Who's Putting You First FireWife?
We worry about our firefighter and all the stress they are under.
I firmly believe that you are an integral part of making the fire dept work. I understand that and so do many others. YOU are valued.So this summit I'm focused on why I started WBF. You are important. Your health matters. Your mental state makes a tremendous difference. This summit, we are focusing 100% on you.
I've brought together experts on topics that will help you in your day to day. They will help you look beyond the firelife to what will make you happy. Some of the discussions that will happen:
- How to have a thriving home life as a wife and mom while spouse is on shift.
- Recognizing when the trauma is now in you.
- Why community is so important.
- How important boundaries are to your emotional well being.
I'm thankful for a caring community of businesses that are sponsoring this online event, so I can bring live access to the FireWife Community for free.
By signing up you will have live access and 48 hours to watch the replays.
FireWife Summit
Date: August 8, 2020
Time: 4pm EST/1pm PST
Location: Online
Cost: FREE
Please Thank Our Platinum Sponsors
Speaker Schedule
August 8th, 2020
4pm EST/1pm PST
Friendships and Resilience
Therapist Barbara Crump will be sharing her experience and training on why it's important for our own mental health to build friendships and community.
4:30pm EST/1:30pm PST
Create a Thriving Homelife
Mother of 3, Charisty Haislip will be sharing information on how to keep your house thriving while your spouse is on shift.
5pm EST/2pm PST
Secondary Versus Vicarious Trauma: How to Avoid Them and Still Be Emphatic
Karen Robinson, MSW, ACSW, LCSW will be giving us tools to listen to our firefighters without taking the trauma in as our own.
5:30pm EST/2:30pm PST
Secondary PTSD: A Wife's Experience
Recreation therapist Julie Pollock is joining us to share her life lessons about taking care of yourself before you can be an advocate for your spouse.
6pm EST/3pm PST
Self-care and self-compassion
Certified Trauma Practitioner Amanda Lynch will talk about setting physical and emotional boundaries as a means of self-care.
6:30pm EST/3:30pm PST
Oola Blockers
Jessica Silva is going to talk to us about those habits, behaviors, and mindset that keep you from living your best life.
7pm EST/4pm PST
Never Be Second
You are an integral part of making the fire dept work. Coach Val will be talking about your importance and how being a confident FireWife creates a happier Firelife.
7:30pm EST/4:30pm PST
Open Chat
We'll have covered a lot and I want to make sure there is plenty of time for questions. Stay after the talks and chat with friends new and old.
Our Speakers Are Passionate About Helping First Responders
Our speakers are more than trained professionals, they are specifically dedicated to helping first responders. They saw a need and they rose to fill it with more training, degrees and the creation of websites and businesses.
This enables them to reach out further in their communities to help with the trauma and communication. I'm happy to have them in our fire community and thankful they want to reach out to further help.
Sign up for for FREE access to the Fire Wife Summit
Thank You Sponsors
About The Speakers
Friendships and Resilience
I grew up on Long Island NY, and moved to Texas full time after graduating college in 2001. I've been married to my husband for 15 years, I like to say that we didn't have “lots of little fights when we first got married, just one big one that lasted 7 years.”
Nine years ago my husband came to me with his decision to become a Firefighter/Paramedic and soon after that I completed my transition to LPC & Licensed Marriage Family Therapist. I'll be sharing my experience and training on ways to practice healthy support to our Firefighter partners, while still taking care of ourselves.
Barbara Crump // Meier Clinics – Richardson TX
Create a Thriving Homelife
Charisty Haislip is a Firefighter Wife and mom to three in central Florida. She left education to care for her kids and work for herself. In her off time you can find her at the beach or a theme park!
