帮助他人成功

在校外有很多事情要做, including a whole design and photography business, Elizabeth Burgin ’21 MA-MFT has learned how to accept that sometimes you have to just roll with the punches.

MMU: Why do you want to be in a helping profession? How did your passion for marriage and family therapy begin?

SK: I have always felt drawn to helping others succeed. My brain is also very abstract in its thinking, so I was a designer for about eight years before I decided to pursue this career. 我不相信黑白分明, which is part of my passion for marriage and family therapy, everything is a grey area depending on how you look at the situation.

MMU: What population would you want to work with? 是什么吸引了你?

SK: 最初, I was set on working with women and domestic violence, 但我也喜欢青少年群体. They are really going through a big change in that period. 最终 that’s the population I want to work with, people going through hard changes that need support because we’ve all been there.

"I felt that Mount Mercy had a hands-on approach with a great schedule, which would allow me to glean the information I needed and do it in an accelerated way."

MMU: What attracted you to Mount Mercy’s Master’s in Marriage and 家庭治疗 program? What was your motivation for pursuing a master’s degree?

SK: When I was pursuing the option of a master’s degree, 我在学校咨询, 社会工作, 和心理学. 最终, I felt that Mount Mercy had a hands-on approach with a great schedule, which would allow me to glean the information I needed and do it in an accelerated way. I wanted to change my life and fulfill my own passion for directly impacting people, which is how I ended up in Mount Mercy’s therapy program.

MMU: How do you see yourself using the skills you’re building in the program? The program incorporates clinical hours—how has this impacted your experience?

SK: I see myself using all the skills I’m gaining here in practice, from the theory classes to the more specific classes that incorporate techniques, I know I’ll come across those scenarios in the therapy room. I have the opportunity to work with a second-year student gaining a few clients in the clinic, which will be instrumental in the development of my skills. It will take it from theoretical to real-life situations.

MMU: What’s the biggest challenge you’ve faced so far? 你是怎么克服的? How did Mount Mercy support you during this challenge?

SK: I would say the biggest challenge I have faced has been my own doubt. I started the program and a lot of life events were happening for me. I ultimately went to a professor and just asked about my progress and if I was doing enough to be on par with the class. That conversation was important because I needed to know what the professor thought. The professor let me know that this is just a hard transition, but I was doing what I needed to be doing to be on par with the class expectations.

MMU: What was one class or lesson that stuck with you? 你认为它为什么会影响你? Is there a specific person or program that has made obtaining your degree easier?

SK: I remember in one class, psychopathology, we talked about opioid use disorder. I found that to be a class that was fascinating. It challenged how we think about substance use. I know in the last few years I’ve personally been noticing people out in public or on vacation that are struggling with opioid use. 我觉得再一次让人着迷, America is treating the symptom and victimizing users instead of getting to our root cause or problem.

MMU: You also are a professional photographer—how do you balance school and other commitments? 是什么帮助你做到这一点呢?

SK: 平衡是一种神话. I was juggling a fulltime position, photography, and a few committees when I started this program. 我很快意识到我需要一个优先级列表. I stuck with photography because it was the thing I loved most besides school. This profession allows me to be flexible and work from home more than someone dealing with an 8–5 position. I would say the biggest thing I’ve done to manage is a written calendar. I also have an e-calendar with larger commitments, but day-to-day writing down what needs to happen in a week has been instrumental in getting my work done.

“平衡是一种神话. I was juggling a fulltime position, photography, and a few committees when I started this program. 我很快意识到我需要一个优先级列表."

MMU: What’s one piece of advice you would give to future students?

SK: 更容易接受. 这个项目会在很多方面挑战你. Logistically, it will challenge how you juggle the commitments you have with the classes. Mentally, it will be so much information that you want to dig into and discover more. 在情感上, you might feel like you’re being battered by the hard things you’ll be learning, 以及情感带宽, 有时候你只能付出这么多. 整体, it will help if you just remember that this is just two years of your life, 这很重要, 最后, 奋斗是值得的. I know that for me right now it’s a lot of surrender. 决不屈服, but the kind that lets you just accept things you’re wrong about and things you’re not going to get to for a while.