Beneath The Helmet Show - Firefighter Wellness & Mental Health (mind-body-spirit)
Welcome to Beneath the Helmet, a podcast about firefighter well-being and everything beneath the helmet. Join our host, retired Fire Chief Arjuna George, as he interviews firefighters, leaders, and experts on the topics of mental health, physical health, and spiritual health, always with a lens of leadership and self-development. Our goal is to take a holistic approach to understand what it takes for firefighters not just to survive, but to thrive in their careers.
Episodes
Unlocking the Vagus Nerve: Engineering Self-Healing for Trauma and Stress
In Episode 103 of Beneath the Helmet, Arjuna sits down with Chris Duquemin — mechanical engineer turned bodyworker, founder of New Vision Therapy (NVT), and author of The Body Engineer.
After suffering 10 years of chronic shoulder pain that conventional medicine could not diagnose, Chris began exploring the mechanics of the central nervous system. What he disco...
Psychedelics and First Responder Mental Health: A Fire Chief’s Journey | Beneath the Helmet Ep. 102
In Episode 102 of Beneath the Helmet, I sit down with retired Battalion Chief Matt Thierfelder to have an honest conversation about burnout, hypervigilance, retirement, and exploring psychedelic-assisted therapies.
After more than 30 years in the fire service, Matt reached the minimum retirement age of 53 and found himself facing somet...
From Fireground to Research: Annette Zapp on Translating Science into Firefighter Wellness
In Season 4, Episode 101 of Beneath the Helmet, retired fire officer and Fire Rescue Wellness founder Annette Zapp (known as AZ) joins Arjuna George to explore how science can and must be translated into real-world tools for firefighters. This conversation covers sleep, training, hormones, recovery, creatine, and why consistency beats extremes...
The George Family Beneath the Helmet: A Proud, Proud Look at Fire Service Family Life
Season 4 • Episode 100
This milestone episode of Beneath the Helmet is unlike any other.
For the Season 4 opener and 100th episode, Arjuna George sits down with the people who lived the fire service alongside him every day. His family.
In this deeply personal conversation, Arjuna’s wife of over 30 years, Cathy, and their two adult children, Billy ...
Season Three Reflections: Leadership, Resilience, and the Human Side of the Fire Service Beneath the Helmet – Episode 99
Season Three comes to a close with a powerful reflection on leadership, resilience, wellness, and the human cost of serving in the fire service.
In this milestone Episode 99, host Retired Fire Chief Arjuna George looks back on conversations from Episodes 72 through 98. Firefighters, clinicians, researchers, and lea...
In this episode, Taking a Knee: A Fire Captain’s Journey Back to Self, Captain Michael Sears joins host Arjuna George for a raw conversation about operational stress, moral injury, identity, and what it truly takes to find your way back after years in the fire service.
Michael shares his experience navigating occupational stress injury, stepping away from the job, and learning how to reconnect with his body, his values, and his sens...
In Episode 97 of Beneath the Helmet, Arjuna George sits down with psychiatrist Dr. Hector Rodriguez, founder of White Butterfly Clinic, for a grounded conversation on healing the soul through psychiatry, trauma awareness, and human connection.
Dr. Rodriguez shares how trauma patterns show up in the brain, why emotional intelligence is neurological and trainable, and how curiosity, lifestyle, and connection support healing. This epis...
Moral Injury in First Responders: Understanding the Hidden Wound. In this powerful conversation, Dr. Lorraine Smith McDonald joins host Arjuna George to break open one of the most misunderstood wounds in public safety, moral injury. Dr. McDonald is an Assistant Professor and Co-Chair in the Department of Psychotherapy and Spirituality at St. Stephen's College, University of Alberta. She has spent more than a decade researching ...
What if your brain could tell you how close you are to burnout long before you ever feel the symptoms? In this conversation, neuroscientist Dr. Nolan Beise shares how cognitive resilience technology is helping firefighters understand their brain health, prevent Operational Stress Injury, and build long-term resilience.
Dr. Beise is the co-founder of Circl, a neurotechnology company measuring real-time brain performance. Using EEG-ba...
Firefighter Recovery: The Truth About CBD and First Responder Wellness. What happens when a firefighter takes recovery into their own hands?
