Career Fire Service Leader and Debut Author Shares His BRAVE Formula for Growing Beyond Trauma

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Fire service leader Rob Z Christensen debuts BRAVE, a practical guide to healing from trauma and building resilience through courage, vulnerability, and empathy

DES MOINES, ID, UNITED STATES, October 13, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- After more than three decades in the fire service, Captain Rob Z Christensen has answered thousands of 911 calls, pulled multiple people from burning buildings and irrigation canals, and witnessed countless civilians’ worst possible days. But one routine emergency call forced him to confront a crisis of his own.

Six years into his career, while standing by as his captain performed CPR on an elderly man, Rob suddenly found himself unable to move or speak. His captain’s advice back at the firehouse—“That call last week. You need to go talk to somebody.”—set him on a decades-long journey of healing and ultimately led him to become a mental health advocate for first responders and others navigating trauma.

Now, Rob is sharing what he learned in his debut solo book, BRAVE: Rise Stronger After Life’s Hardest Moments, publishing October 13, 2026 with Ballast Books.

Part memoir and part practical guide to post-traumatic growth, BRAVE  transforms Rob’s experiences with intergenerational and occupational trauma into a five-part framework centered on the virtues of bravery, resilience, authenticity, vulnerability, and empathy. The book combines personal stories with cognitive and somatic techniques designed to help readers move through adversity and build a stronger, more authentic life.

Rob’s story has already reached audiences beyond the fire service. Pivotal stages of his recovery journey were featured in the 2024 short film An Act of Service, which appeared in The New York Times Op-Docs.

While BRAVE grew from Rob’s experiences as a firefighter, its message is intended for anyone who has faced profound psychological trauma—stemming from violence, loss, betrayal, illness, divorce, exposure to the suffering of others, or the accumulated wounds of life.

Rob sees BRAVE as the beginning of a broader mission. He wrote Live BRAVE for Kids, designed to help families talk openly about mental health and give children tools to process emotions proactively. A companion workbook and online personal transformation network are also being developed.

About the Author:
Captain Rob Z Christensen’s career as a wildland and structural firefighter/EMT has spanned more than thirty years. Off duty, he serves as a peer support facilitator and a mindset/performance coach for clients across the US. His experience undergoing advanced treatment for PTSD was captured by director Brandon Kapelow in the short documentary An Act of Service (2024) and in the feature-length film Under Fire (2026). An Act of Service has since grown into Under Fire, a feature-length documentary directed by Brandon Kapelow and executive produced by Riley Keough and Clay Tweel, which will have its world premiere at DOC NYC in New York on November 12, 2026. Rob is a sought-after speaker who teaches audiences from first responders to corporate leaders that asking for help isn’t weakness—it’s BRAVE.

For more information, please contact:
Jillien Eijckelhof at connect@livebravetoday.com

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About Ballast Books:
Ballast Books is an independent publisher specializing in compelling nonfiction, memoirs, investigative works, and impactful stories that challenge prevailing narratives. Based in West Palm Beach, Florida, Ballast is committed to elevating voices with something to say—and the courage to say it.

Sarah De Vos
Ballast Books
sarah@ballastbooks.com
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