Charisty Haislip // Fire Dept. Family
Secondary Versus Vicarious Trauma: How to Avoid Them and Still Be Emphatic
Karen is a licensed clinical social worker in the State of Virginia. She works full time with the DOD at Fort Belvoir Community Hospital on an Inpatient Adult Behavioral Health Unit. She recently started a new company with her daughters called Heal Thrive Dream, LLC. Her daughters help design products geared towards healing while Karen provides coaching and counseling services to trauma survivors. Karen earned both her Bachelor’s (1996) and Master’s (1998) in Social Work at the University of Maine in Orono, Maine. She served in community mental health in Washington, DC; as a school social worker; adoption services (primarily home studies); personal therapist/coach, and a federal government social worker/therapist. We can find her full career experience on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/karen-robinson-1277a22bYou can contact Karen by calling 571-409-0998 or karen@healthrivedream.com
Karen Robinson, MSW, ACSW, LCSW // Heal Thrive Dream
Secondary PTSD: A Wife's Experience
Hello my name is Julie and I have spent most of my career improving the quality of life for marginalized individuals as a Recreation Therapist in Ontario, Canada. I recently completed my training as a Life Coach and now consider myself a TR (Therapeutic Recreation) informed Life Coach who helps individuals embrace their own self-care by sharing evidence-based therapeutic practices used in mental health advocacy .
I have been married 28 years to a retired FireFighter (31 years) and we have struggled with our marriage for quite some time. I realized many years ago that I could not advocate for my husbands' mental health without advocating for my own. It was about 10 years ago that my husband was diagnosed with PTSD and I was diagnosed with secondary PTSD last year. Our marriage is still a work in process, but with knowledge comes power to make changes and sometimes it takes the spouse to take the first step.
Julie Pollock // Pollock Coaching
Self-care and self-compassion
Amanda Lynch, MA, CTP-E, is a writer and career educator specializing in Self-Care, Mindfulness-Based Trauma Informed Practices, and Restorative Justice. She received her B.A. in African American Studies and MA in Teaching from Mary Baldwin College. She also has a Post-Baccalaureate Certificate in Autism Spectrum Disorders form VCU. For nearly twenty years, she worked as an educator throughout the Richmond Metro area. She loves introducing communities of color to meditation, yoga and sound healing therapy.
She is licensed teacher, Certified Trauma Practitioner, Certified Advanced Peacemaking Circles facilitator, Koru Mindfulness Teacher-In-Training, ACE Interface Master Trainer, and she was recently accepted into the MBSR Teacher Training Intensive for Diverse and Underserved Communities program at UC San Diego. She is the author of The Mindfulness Room, The 5-Minute Mindfulness Journal for Kids, Breathe, Baby, Breathe: An ABC Guide to Mindfulness, and co-author of My Ancestors' Wildest Dreams.
She currently serves as the Trauma Informed Specialist for Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Richmond through a unique partnership with Greater Richmond SCAN.
Amanda Lynch // Rethinking Resiliency
Oola Blockers
Jessica Silva is a FireWife and mom of three. She was born and raised in Rhode Island. She has been following OOLA since 2015. It has helped her find balance as she grows from her career as an EMT and dispatcher to her purpose driven career as a Life and Wellness Coach.
Since 2014 she has been helping families discover ways to improve their health and lifestyles. Adding the Oola Life Coaching program to her services has allowed her to provide her clients with a solid foundation for success in all areas of their lives.
Jessica Silva // Essentially Fit Living
Never Be Second
Yep, it's me, Val Selby. I've been helping FireWives online since 2008. It's started with my reaching out after losing our Chief in a LODD. With the creation of Wife Behind the Fire in 2013 I was able to connect to an even higher number of wives. My having been a volunteer and career wife, plus the mom of a wildland firefighter (hopefully the MIL of one some day-wink,wink), makes it easier to connect with each of you.
As an empowerment coach my specialty is helping women embrace their personality so they can live as their best selves. When we are confident in who we are then we can take on the many daily challenges the FireLife throws at us.
Val Selby // Owner – Wife Behind the Fire
How Will The FireWife Summit Work?
Sign up below with your name and email to receive information from the FireWife Summit.
The week of the Summit you will receive emails letting you know the link to attend live.
Our sponsors have graciously covered the cost of running the live online event.
There is no cost for you to attend live.
Replay links will be emailed following the event and be available for 48 hours.
Thank You To Our Event Sponsors
Val Selby // Owner
My goal with Wife Behind the Fire has always been to make sure that FireWives are no longer feeling alone and frustrated like so many of us have in the past.
Sharing my experience as a volunteer and career FireWife is the start of that happening. Gaining 1500+ members that gladly share their experiences dealing with situations both big & small is priceless. It's the community I wished for as a young FireWife.
Spreading the shared knowledge globally to as many FireWives as we can reach is my ultimate goal.
Together we'll make changes!
Val Selby
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of this or future events please contact me. I'd love to chat with you.
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