Peer Support Interview with Sequoia Etcheverry

This week we are doing things a little differently. Instead of interviewing an expert, the expert is interviewing Chelsi  + Audra about a critical incident that they experienced several years ago during The Valley Fire in Middletown, California.

**This episode was pre recorded a few weeks ago during the 2020 California Lightning fires and may make reference to the 2020 fire season. Thoughts and opinions in this episode are personal in nature and do not represent any specific fire agency. This is a personal account of a traumatic incident was experienced while their husbands were assigned to the fire.

In this episode, we are being interviewed by Sequoia Etcheverry.  Sequoia is the significant other of a Cal Fire firefighter for over 11 years. She has survived the long fire season deployments, the promotions and career changes, the missed holidays and celebrations, the shift work that makes for both exciting reunions and sometimes difficult ones too. She has enjoyed deeply learning about the ups and downs of her partner’s career, both operationally and emotionally, and is especially proud of the positive influence he has on the world day to day. She helped raise her partners two incredible daughters, who are now 16 and 22 years old.

Sequoia works in the field of first responder trauma as a research assistant and as a peer supporter, especially for first responder families. She has trained clinicians in cultural competence and has been deployed to a number of major incidents in the past 5 years. She has her master’s degree in Depth Psychology, the study of the unconscious, with a focus in trauma, dream work, mythology, and deep nature connection. She is training to become a practitioner in a specialized clinical treatment for Complex-PTSD, which is concerned not only with critical incident acute stress, but also developmental and relational trauma.

At any time during this episode if you are feeling an emotional response, it is okay to either pause or turn it off completely.  You may want to make sure to be in a place that you feel safe and secure, surrounded by a calming atmosphere and reach out for support from us or your peers if needed. We can be reached through instagram messenger @dearchiefspodcast or email: [email protected]