New technology, online communication and a wireless culture have changed the way we interact with one another, but the stress and speed of our modern lifestyle has some drawbacks. We wear ourselves thin trying to keep up and often don’t have time to relax, so our mental and physical health suffers. In addition to the daily pressures we all feel, first responders often have the added burden of trauma to deal with due to the nature of their job, making it even harder to cope. Some turn to alcohol or substance use to deal with the post-traumatic stress, but this is a temporary escape at best, with the potential to develop into an all-consuming addiction. When this happens, it isn’t always easy or possible to put your life on hold to seek help.
To keep up with the changing and dynamic needs of our clients, First Responder Wellness now offers an online intensive outpatient program (IOP). Advances in technology allow us to provide effective, patient-centered care that connects individuals to their wellness team remotely, with online therapy sessions, mental health treatment, chemical dependency education, sober support and more. Our Online IOP is a convenient wellness solution that allows you to get the help you need from the comfort of your home, without sacrificing quality or results.
There are a variety of reasons why an individual might not be able to attend a traditional IOP or residential program, and an online option allows these patients to receive the care they need despite their circumstances. If you cannot commit to on-site care, are unable to travel for treatment, or can’t leave your job and family, our team may recommend an Online IOP so you can begin your wellness and recovery journey. It may also be recommended if you have recently transitioned out of a higher level of care but would still benefit from supportive, ongoing treatment.
At First Responder Wellness, we recognize that there is no one “right” path to recovery and strive to offer a variety of flexible programming options. Our Online IOP caters to clients with a diverse range of needs to ensure that each individual can heal in a way that works for them.
The Online IOP at First Responder Wellness utilizes HIPAA compliant video chat software and an online group therapy platform to help patients explore their mental health, alcohol, and substance use-related issues. Solo sessions are also available so patients can connect with their therapist and work toward building a strong foundation for lasting wellness and recovery.
With three weekly logins, attendance and accountability are emphasized and your progress will be tracked throughout the program. Designed specifically for first responders and their families, Online IOP can help you confront your mental health, alcohol, or substance use and develop healthier coping skills that will allow you to return to your life with your sobriety intact.
If you or a loved one is a first responder struggling with mental and behavioral health concerns, First Responder Wellness is here to help. Our clients receive treatment with our culturally competent treatment team. Contact us today or call 888-443-4898 to learn more about our programs so you can start a journey to a happy and healthy life.
First Responder Wellness
We firmly believe that the internet should be available and accessible to anyone, and are committed to providing a website that is accessible to the widest possible audience, regardless of circumstance and ability.
To fulfill this, we aim to adhere as strictly as possible to the World Wide Web Consortium’s (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 (WCAG 2.1) at the AA level. These guidelines explain how to make web content accessible to people with a wide array of disabilities. Complying with those guidelines helps us ensure that the website is accessible to all people: blind people, people with motor impairments, visual impairment, cognitive disabilities, and more.
This website utilizes various technologies that are meant to make it as accessible as possible at all times. We utilize an accessibility interface that allows persons with specific disabilities to adjust the website’s UI (user interface) and design it to their personal needs.
Additionally, the website utilizes an AI-based application that runs in the background and optimizes its accessibility level constantly. This application remediates the website’s HTML, adapts Its functionality and behavior for screen-readers used by the blind users, and for keyboard functions used by individuals with motor impairments.
If you’ve found a malfunction or have ideas for improvement, we’ll be happy to hear from you. You can reach out to the website’s operators by using the following email
Our website implements the ARIA attributes (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) technique, alongside various different behavioral changes, to ensure blind users visiting with screen-readers are able to read, comprehend, and enjoy the website’s functions. As soon as a user with a screen-reader enters your site, they immediately receive a prompt to enter the Screen-Reader Profile so they can browse and operate your site effectively. Here’s how our website covers some of the most important screen-reader requirements, alongside console screenshots of code examples:
Screen-reader optimization: we run a background process that learns the website’s components from top to bottom, to ensure ongoing compliance even when updating the website. In this process, we provide screen-readers with meaningful data using the ARIA set of attributes. For example, we provide accurate form labels; descriptions for actionable icons (social media icons, search icons, cart icons, etc.); validation guidance for form inputs; element roles such as buttons, menus, modal dialogues (popups), and others. Additionally, the background process scans all the website’s images and provides an accurate and meaningful image-object-recognition-based description as an ALT (alternate text) tag for images that are not described. It will also extract texts that are embedded within the image, using an OCR (optical character recognition) technology. To turn on screen-reader adjustments at any time, users need only to press the Alt+1 keyboard combination. Screen-reader users also get automatic announcements to turn the Screen-reader mode on as soon as they enter the website.
These adjustments are compatible with all popular screen readers, including JAWS and NVDA.
Keyboard navigation optimization: The background process also adjusts the website’s HTML, and adds various behaviors using JavaScript code to make the website operable by the keyboard. This includes the ability to navigate the website using the Tab and Shift+Tab keys, operate dropdowns with the arrow keys, close them with Esc, trigger buttons and links using the Enter key, navigate between radio and checkbox elements using the arrow keys, and fill them in with the Spacebar or Enter key.Additionally, keyboard users will find quick-navigation and content-skip menus, available at any time by clicking Alt+1, or as the first elements of the site while navigating with the keyboard. The background process also handles triggered popups by moving the keyboard focus towards them as soon as they appear, and not allow the focus drift outside it.
Users can also use shortcuts such as “M” (menus), “H” (headings), “F” (forms), “B” (buttons), and “G” (graphics) to jump to specific elements.
We aim to support the widest array of browsers and assistive technologies as possible, so our users can choose the best fitting tools for them, with as few limitations as possible. Therefore, we have worked very hard to be able to support all major systems that comprise over 95% of the user market share including Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, Opera and Microsoft Edge, JAWS and NVDA (screen readers).
Despite our very best efforts to allow anybody to adjust the website to their needs. There may still be pages or sections that are not fully accessible, are in the process of becoming accessible, or are lacking an adequate technological solution to make them accessible. Still, we are continually improving our accessibility, adding, updating and improving its options and features, and developing and adopting new technologies. All this is meant to reach the optimal level of accessibility, following technological advancements. For any assistance, please reach out to