The discussion covers the science behind CBD, its impact on sleep, inflammation, and anxiety, and the challenges of drug testing in the fire service. Tune in to learn how CBD can be a game-changer for firefighters and the importance of being proactive about cannabis policies in fire departments...
What if everything you’ve been told about trauma is missing the most critical piece, the body?
In this episode of Beneath the Helmet, retired Fire Chief and Executive Coach Arjuna George sits down with Doug Allen, a combat veteran turned trauma therapist, to explore why trauma isn’t a thinking problem—it’s a nervous system problem.
Doug’s story is raw, powerful, and eye-opening. From the battlefields of Afghanistan to the therapy roo...
Leadership doesn’t start with a badge; it starts with self-awareness. In this powerful episode of Beneath the Helmet, retired Fire Chief and coach Arjuna George sits down with Marc Hill—a teacher turned firefighter, chief, author, and coach—to explore what real leadership looks like inside the fire station walls.
From the classroom to command, Marc shares hard-won lessons on patience, politics, and personal growth. His honesty about...
Building Resilient First Responders: Dr. Stephanie Conn on Peer Support, Hope, and Mental HealthFirst responders face unique challenges that test their minds, bodies, and relationships every single day. In this powerful episode of Beneath the Helmet, retired Fire Chief and coach Arjuna George sits down with Dr. Stephanie Conn, a licensed psychologist, former police officer, and author of Increasing Resilience in Police and Emergenc...
Unseen Battles: Firefighter Tommy Bolin on Trauma, Recovery & Resilience. Join host Arjuna George as he sits down with firefighter and author Tommy Bolin in this powerful episode of 'Beneath the Helmet.' Tommy shares his 30-year journey in the fire service, his struggles with mental health, and how he overcame them. From his suicide attempt to finding hope and writing his book 'Unseen Battles,' Tommy offers inva...
In this powerful episode of Beneath the Helmet, retired Fire Chief and coach Arjuna George sits down with Vance Row of Yoga Rescue, a former police officer who turned his life around through yoga, sobriety, and a deep commitment to wellness.
Vance opens up about his journey from law enforcement into teaching yoga, the struggles with alcohol and mental health that nearly ended his career, and how discovering yoga became the lifeline ...
From the Ashes: Justin Champion on Trauma, Recovery, and Mental Health in the Fire Service
Overcoming PTSD: A Firefighter's Journey - Beneath the Helmet Season 3
What happens when a firefighter who’s always been the one saving others finds himself in need of rescue? In this compelling episode of Beneath the Helmet, retired Fire Chief Arjuna George speaks with Justin Champion—a veteran, firefighter, and founder of From the Ashes—w...
Harnessing AI: Revolutionizing Firefighter Wellness and Training. Wellness & Burnout Prevention with guest Justin Brunner.
In this episode of Beneath the Helmet, retired Fire Chief Arjuna George sits down with firefighter, professor, and tech innovator Justin Brunner to explore how artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming the fire service.
Discover how AI tools are helping fire departments reduce firefighter burnout, stre...
From Great to Magnus: Dr. Terry Anderson on Unlocking Competency-Based Leadership for First Responders
What does it take to move from being a good leader to becoming a truly Magnus leader, one who inspires lasting change?
In this powerful episode of Beneath the Helmet, retired criminologist, author, and leadership coach Dr. Terry Anderson shares over five decades of experience in competency-based leadership for firefighters, police, ...
What happens when the Officer of the Year becomes the one in crisis?
In this powerful episode of Beneath the Helmet, Arjuna George sits down with AK Dozanti, a former deputy sheriff turned burnout recovery coach and author of Beat the Burnout. AK opens up about her personal spiral into depression, Operational Stress Injury, adrenal fatigue, and how the pressure to perform led to a complete system collapse.
They explore why burnout is...
When firefighter Ricky Nuttall walked into the Grenfell Tower blaze, he had no idea itwould mark the beginning of a new life one forged through trauma, guilt,poetry, and purpose.
In this unforgettable episode of Beneath the Helmet, Ricky shares his raw and deeply personal account ofresponding to one of the UK’s most catastrophic fires. But what unfolds is morethan a fireground stor, it’s a journey into the aftermath: operationalstr...
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