教育赋予力量

For Jessica Pladsen '08, '12 MA-MFT, ’24 PhD-MFT, resilience, dedication, and an unwavering commitment to her Marriage and Family Therapy journey opened many doors for her career.

杰西卡一直认为心理学是她一生中学习的前沿，并享受着随之而来的深刻理解和创新。

虽然她已经研究了自上而下和自下而上的处理过程，作为在治疗中创造整体性的整合，但她特别喜欢研究大脑的自上而下的过程（基于先前经验和知识的感知），认知，情感，了解我们的身体如何控制这些部分，然后，如何治疗地通过这些元素。 这允许这些系统和过程的整合，以解决思想和身体作为一个整体，以支持愈合。

“I find us as human beings amazing. How could you not be in awe while sitting with someone resilient and trying to be in a healing space with them, and why wouldn’t you want to dedicate your life to that?"
–Jessica Pladsen '08, '12 MA-MFT, ’24 PhD-MFT

“I find us as human beings amazing,” Jessica said. “How could you not be in awe while sitting with someone resilient and trying to be in a healing space with them, and why wouldn’t you want to dedicate your life to that? There is always more to learn, so you could never get tired in this field.”

When looking into her 婚姻及家庭治疗文学硕士 degree and her undergraduate major in 心理学 and minor in 社会学, 皇冠体育 felt like the ideal place for her to create connections and learn without distractions.

“Mount Mercy has allowed classes to be accessible while also allowing me to provide for my family,” Jessica said. “The staff and the professors helped me the most. Mount Mercy has connected me with so many wonderful people and has helped me feel supported in this community, so I’m very appreciative.”

Although the Hill is an hour drive from Jessica’s home, it was a no-brainer for her to choose to attend Mount Mercy for her 婚姻与家庭治疗博士 (PhD-MFT) because of her connection with professors, comfortability with the location, and the opportunity to grow professionally.

“Because I started my own practice, the growth process of my PhD morphed into something different,” Jessica explained. “The PhD-MFT has become more substantiating academic achievement. It has also opened doors and aligned with my pursuit of professorship, which is needed to access higher learning and hopefully what will be legacy pieces.”

“mft博士学位也为我打开了一扇门，与我对教授职位的追求一致，这是获得高等教育所必需的，希望能成为我的遗产。”
–Jessica Pladsen '08, '12 MA-MFT, ’24 PhD-MFT

Jessica is the founder of Prism Therapy Group, which she named after the object that helps you see things you wouldn’t otherwise be able to see, like access to resources around you. 因为杰西卡认为心理治疗是一种像棱镜一样的工具，所以她以心理治疗为自己的公司命名。

她的业务为在那里工作的治疗师提供了很大的自主权，并且无论职位高低，都能获得意见。 有机会创造这样的氛围对杰西卡来说是一个很大的推动，她开始了自己的事业。

“As women in business, I think we get in a lot of binds, like taking care of ourselves but working hard and still being available, so I wanted to create a business with a different culture where those binds weren’t a part of it,” Jessica said. “Prism Therapy Group is a very collaborative space, so not only has it become a healing space for clients, but also a healing space for those who work here.”

杰西卡不仅是创始人，她还是aamft批准的主管，管理14名治疗师，并将药物管理加入到实践中。 她还是一名持牌婚姻和家庭治疗师，以及一名注册游戏治疗师主管，每周要处理20到30个客户。

作为治疗师、业主和主管的一部分职责，她处理账单、接待员工作和认证工作，同时还找时间担任爱荷华州游戏治疗委员会的一般董事会成员，并在Mount Mercy担任MFT项目的兼职教授。

杰西卡发现作为一名教授的学术方面是充满活力的，她喜欢在系统层面上产生影响。 她还喜欢影响她的学生，就像她的教授塑造了她的临床方法一样，并继续影响她今天与客户的互动。

“My students have been just brilliant, and it has been such an honor to work with them and share a space with them,” she said. “It was like I didn’t even know what I was missing until I had it. 能够种下这些小种子，看着他们长大成人，看着他们的经历和学习各就其位，这是一个非常美好的空间。 I feel honored.”

Thanks to Jessica’s best friend and past professor, 希瑟Morgan-Sowada, she has learned how to balance her busy life with grace and maintain the separation between her multiple roles of being a student and a faculty member.

“My dearest friend and professor 希瑟Morgan-Sowada has helped me navigate different dual relationship roles between us as an ethical aspect in our profession, and she has done it very thoughtfully,” Jessica said.

虽然在她的工作和社区中戴着许多帽子，杰西卡一直在为她的博士论文进行定性研究。 Because there isn’t a ton of research on MFTs and their designation style of what they do and how they do it, Jessica chose to focus her research on whether or not the MFT approach to therapy is that different than other designations like mental health counselors or social workers focusing on impact around borderline personality disorder.

杰西卡说，总的来说，这里的人、人际关系和人际关系是让她印象最深的东西。她认为，芒特仁慈大学的硕士学位项目非常值得她付出时间和精力。

“The PhD-MFT program has been one of the most challenging things that I’ve ever come up against,” she said. “but it has also been one of the most fulfilling things.”