This will be a live interactive webinar presentation. If you are unable to attend the live webinar, you will be able to view the recorded webinar for up to three days after, but you must be registered to view the recorded version.
About this Event:
Presented by 1st Responder Conferences.
Presentation Title: Married with PTSD
Description of the Presentation: This presentation will bring light to the daily struggles of a married couple dealing with a veteran spouse who suffers from severe post-traumatic stress disorder. Meg Hawkins and Eric Provow, both first responders, have been married for over 5 years. When they met, Eric had been retired from the military for over seven years. In 2017, Eric almost completed suicide and that experience rocked and changed their lives forever. Eric shares about his childhood, time in the military, and living with PTSD. Meg touches on how the wellbeing of spouses, significant others, and caregivers of veterans and first responders are greatly affected by their partner’s mental health. Their mental health is often overlooked and cannot be forgotten. Meg and Eric now share their stories to help others know that “it’s ok to not be ok” and seeking help is not a weakness but a strength. They discuss the various therapies, treatments, and self-care practices that have helped them through some of their darkest days and continue to have a strong marriage.
Target Audience:This Public Presentation is open to anyone with an interest in the subject matter. This webinar is particularly aimed for all 1st Responders and their families, Police, Fire, EMS, Dispatchers, Military/Veterans, Corrections, Coroners, Chaplains, Retired 1st Responders, Professional Staff, Clinicians and Health Professionals and those who work in helping professions who work with others.
About the Speaker: Meg is the proud wife of a combat veteran who lives with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). She is currently a police officer with 15 years of law enforcement experience. In January 2017, she almost lost her husband, Eric, to Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and suicide. That experience and struggle rocked their worlds and changed their life’s mission. They now share their stories to help others know that “it’s ok to not be ok” and seeking help is not a weakness but a strength.
Although she has lived with anxiety and depression since her late teenage years, her symptoms severely worsened in early 2019. She was diagnosed with moderate PTSD from the traumatic night when her husband went missing and was suicidal. She has completed Prolonged Exposure (PE) and is currently in Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) to help with her mental health.
Many times, the wellbeing of spouses or significant others of veterans and first responders are forgotten about. Their mental health cannot be forgotten or overlooked. We battle alongside our partners and are extremely affected by their mental health. We are the Silent Warriors.
In 2018, Meg, along with her husband Eric Provow, founded the nonprofit organization Making Everything Good (M.E.G.) to assist and support the needs of individuals, families, and organizations associated with public safety, military, veterans, and their local community.
Eric is a retired combat veteran with 20 years of military service split between the Marine Corps and Air Force. As a Marine, he was assigned to Reconnaissance and Force Reconnaissance units. In the Air Force, Eric was a Combat Controller assigned to Air Force Special Operations Command. He then went onto serve with the premier units within the Joint Special Operations Command. During his military career Eric was deployed on numerous contingency operations and did three combat tours to Afghanistan and Iraq. During his second tour to Afghanistan in 2002 Eric was involved in a firefight that left mental scars and left him suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).