We were so excited to finally be able to sit down with Utah therapist for episode 247, Jessie Shepherd of Blue Clover Therapy, host of The Morning Struggle Podcast, and author of four books about different types of metal health. Scheduling a therapist to be on a podcast is as difficult as scheduling to go to the therapist!
Jessie is born and raised in Utah. She loved the idea of medicine, but without going to medical school, so the next best thing was becoming an EMT/EMS first responder. She decided she enjoyed mental health calls and decided after 6 years of being on the bus she headed off to go to school to become a therapist. Jessie told us that part of the joy of being on the bus was to see the amazing part of humanity, even though she also had to see the bad things as well. Jessie did her studies through the University of Utah.
We wanted to highlight her amazing bio, to get a feel what she does for her clients, Jessie Shepherd, MA, LCMHC is a Mental Health Counselor in Utah. She has a Masters Degree in Mental Health Counseling from the University of Phoenix and a Bachelors degree in Psychology from the University of Utah. Her focus is treating trauma and adjustment issues in young adults, adolescents, children and their families. She utilizes Dialectic Behavioral Therapy (DBT), Play Therapy, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) and Neurological Feedback. She also works with performance anxiety and performance enhancement using EMDR and Neurological Feedback.
Jessie wanted to work with people with border line personality of all ages and was able after years to open her own practice, Blue Clover Therapy. Her focus is trauma which is all wrapped up with anxiety, depression, and behavioral issues that there is no shortage of situations to be addressed. There are a handful of practicing therapists at Blue Clover in addition to Jessie.
We have now been in a pandemic situation for a year. We wanted to know how people are managing their distress during COVID. Jessie told us that people didn’t understand what it would be like to be so isolated over the last year. She said, “it is sad to see how people are coping.” She mentioned that it is important to recognize there are two stresses happening during this past year and how it’s effecting us. One is direct stress such as businesses shutting down, kids not going to school, things that you’ll talk about in a direct conversation. Then there is passive stress, the ones that are highly ignored. Media use is part of the passive stress, as well as day to day distresses, things like remembering to wear a mask day to day. Jessie gave us some stellar coping tips. We have to be mindful about how we actually feel. Numbing behaviors should be avoided and minimal. These include doom scrolling, Candy Crush, eating, to name a few. We have to recognize when we are doing them. Some of the other things we can do right now, and in life, is talk to your pets, scream out loud, record how you are feeling, journal it, and take a step back and get away to reground one’s self . It’s important, and imperative. Jessie mentioned that it’s easy to get caught up, it’s important to step back.
What about finding a therapist? What are modalities? Such as cognitive, EMDR, etc. Jessie says that it’s important to ask questions on your first visit of what you are looking for because you have to be comfortable with who you are asking to hold space for you. It’s a relationship. You want good boundaries and you are comfortable being there an hour a week. We were also happy with having Jessie step on a soap box about insurance and mental health.
Next life that Jessie lives is as a podcaster for the Morning Struggle Podcast. We wanted to know how Jessie got into podcasting. She told us that her first venture was a show with local celeb, Jackson Carter, doing the Get Yourself Together Podcast. Then her and her husband started the Morning Struggle Podcast. She said about once a week there would be a conversation about something her husband would want to improve and it turned into the Morning Struggle Podcast. It’s about specific habits that people have, then breaking it down, and create an action plan for the habit.
Jessie told us that the thing that she’s found in Utah that she thinks is unique or interesting is some people think Utahn’s are a little weird. We are all right, just diverse. She also spends a lot of time outdoors and being able to be outdoors enriches our lives. We couldn’t agree more!
Blue Clover Therapy is where you can find Jessie. You can find her on Jessie The Therapist, The Morning Struggle podcast and Facebook , Facebook, and Instagram. You can purchase her books on Amazon.
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