How Solutions Counseling Treats Combat and Occupational Trauma: The Toolkit and What to Expect

Last updated: September, 2026 | Reviewed by: Ryanne Stellingwerf, LCPC, CCTP

You've always been able to get it together. That's what made you good at your job, whether it was a deployment, a shift in the ER, or a call most people would never sign up for. But something's different now: you can't sleep, you're jumpy for no reason you can point to, and pushing through has stopped working. This guide is for women in high-stakes, trauma-exposed careers, veterans, first responders, ER professionals, dealing with the weight of what the job asked of them. Here's what you'll find: the toolkit used to treat this kind of trauma, EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) among the tools, and what an actual session looks like so you're not walking in blind. Ryanne Stellingwerf built this approach directly from her own clinical practice, not a textbook, and from 7 years living and working in a combat zone in the Middle East before she became a therapist.

What's actually in the toolkit?

No single technique fixes trauma from a job that never let you switch off, so this isn't a one-tool practice. Sessions draw from EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) for a body stuck on high alert, personalized recovery planning for what actually helps you rest and reset, post-shift transition practices for closing the gap between work and home, perspective work as well as neural net training for the negativity bias that years of threat-focused work builds, and identity work for the parts of you that existed before the job. Which of these shows up in your sessions depends on what's actually going on for you, not a fixed program everyone gets.

What is EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique)?

EFT is a therapy method that combines tapping on specific points on your body with talking through what's actually bothering you, sometimes called “tapping.” You're tapping on points on your face, hands, and chest while naming the issue out loud, which sounds strange until you've done it. There's real clinical research behind it, specifically for anxiety, PTSD, and stress-related symptoms. Most people are skeptical the first time they hear how it works, that reaction is normal, and it tends to change fast once you feel a shift happen in a session instead of just hearing about it. Most people learn the basic sequence in a single session and start noticing something shift the same day.

How does EFT actually work on trauma?

EFT interrupts your body's fight-or-flight response while you're actively thinking about what's bothering you, which is different from talking your way to a calmer state. Trauma from combat or high-stress work doesn't usually live in your logical brain, it lives in a nervous system that's been trained to stay on high alert. You can understand exactly why you're anxious and still not be able to think your way out of it. Tapping sends a calming signal to your brain while you're still connected to the distressing thought, which helps your body learn, physically, that the threat has passed. That's why people often feel a shift in a session in a way years of talking about the same issue never produced.

Why this combination of tools, not just talk therapy?

Standard talk therapy assumes insight is the missing piece: understand why you feel this way, and the feeling will follow. That works for a lot of things. It works less well when your trauma isn't from one bad moment, but from months or years of being trained to treat everything as a threat, and when the job followed you home in ways that talking alone doesn't touch. Combat, ER shifts, and first responder work condition your body to stay switched on, and change how you show up outside of work too. Ryanne spent 7 years living that reality herself in a combat zone, and built this toolkit around treating trauma that comes from sustained high-alert work, not just single-incident trauma. That's the difference between a therapist who's read about hypervigilance and one who's lived inside it.

What does an EFT session actually look like?

You'll name the specific issue you want to work on and rate how intense it feels, usually on a scale of 0 to 10. From there, you'll tap through a set sequence of points, on your hand, face, and chest, while saying a short phrase that names the problem and accepts yourself anyway. You do not have to narrate the full story of what happened for this to work. Some clients share details, some don't, and both approaches are fine, the tapping works on your body's response either way. Sessions usually end with your intensity rating dropping, sometimes significantly, in the same session.

How many sessions before I start feeling like myself again?

Most clients notice a real shift within the first three to five sessions, though “feeling like yourself” isn't a single finish line, it happens in stages: sleep improves first for a lot of people, then reactivity, then the sense of being able to plan a future again. How long the full process takes depends on how long the stress has been building and what else is going on in your life right now. This isn't an open-ended commitment. You'll know within the first couple of sessions whether this approach is working for you.

Is this private pay, or is it covered by insurance?

Most clients pay privately. It means you and Ryanne decide what treatment looks like, EFT, pacing, session length, instead of an insurance company approving it against a diagnosis code. No diagnosis follows you into your insurance history either, which matters if you're in a high-clearance or high-visibility job. A limited number of insurance slots are also available. Call 406-272-4545 and you'll get a straight answer on both, not a runaround.

Is what I say in session actually confidential, even with my clearance or job?

Yes, what you say in session is protected by the same confidentiality laws that cover every therapy client in Montana, with a small number of legal exceptions: risk of harm to yourself or someone else, or abuse of a child or vulnerable adult, or a subpoena. Outside of those specific situations, what happens in the room stays in the room if you are self pay. If you're worried specifically about your clearance or your job finding out, paying privately instead of using insurance keeps your records out of that system entirely.

Do I have to have “real” trauma for this to help?

No. A single dramatic incident isn't required, years of high-alert work add up the same way one bad day would. High performers especially tend to wave this off, you've always pushed through before, so you assume this time should be no different. It usually isn't different, it's cumulative, and that's exactly why it's worth addressing now instead of waiting for a moment dramatic enough to justify it.

FAQ

Can EFT help with something that's not combat related, like a really bad shift at work? Yes. Cumulative and occupational stress count just as much as single traumatic events, so a demanding job, a bad stretch of shifts, or ongoing high-stakes pressure are all fair game here.

Do I have to believe in this for it to work? No, EFT works on your body's response whether you buy into it or not, which is part of why it works even on skeptics.

Will tapping on myself in front of you feel weird? Probably, the first time, but I’ll be doing it as well as I lead you through it. Most clients say it stops feeling strange within a session or two.

Can I do EFT while I'm already on medication? Yes, EFT is commonly used alongside medication. Talk to your prescriber about any changes to your treatment plan.

What if I've already tried therapy and it didn't help? That's common. It usually means the approach wasn't matched to how your particular stress response works. EFT is worth trying even after other approaches haven't landed.

Do you do this over telehealth, or does it have to be in person? Both. EFT works well over video, and sessions are available in-office in Great Falls or via secure telehealth anywhere in Montana.

If this sounds like what you need, the next step is a free 15-minute phone consultation, no cost, no commitment. Call 406-272-4545, or fill out the contact form to get scheduled.

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