Two lives, one nervous system.

The dual life is its own stressor

Guard and Reserve members occupy a strange middle ground. You are military, but you live in the civilian world. Your coworkers may not know what a drill weekend costs you. Your unit sees you for a fraction of the month. You can be activated into something serious and then be back at your desk on Monday with nobody to talk to who understands what just happened.

Zandria Hooks, LCSW currently serves in the National Guard as a mental health provider and is prior active duty. She is not guessing at what a drill schedule does to a family calendar, or at how quickly a domestic activation can turn into something you did not expect to be part of.

What comes up

Trauma and post-traumatic stress, including from activations, prior active duty service, and civilian work that happens to be dangerous in its own right, since a large share of Guard and Reserve members are also police, fire, EMS or medical staff. Cumulative stress from switching identities every few weeks. Sleep that never quite normalises. Anxiety about employment, promotion or the awkward conversation with an employer about time away. Guilt in both directions, toward the unit when civilian life takes priority and toward the family when the military does.

There is also the resource gap. Access to military behavioral health support is not uniform across statuses and situations, and plenty of people fall through it. Private telehealth is one of the ways around that.

The approach

Zandria is EMDR trained and CPT certified. For post-traumatic stress, CPT works on the beliefs that trauma installs and EMDR works on memories that still fire in the present without requiring you to narrate the event. For sleep, anxiety, low mood and the practical business of managing two demanding roles, the work is CBT-based and skills-forward.

Sessions are 50 minutes, by appointment, with evenings available. Telehealth means a drill weekend or a work trip within your licensed state does not automatically cost you a session, and there is no drive across a metro area at rush hour to get to a waiting room.

A note on continuity

Because sessions require you to be physically in Texas, Maryland or Massachusetts, an activation or a work assignment that takes you elsewhere means care pauses or transfers. That is a licensure rule, not a preference, and it is better to plan for it in advance than to discover it the week it happens. Bring your travel and drill schedule to the consult and we will build around it where we can.

Where to start

A free 15-minute consult is the first step, and it is a fit conversation with no pressure attached. Ask what you want to ask, including the practical questions about confidentiality, cost and scheduling. Get in touch, read about insurance and EAP, see what the first session involves, or book directly on Headway.

In crisis or thinking about harming yourself? This site is not for emergencies. Call or text 988, or dial 911. Veterans: press 1 after calling 988.