Beneath The Helmet Show - Firefighter Wellness & Mental Health (mind-body-spirit)

About Beneath The Helmet Show - Firefighter Wellness & Mental Health (mind-body-spirit)

Firefighter mental health, burnout, PTSD recovery, and leadership -- this is where those conversations live. Beneath the Helmet is hosted by retired Fire Chief Arjuna George -- certified executive coach, TRE practitioner, and author of Burnt Around the Edges -- with 24 years inside the fire service. Every episode goes deep on what it actually costs to do this job, and what it takes to heal, lead, and thrive inside it. Topics include operational stress injury, moral injury, nervous system health, peer support, fire service leadership, firefighter family life, and recovery.

Publisher

Arjuna George - Silver Arrow Coaching

Category

health & fitness

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

8 Mar 2023

Latest episode

21 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

125 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   21 Oct 2026

   Fire Chief Burnout: The Hidden Cost of Command | Dr. Will Anderson

   What happens when the person responsible for everyone else begins to run out of capacity? In Episode 123 of Beneath the Helmet, Arjuna George sits down with Dr. Will Anderson, a fire service leader, educator and researcher whose doctoral work examined burnout among fire chiefs. Their conversation moves beyond the familiar idea that burnout is simply “too much work” and into the realities of command: personnel conflict, governance pressure, isolation, family strain, identity, moral injury and the difficulty of mentally leaving the job. Will shares findings from 43 fire chiefs, including how often some reported feeling burned out, how many felt the job had become more demanding, and how commonly work problems followed them into the first and last moments of the day. He also reflects on his own two-year break from the fire service and what he is doing differently after returning as a chief. This is a conversation for chiefs, aspiring chiefs, officers, firefighters and the families who live alongside the job. It asks an important question: how do we lead well without losing ourselves in the process? Five Key Takeaways Burnout can become background noise. In Will’s study, 55% of 43 participants reported feeling burned out once a week, a few times a week or every day. The modern chief role follows people home. Almost 90% said the job was more demanding than when they took over, while roughly 84% thought about work problems when waking and 80% when going to bed. The pressure is not only emergency trauma. Personnel issues, governance, competing expectations, visibility and the inability to detach can steadily drain a leader’s capacity. Isolation is a leadership risk. Participants commonly recommended support staff, an assistant chief, peer networks and stronger self-awareness before stepping into the role. A healthier second chapter requires boundaries. Will describes protecting evenings, using time off, staying connected to family and remembering that being a husband and father comes before the title of fire chief.

2. 

   21 Oct 2026

   AI, Leadership & Capacity in the Fire Service | Peter Younes

   The modern fire service keeps adding responsibilities, technology, programs, and expectations. But what happens when we keep adding capability without increasing capacity? In Episode 122 of Beneath the Helmet, Arjuna sits down with fire captain, paramedic, author, project management professional, and Project Command Podcast host Peter Younes for a practical conversation about leadership, project management, artificial intelligence, and the growing complexity of the fire service. Peter explains why many fire officers are being asked to manage multimillion-dollar projects and increasingly complex organizations without the training normally provided to leaders doing comparable work outside the fire service. The conversation then turns to AI. Rather than viewing it as a replacement for people, Peter sees an opportunity to use AI as a force multiplier for administrative work, learning, data analysis, planning, document creation, and problem-solving. But there is an important warning: if technology gives leaders ten hours back, filling those ten hours with more work misses the opportunity. Use some of that capacity to lead. Spend time in the stations. Talk with your people. Think strategically. Build relationships. Create some margin. Arjuna and Peter also explore change fatigue, what Peter calls the “proficiency tax,” responsible AI governance, protecting sensitive information, human accountability, mentorship, public trust, and why technology should never replace the human side of the fire service. This is a conversation about using better tools without losing sight of what leadership is ultimately for: people.

3. 

   7 Oct 2026

   Presence, Ambiguous Loss & the Mental Mayday | CJ Dickinson

   What does it mean to be present when you are physically there, but part of you is still carrying the last call, the last shift or years of accumulated stress? In EP121 of Beneath the Helmet, Arjuna George sits down with firefighter, former battalion chief, mental wellness advocate and coach CJ Dickinson for a conversation about presence, ambiguous loss, leadership, family and coaching in the fire service. CJ shares his own experience of recognizing that he could show up physically for the people he loved while still being psychologically somewhere else. The conversation explores ambiguous loss, the value of naming what we are experiencing, the tactical pause between work and home, listening beyond the words “I’m good,” and why leaders need to know the people behind the uniform. CJ also introduces his C.A.N. Framework, a fire-service-informed coaching model built around Clarity, Actions and Next Steps. This episode is not about having all the answers. It is about noticing what is happening beneath the surface, asking better questions and becoming more intentional about how we show up at work and at home. Buy CJ's Journal CLARITY. ACTIONS. NEXT STEPS.: A DAILY COACHING AND REFLECTION JOURNAL (https://amzn.to/4dYuJt3)Buy Arjuna's Book Burnt Around the Edges: A Guide to Mastering Stress and Surviving Burnout (https://link.amazon/B09iKU9gU)

Who has been a guest on Beneath The Helmet Show - Firefighter Wellness & Mental Health (mind-body-spirit)

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Iris Waichler
• Matt Cooper
• Frank Viscuso
• Flip Griffin
• Dr Marc Wysocki

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

YouTube views

792,377

Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

4 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

4 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 77 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

90

Social presence

0

YouTube

93

Engagement

68

Contact Beneath The Helmet Show - Firefighter Wellness & Mental Health (mind-body-spirit)

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

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