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About
Trinda Martin
LPC · EMT-P · CCTP
Licensed Professional Counselor · EMT-Paramedic · Certified Clinical Trauma Professional. Before becoming a therapist, I spent 15 years in EMS, including 11 as a paramedic. That experience still shapes how I work: pay attention to what matters, understand what’s actually happening, and don’t keep doing something just because it’s what we’ve always done.
Trinda Martin, LPC, EMT-P, CCTP Therapist for more than a decade
The Why
Fifteen years in EMS.
EMS is a strange culture to explain if you haven’t lived it. You work in a fishbowl. People notice what you do on duty and off. Dark humor is normal, “I’m fine” could frequently use a second opinion, and being able to function doesn’t necessarily mean you’re doing well. I watched very competent people keep showing up and doing their jobs while struggling more than anyone around them would ever imagine. I wasn’t immune to burnout either.
I lost colleagues to suicide. At one point I found myself Googling symptoms I was seeing and came across PTSD. I hadn’t really heard of it before. The more I learned, the more things around me started to make sense and it changed the trajectory of my life. I became a therapist because I wanted to help people understand what was happening and build resilience they could actually feel in everyday life, not just hold themselves together through sheer will.
the logo
A search and rescue dog, with a mental health ribbon.
A search and rescue dog doesn’t judge how you got lost, doesn’t get angry that you ended up out there. They’re happy they found you and stay with you until you’re safe.
THE NAME
STATUS CHECK.
“Status Check” came from Steve VanHolstyn, a friend and EMS colleague. Thank you for the name, your friendship, and of course the numerous unforgettable memories from the years we worked together.
Love your guts.
The Practice
How the work comes together.
Practice basics
SERVING MICHIGAN. 100% TELEHEALTH.
The practice is 100% telehealth for adults anywhere in Michigan. Sessions are 53 minutes and private pay is $200. I’m in-network with Blue Cross Blue Shield, Blue Care Network, and Priority Health. Superbills are available for out-of-network benefits.
Clinical context
THE METHOD FITS THE PERSON.
I draw from EMDR, ART, Somatic Trauma Therapy, IFS-informed parts work, CBT, and other approaches depending on what fits. I also pay attention to things like sleep, stress response, nervous system regulation, and other factors that may be affecting how you’re functioning. If something isn’t helping, we adjust.
On Trauma
TRAUMA DOESN’T ALWAYS LOOK LIKE FALLING APART. SOMETIMES IT LOOKS LIKE HOLDING EVERYTHING TOGETHER.
Trauma isn’t defined by how someone looks from the outside. People can work, lead, take care of everyone else, crack jokes, make decisions under pressure, and still have a system that has gotten very good at staying ready. Being able to turn that response on when you need it is useful. The goal isn’t to eliminate the stress response. It’s being able to use it when you need it and settle again when you don’t. Sometimes that looks like irritability, trouble sleeping, overthinking, staying constantly busy, or never really being able to relax. Sometimes it looks like the opposite: getting so overwhelmed that you end up on the couch binge-watching Netflix because doing anything else feels like too much.
Not every difficult experience is trauma, and not every stress reaction is PTSD. Sometimes what’s happening is cumulative stress, burnout, grief, anxiety, operational stress, or a nervous system that has spent too long adapting to high demand. The distinction matters because the treatment should fit what’s actually happening.
Resilience isn’t about never being affected. It’s having the capacity to recover, adapt, and get back to your life without needing sheer willpower to hold everything together. Sometimes that means processing what happened. Sometimes it means building skills your nervous system never had a reason to learn before. Often it’s some of both.
A note on progress
Progress doesn’t always look dramatic. Sometimes it’s sleeping better, reacting less, recovering faster, or realizing you handled something differently than you would have before.
Continued Learning
THE DAY I THINK I KNOW IT ALL, I NEED TO QUIT.
As a medic, I believed the day I thought I knew it all was the day I became dangerous. I feel the same way about being a therapist. Becoming a therapist also meant doing my own work, and I intend to always be a work in progress. I continue to learn, seek out training, follow the research, and bring in what’s useful from trauma and neuroscience to sleep, gut-brain communication, and nervous system regulation.
Closing
I believe God gave us dogs to show us what love looks like.
Love, forgiveness, loyalty, compassion, and an abundance of grace.
Lexi was my perpetual 2 year-old with ADHD and an unexpected lesson in nervous system regulation. She taught me that dysregulation can be loud, funny, exhausting, and still improve with the right support. She also believed most problems could be fixed with a car ride and a pup cup.
Next Step
SEE IF WE’RE A GOOD FIT.
If something here sounds familiar, request a free 15-minute consult. No pressure. We just talk, you decide.
or voicemail · 616 · 920 · 0924