Join Sean McCallum, Erin, and Cinnamon as they discuss trauma in first responders in the After The Tones Drop Podcast part 1.
Deeply committed to First Responder mental health and from the State of Ohio, USA, Erin and Cinnamon are two amazing ladies doing a fantastic job. You can find their podcast on various platforms, and they have some amazing and insightful guests, such as William Young, Corrections Officer, and more. We’ll leave the introduction below to Erin & Cinnamon, what a pleasure it was to meet them and record this podcast, the first half of our discussion on Trauma in First Response.
Mind Over Madness – Part 1
“Get buckled up because this episode is a big one. We’re kicking off a two-part series with the one and only Sean McCallum, and let’s just say—this guy gets it.
Sean isn’t your average firefighter. Sure, he’s spent 22+ years in the fire service and serves as an operational watch manager with the Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service in the UK. But beyond that? He’s a veteran, crisis intervention specialist, trauma consultant, and children’s author who’s developed innovative mental health frameworks like the Crisis Psychological First Aid Model and the COPE Stress Management Model (aka the CPR for Stress). Oh, and he also wrote The Joy Thief, a book teaching kids about trauma—because he’s just that next-level.
We knew this conversation was going to be good. We didn’t know we’d be sitting there with our jaws on the floor half the time. Sean breaks down the concept of identity transition—why it’s crucial for first responders to shift from work mode to home mode if they want to keep their relationships (and their sanity) intact. He also delivers a mic-drop moment on trauma, explaining that it’s not actually about the event itself—it’s about the intention you couldn’t fulfill in that moment. Let that one sink in.
We also dive into his COPE Stress Management Model, which gives first responders practical steps to manage stress before, during, and after a critical incident. And we can’t forget The Joy Thief—the book he wrote to help kids understand trauma, inspired by his own daughters and their innocent but wildly insightful view on emotions.
Somewhere in the middle of all this, we also get a crash course in British slang, a deep dive into the psychology of trauma, and the realization that we’re all just trying to complete unfinished business from our past. No big deal.
If you’ve ever felt stuck in your trauma, lost without your job title, or like you’re still trying to “fix” something from 10 years ago, this episode is for you. And if you’re a firefighter, cop, medic, dispatcher, or literally anyone trying to balance who you are at work vs. who you are at home, you’re about to get some serious perspective shifts”.
Please join Erin and Cinnamon and follow them on the After The Tones Drop Podcast!
