Anthony-Thompson, Intern

About Anthony

Anthony Thompson is a Clinical Counseling and Mental Health Intern at Olive Tree, with a focus on First Responders and First Responder Couples. Before entering the counseling field, he spent nearly two decades as a State Trooper with the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, a career that started at the Wilmington Police Department and took him from community policing in his hometown of King, NC to a mounted patrol unit in Muskogee, Oklahoma.

That time in law enforcement shaped how he sees people under pressure, and it's a big part of why he does this work now.

Crisis Work & Peer Support

During his tenure with the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, Anthony served with the Honor Guard and the Officer Assistance Program and completed extensive training with the International Critical Incident Stress Foundation. He holds certifications as an Approved Instructor for Assisting Individuals in Crisis and Group Crisis Intervention. He has also supported families affected by line-of-duty loss through his involvement with Police Survivors concerns and the Support Services at National Police Week in Washington, DC.

For several years he has provided PEER support and training to first responders and their families, and currently serves as an instructor for Blu Phoenix, a PEER team building and development company through Magnus One that works with high-stress career agencies.

In the Room

Anthony's clinical approach draws from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Somatic Therapy, mindfulness, and animal-assisted therapeutic approaches. He brings a lived understanding of first responder culture to his sessions, the kind that's hard to teach in a classroom and harder to fake in a room with someone who's been there.