JK Protocol
Leaving service is more than changing jobs
A structured ten-week one-to-one programme for people leaving the armed forces, police, fire and rescue or ambulance services, or who have left recently. Led by a registered psychotherapist and counsellor in Herefordshire.
THE HUMAN ARCHITECTURE OF TRANSITION
Why it's harder than it looks
Service gives you more than a job. It gives you a rank and a role, a routine, people who share your standards, and a clear way of making decisions. When you leave, a lot of that can disappear within a few weeks.
Most people prepare for the practical side: the CV, the interviews, the paperwork. Fewer are ready for the rest. Feeling on edge in quiet places. Waiting for a green light that isn’t coming. Not knowing how to say who you are without the uniform. None of that means something is wrong with you. It’s what happens when a structure you’ve relied on is taken away.
JK Protocol is a structured, one-to-one programme built around those problems. It has a set shape and an end date, and you finish with a clear plan for staying steady afterwards.
Life without the chain of command
Making decisions without waiting for permission. Working with civilian colleagues and organisations that run very differently. Learning to trust your own judgement again.
Who you are without the uniform
Rank, role and the things you’ve been through in service can become the way you measure yourself. We look at what you still carry from that, what it’s costing you now, and how to build a sense of your own worth that doesn’t depend on it.
How the programme works
Ten one-to-one sessions in three phases, with a set structure and an end date.
01. Structural Audit (weeks 1–2)
We map where the structure of service is still shaping your life: your routines, how you make decisions, how you sleep and wind down, and what leaving is doing to your sense of who you are. You finish this phase with a written summary of what we found.
02. Tactical Recalibration (weeks 3–6)
We work on what is causing most friction: making decisions without waiting for permission, bringing your stress response down from permanent alert, and loosening the hold that rank, role and what you went through in service have on how you rate yourself. A midpoint review checks how it’s going in real life.
03. Platform Stabilisation (weeks 7–10)
We make the changes stick: boundaries, handling questions about your service, working with civilian organisations, and a plan for staying steady once the programme ends.
Confidentiality
What you tell me stays between us. The only exceptions are where the law requires disclosure, or there is a serious risk of harm to you or someone else. They are set out in full in the Data Privacy & Discretion Notice. I don’t share anything with the MoD, the NHS, employers or vetting bodies. Your records are kept on paper under a reference code, separately from your name.
If you hold security clearance and aren’t sure how a service like this might be viewed, take independent advice first. I can’t guarantee how a vetting authority would see it.
I work with a small number of people at a time, so everyone gets proper attention.
About
I’m Joanna Kucinska, a registered psychodynamic psychotherapist and counsellor (British Psychoanalytic Council registration 21966), with over ten years of one-to-one practice in the UK. I work to the BPC’s Standards of Conduct, Practice and Ethics.
I haven’t served in the forces, and I don’t pretend to know what it was like. What I bring is a decade of work with people going through major change.
Who this is for
This programme is for people who are leaving the armed forces or another uniformed service, such as the police, fire and rescue or ambulance, or who left recently, and who find that the change is harder than the practical side of leaving would suggest. All ranks and roles are welcome. It isn’t suitable if you are in crisis, or if you need a diagnosis or medication review. In that case the services at the bottom of this page are the right place to start.
Fees
£1,000
for all ten sessions
This includes the written summary at the end of the first phase, the materials between sessions, and a follow-up check-in at three months.
You can pay in full or in three instalments.
The first conversation, to check the programme is right for you, is free.
If you’d like to ask about fees or funding before getting in touch, you’re welcome to.
JK Protocol is delivered by Joanna Kucinska, a registered psychodynamic psychotherapist and counsellor (BPC registration 21966). All work follows the BPC's ethical framework, the Data Protection Act 2018 and UK GDPR.
Please read
JK Protocol is a private programme. It is not a crisis, emergency or clinical treatment service. Enquiries sent through this site aren't monitored in real time. If you're in immediate danger, or need urgent support now, please use one of the services below.
- EmergencyCall 999 if you or someone else is in immediate danger
- SamaritansCall 116 123 — free, 24/7
- NHS 111Call 111 and select the mental health option
- Crisis Text LineText SHOUT to 85258
- Herefordshire & Worcestershire Mental Health HelplineCall 0808 196 9127 — 24/7
- Safe Haven (Herefordshire Mind)Call 01432 372 407 — 5pm to 10pm, walk-in or phone
- Op Courage (Veterans)Call 0300 323 013 7
- Veterans GatewayCall 0808 802 1212 — 24 hours
- Combat Stress (Veterans)Call 0800 138 1619 — 24/7