jenkins acknowledges that some therapists may feel uncomfortable discussing such traumatic events but emphasizes the importance of providing support to these individuals despite any discomfort. He emphasizes that he believes that everyone, including first responders and military personnel, should have access to mental health support, regardless of their employment status.
Regarding stigma, it essentially acts as a barrier, he says, often manifesting as feelings of being broken or unable to fulfill one’s duties. This is particularly prevalent among professions like law enforcement or firefighting, where admitting to mental health struggles may lead to concerns about job security. Those immersed in such communities often struggle to seek help, preferring to assist others instead. Jenkins says that it’s important to encourage those individuals to acknowledge their emotions and uncertainties.
In addition to therapy, outreach and educational initiatives play a significant role. These efforts involve visiting departments and providing information on common career-related challenges, offering a supportive and accessible avenue for individuals to seek assistance.
For him personally, Jenkins says he hasn’t gone through therapy as a therapist. As a patient, he says he experienced firsthand that it’s okay to challenge his thought processes, to have feelings and emotions, and to communicate them. He says that he enjoys the opportunity to show this to others and finds it fulfilling to find creative ways to help people understand these concepts.
As someone who says he once considered himself a “big tough guy,” having been to war where he experienced numerous challenges, Jenkins says he once believed he didn’t have feelings and that he was fine. However, he says he eventually realized that his heavy drinking and other behaviors were just ways of masking deeper problems. He says that it was important for him to break through this realization and show others how they can do that, too.
Jenkins says that one of the “coolest” aspects of his work is the ripple effect. He says that in tight-knit communities like police departments, if one officer goes to therapy and casually mentions something helpful a counselor said, it can spark a broader conversation. He says that this helps normalize the fact that, regardless of the uniform, everyone is human underneath, with thoughts, feelings, needs, desires, and wants. Changing the stigma and making it okay to feel and express these emotions is crucial.
If you or someone you know is a first responder or a military member who needs assistance, contact Never Forgotten Services at 217.390.9135.
