The ASAP is designed to support first responders soon after a critical incident. As an emergency response worker, you will likely experience a critical incident during your career. Getting the emotional support and tools you need to process the event can help reduce the risk of long-term negative impacts.
Research shows that the Acute Stress Adaptive Protocol (ASAP) can reduce post-traumatic stress symptoms by 44% in first responders. It can also help reduce moral injury and enhance resilience when used in conjunction with other compassion-focused psychoeducation and support.
The ASAP is an early intervention treatment for emergency response workers and first responders. It can be used soon after a critical incident and to help responders suffering from acute stress symptoms.
This approach was developed by a former police officer who became an Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) consultant.
The ASAP is a versatile tool based on EMDR and Adaptive Information Processing (AIP) Model principles. As a result, participants do not have to talk during the trauma processing. Instead, this approach is based on the concept that the brain struggles to process and store the traumatic memories, resulting in acute symptoms.
But these memories and experiences can be healed by accessing, processing, and integrating the information through our brain-body connections — allowing us to bypass talking about the event.
Participants use mindfulness and self-regulation techniques to build and strengthen emotional resources.
This phase can also be used as a screening tool to identify people struggling with severe traumatic stress.
Participants will face forward and concentrate on their specific traumatic event, allowing them to work in silence. This phase uses bilateral stimulation through eye movements and the reprocessing of traumatic memories to assist the person in fully processing the traumatic event, whether a current or past trauma.
Participants will be provided with resources and a follow-up care plan as needed.
Our licensed experts have professional and personal insights into how a critical incident can impact responders. We’ve worked with first responders and emergency response workers in Maine since 2015.
We provide a safe, judgment-free, and confidential space for first responders. We are trained in the Acute Stress Adaptive Protocol (ASAP) and can use it to help your employees one-on-one or in a group setting.
We will work with your department and employees so participants feel safe and comfortable — and can get the support and help they need.
Our licensed therapists in Maine understand how critical incidents can impact responders. We can process acute stress following a critical incident to help your frontline workers avoid long-term negative behavioral health effects and build resilience. Because your emergency response workers’ emotional health and well-being matter.
Our licensed therapists in Maine understand how critical incidents can impact responders. We can process acute stress following a critical incident to help your frontline workers avoid long-term negative behavioral health effects and build resilience. Because your emergency response workers’ emotional health and well-being matter.
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