Veterans & Law Enforcement

For many veterans and law enforcement professionals, strength becomes a way of life.

 

You learn to stay composed when situations are chaotic. You learn to keep moving when others would stop. You learn to carry responsibility, make difficult decisions, and show up for others- even when you’re struggling yourself.

 

But carrying the weight of those experiences for years can come at a cost.

 

Behind the uniform, many people quietly battle anxiety, trauma, hypervigilance, depression, sleep difficulties, burnout, grief, guilt, relationship challenges, and the emotional toll that comes from repeatedly witnessing the hardest parts of humanity.

 

These struggles are often invisible to everyone else.

 

At Wild Ember Psychiatry & Therapy, we provide care for veterans and law enforcement professionals who are ready to stop carrying everything alone.

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Care That Respects Your Experience

 

You do not need to explain military culture.

 

You do not need to explain shift work, hypervigilance, critical incidents, or what it feels like to carry experiences that most people cannot relate to.

 

Our goal is not to judge your experiences or tell you how you should feel about them. Our goal is to help you understand how those experiences may be affecting your life today and develop a path forward that feels manageable, practical, and sustainable.

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Common Reasons Veterans and Officers Seek Care

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• PTSD and trauma-related symptoms

• Anxiety and chronic stress

• Hypervigilance

• Sleep difficulties

• Depression

• Burnout

• Anger and irritability

• Relationship challenges

• ADHD and executive functioning concerns

• Career transitions and retirement adjustment

• Military Sexual Trauma (MST)

• Emotional exhaustion and compassion fatigue

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A Whole-Person Approach

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Mental health is rarely caused by a single factor.

 

At Wild Ember, we take a comprehensive approach that looks beyond symptoms alone. We consider sleep, stress, trauma history, physical health, hormones, nutrition, lifestyle, and overall functioning when developing treatment recommendations.

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You Don’t Have to Earn Help

 

Many veterans and officers spend years convincing themselves that others have had it worse.

That they should be able to handle it.

That they just need to push through.

 

But healing is not reserved for those who have reached a breaking point.

Seeking support is not weakness. It is not failure. It is not giving up.

 

It is choosing to invest in yourself with the same commitment you have spent years giving to others.

You have carried enough.

 

You do not have to carry it alone.

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Our owner, Marc McDonnell, is a United States Marine Corps veteran and former law enforcement officer. Ashleigh McDonnell, PMHNP-BC and owner, is the daughter of two veterans and has spent her career working closely with service members, veterans, and first responders. This lived and professional experience informs the way care is delivered at Wild Ember.

 

We recognize that this population is often misunderstood, and that service-related experiences can present in complex, nuanced ways that require specialized clinical insight.

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Veterans

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As a service-connected disabled veteran, Marc brings lived understanding of the VA disability system and the ways service-related conditions can impact daily functioning over time. Through both personal and professional experience, Ashleigh and Marc understand the complexity of VA disability ratings and the importance of thorough, accurate psychiatric assessment.

 

Ashleigh has extensive experience and dedicates significant time to researching VA disability criteria to ensure evaluations, clinical documentation, and treatment planning are comprehensive, appropriate, and aligned with the needs of veterans seeking care related to service-connected mental health concerns.

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Law Enforcement

 

We also work closely with law enforcement officers navigating work-related mental health conditions, including those covered under the Craig Tiger Act, which recognizes the impact of service-related trauma in first responders and allows for access to workers’ compensation benefits for qualifying mental health conditions.

 

Our practice has experience supporting officers through:

 

• Psychiatric evaluation and diagnosis

• Treatment planning and stabilization

• Documentation for work-related mental health claims

• Coordination with systems such as workers’ compensation, FMLA, and long-term disability 

 

We understand the complexity of these processes, including medical separation considerations, functional impairment documentation, and the transition from employment-based roles into benefit-supported care when clinically necessary.

 

Ashleigh has extensive experience working with this population and understands the unique challenges involved in communication, trust-building, and navigating systems of care. Her approach is detail-oriented and clinically thorough, and she is often able to identify contributing factors or symptom patterns that may be overlooked within larger systems of care.

 

Evaluations and recommendations are grounded in clinical findings and focused on treatment planning, clarity, and appropriate documentation when clinically indicated.

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Priority Scheduling   

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We understand the shift work and odd schedules. We understand feeling stuck and having to wait for the VA to have a schedule opening. We will work with you to get an appointment that works with your schedule. If you receive service connected VA benefits, we are a VA preferred provider and you can use your benefits with us. Request a Community Cares Referral to Wild Ember and they will get you scheduled with us.

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We value the work and sacrifice of this population and offer priority scheduling. Appointments can be requested by emailing priority@wildemberpsych.com or by coordinating through your VA CCN Care Manager for scheduling assistance.​​​​

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Wild Ember Psychiatry & Therapy is an outpatient practice and does not provide forensic evaluations, legal opinions, or court-mandated services. Care is focused on clinical assessment, treatment, and ongoing psychiatric support.