The Overwatch Collective Podcast

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, P...

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, l...

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 ...

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, ...

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&apos...

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 strugg...

Joining via zoom from Northern California is Joshua Fernandez. After spending four years in the U.S. Army as an infantryman with a deployment overseas, he switched to the Army National Guard for three years. 

After discharging from the military, he unfortunately lost several friends to suicide in addition to a suicide attempt. Joshua touched on the lack of resources and the challenges of discharging from the military. 

After some cha...

Thank you to Trevor Ellis for joining T.O.C.'s Podcast! Trevor was a U.S. Marine for 10 years where he spent 6 years flying the MV-22 Osprey and did two combat deployments. After flying the Osprey, Trevor found himself working with the grunts on the ground. 

Trevor touches on the challenges of seeking mental health assistance while being. pilot, losing two fellow Marines to suicide, the fun and dangers of flying the MV-22 Ospre...

Thanks to Nick Abeyta for joining T.O.C.'s Podcast. Nick and Greg met in Camp Fuji, Japan, while on their deployment with 2nd Battalion 23rd Marines. Thankfully, they were able to stay in contact and Nick wanted to share about the challenges he and his wife faced during his deployment overseas after recently being married and his feedback on ketamine assisted therapy. 

Nick talks about the challenges of being deployed overseas ...

Very excited to get Nick McCarthy on the podcast. Nick and Greg worked together for about 10 years and have some great memories together. Nick shares his journey of joining Law Enforcement with his sole goal of becoming a Canine Handler. Once Nick and K9 Tyke just started to mesh well together and were ready for a great career together, one suspicious occupied vehicle check resulted in an Officer Involved Shooting. Nick was shot in...

In this first time ever solo episode, Greg opens up about the emotional weight that comes when tragedy strikes within our own ranks - when a line of duty death and/or critical incident hits close to home. These moments bring a unique kind of grief, stress, anxiety, and emotional turmoil that many in our community face, but few talk about. 

This episode is a raw and honest reminder that it's okay to not always be okay and to rea...

We are excited to announce The Overwatch Collective's Therapy Assistance Program is officially re-opened! After being paused for several months to due fundraising challenges, T.O.C. is back up and running after receiving some amazing donations. 

In this podcast episode, T.O.C.'s vey own Cheryl Coulter and Kamryn Coulter provide a brief update regarding our Therapy Assistance Program. 

T.O.C.’s Therapy Assistance Program is ...

Thank you to Cyrus for joining T.O.C.'s Podcast via zoom from Colorado! Cyrus is currently an active duty U.S. Army Soldier and in the process of getting out due to medical reasons. Cyrus touches on the lack of resources out there for our veteran community, why we are seeing so many suicides, and what we can do to combat this huge problem.

Cyrus also talks about Till Zero Coffee Company and some exciting events coming up in 202...

A huge thank you to Sara Wilkinson and the team from The Step Up Foundation for donating $25,000 to The Overwatch Collective. Step Up Foundation has donated over $300,000 to various organizations that are working hard to combat veteran suicide. 

Listen to this quick 20 minute episode as Instagram Live failed us! Sara gives us a brief summary how Step Up Foundation was created and the mission behind the amazing organization. 

Sup...

A huge thank you to Captain Sepulveda with the Pasadena Fire Department for joining T.O.C.'s podcast to share his accounts of the Eaton fire in Southern California. 

Captain Sepulveda shares how he prepared for the biggest fire he's been involved in while his wife and children were home not knowing if they would need to evacuate or not. In addition, he shared what it was like being a Captain with four firefighters under hi...

Finally got Clyde on the podcast to talk about his career thus far as a fire fighter and the "why" behind starting the Rust & Iron Clothing Company. 

Rust & Iron Clothing Company is a lifestyle brand founded by Clyde to give back to our first responder community. Proceeds from all merchandise sales are donated to The Overwatch Collective to go directly towards therapy sessions. Since our partnership start...

Thank you to Bee Galindo for joining T.O.C.'s Podcast to discuss her 35+ year career as a paramedic, the stressful process of her worker's comp claim, and advice for our first responder community. 

Listen in as Bee shared the stigma of mental health from the beginning of her career to where we are today as a community. Like most, Bee was a master at hiding her true feelings and wearing a "mask". That ma...

A huge thank you to Maggie & Erik from 809 Fight 4 Awareness for the amazing work they do in raising awareness for mental health amongst our first responder community. On top of being members of the Board of Directors, Maggie is an Associate Marriage & Family Therapist contracted w/ T.O.C. while Erik is an active Fire Fighter/Paramedic in Southern California. 

This podcast debrief's 809 Fight 4 Awareness'...

For the first time, The Overwatch Collective Podcast had a First Responder on the podcast with their T.O.C. therapist! A huge thank you to Tony and Tiffany for joining the podcast and giving the audience a unique episode to listen to and to benefit from. 

Tony medically retired as an Operations Battalion Chief from the City of Daly City in Northern California after 35 years of service after getting hired at 22 years of age...