Coming to you from Sydney Australia is Retired Sergeant Major Max Garcia, who served honorably in the United States Marine Corps for 24 years. Sgt. Major shares some wild stories from his combat deployments, gives us a different perspective on mental health coming from higher enlisted, and honors a few friends and Marines who unfortunately died by suicide.

Sgt. Major Garcia is continuing his service to our community as a motivational speaker, virtually and in person in the U.S.A. and Australia. Learn more about Sgt. Major Garcia by visiting his website at Maxgarcia.biz.

Semper Fidelis Sgt. Major!

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Tune in to listen to Jessica Cowick, a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, who is a contracted therapist with The Overwatch Collective based out of Florida. Jessica is licensed in Florida, Kentucky, and Tennessee.

Listen in as Jessica discusses her service in the U.S. Army, co-parenting with an active duty service member, and what therapy would look like if you were to work with her.

You can learn more by heading to her website: Cowickmentalhealth.com

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Paul and Dakota have both been in EMS for over 10 years in Southern California and are currently partners on an ambulance. In this episode, they discuss some of the fun parts of working on an ambulance in addition to some of the challenges.

Paul disclosed some personal family struggles, which ultimately caused him to realize he was burned out and needed to work on himself in therapy. After recognizing that therapy was beneficial, Paul filled a gap at his place of employment and took charge of starting a peer support program. Paul is still the head honcho of the peer support team and Dakota is on board as well.

Paul and Dakota talk about some of the pros to peer support things and some of the challenges that come along with starting them from scratch. Also, the most important aspect of the peer support team and its importance... can you guess what it is?

Thank you to Paul and Dakota for joining T.O.C.'s Podcast!

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Thank you to Chad for joining The Overwatch Collective Podcast after getting connected through Veterans_Up! Chad served in the United States Marine Corps as an 0311, infantry rifleman. Chad started his USMC career in active duty and then transitioned to the reserves so he could partake in a deployment to Afghanistan.

Chad discusses his deployments overseas and the common challenges we see in our military community such as stigma, lack of resources, the challenges of transitioning out of the military, and losing friends to suicide.

Chad also provides an in depth breakdown of his suicide attempt in 2022, where he was fortunately unsuccessful. We thank Chad SO much for joining the podcast and being willing to share his story as we know it will benefit many of you.

Check out Chad on instagram at Forgeconcepts_chad.

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Tune into this episode to learn about Alison Fienning, one of The Overwatch Collective's contracted therapists who is licensed in Ohio, Kentucky, Florida, & Arizona. Alison has been a therapist for over 12 years and specializes in working with our first responder community.

Alison is embedded with several first responder departments after founding Pinpoint Behavioral Health Solutions based in Ohio. Alison provides a break down of neck up check ups, 24/7 crisis care, and gives great insight on how PTSD is seen as a 3rd wheel.

Thank you for joining Alison.

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Joining today is Natalie Montenegro, a T.O.C. contracted therapist in California. Natalie has been a therapist for over 18 years and specializes in working with our first responder community. Natalie is also married to a Law Enforcement Officer in California and her sister is a Dispatcher.

In this episode, Natalie touches on what therapy looks like working with her, the importance of conducting debriefings post critical incidents, and the need for culturally competent therapists in our community.

Head to our website today and click on California therapists to learn more about Natalie!

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Thank you to Brian Laurence for joining the podcast virtually from Northern California! Brian served 3 years in the U.S. Army followed by 30 years in law enforcement, where he retired as a Lieutenant.

Once retired, Brian focused on become a licensed marriage and family therapist in order to continue serving the community, specializing in our first responder and military community. Brian breaks down his prior experience, how he's straight forward and blunt to our community, and the benefits of therapy early and often!

Find Brian's profile on Theoverwatchcollective.com under California therapists.

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Tune in to listen to Melissa Cavanaugh, one of T.O.C.'s contracted therapists as she discusses life as a military spouse as her husband is a fighter pilot in the U.S. Navy. Also, Melissa is a therapist who specializes in working with children whose mother and/or father are in the U.S. Military and are deployed.

Melissa is licensed in California, Maine, Louisiana, Washington, & Washington DC.

Learn some of the common struggles that our military children face, tips for maintaining healthy communication with your deployed spouse, and the importance of having a great group of friends!

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