“My husband is a first responder. One night during training, he was riding with a police officer when they received a call of an active shooter and pursued it. My husband walked away from that scene as a different man. He was always outgoing and a jokester. Shortly after coming home that morning, I started to notice changes in his behavior. He shut down on me and his family. Little did I know at the time that he saw his peers’ lives and his own flashing before him that night as they were actively being shot at. He witnessed glass bursting from patrol cars, for the shooter was just feet from him.
After that event, he became overwhelmed at minor things and was very quiet. He wasn’t laughing anymore. He was angry most of the time, and when I was able to get through to him with a conversation, he would deflect or become upset. Our marriage was on the outs.
He began an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) therapy, but that only covered the cost of three sessions. After that he sought other counseling with a state-run facility. Ultimately, the costs were getting too high, and he had to leave therapy altogether.
After a series of unfortunate events, which nearly cost us our marriage and home, he reached out to his first and favorite therapist again. The therapist then referred him to Provident, where he received the Mental Stress Management Benefit to help him pay for the services at no charge to us.
Today, he is smiling again. If it hadn’t been for Provident and his therapist, I don’t think I would be able to sit across from him, in our home, at our dinner table, while writing this testimony.
Thank you to all the amazing and generous people at Provident. You may not see the benefits of your daily work, but I certainly do, as does my family. Thank you again for your generosity and blessing you have given me and my family. You have helped give back my husband and our children their father.”