Biography
Jessie Shepherd is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist from California, USA and a current PhD student in the Education Department. Jessie has 12 years of community mental health experience along with six years of experience supporting new therapists’ development through her work as a supervisor and adjunct faculty. As a researcher, Jessie focuses on issues of equity impacting wellbeing for high-risk groups and emotional resilience in the population. Her PhD research is on pedagogical practices regarding refugee and migrant girls social and emotional learning.
Previous Education
- University of York, York, United Kingdom
September 2019 – September 2020
Masters of Social Justice and Education, with Distinction
Masters focusing on Social Justice education, intercultural communication, and empirical research into social justice issues in education in the UK. Dissertation focused on how Teacher Emotional Well-being impacts students social-emotional development.
- John F. Kennedy University, Pleasant Hill, California
October 2008 – September 2010
Masters of Family Therapy
Thesis: Key Dynamics Affecting Diagnosis for Unlicensed MFT Trainees
Study among MFT trainees, interns, and pre-trainees on racial, gender, sexual orientation and biases; conducted data analysis using Microsoft office; designed assessment used to measure responses to video stimuli.
- San Francisco State University, San Francisco, California
Fall 2004 – Fall 2006
BA, English, Creative Writing
PhD Research
Title: Teachers’ Perceptions and Pedagogical Practices Regarding Social and Emotional Learning for Refugee and Migrant Girls.
My research is to better understand primary school teachers' perspectives, skills, and values related to teaching social and emotional skills (or mental wellbeing curriculum) to female refugee and migrant students.
The hope is to build a case that reinforces the need for more teacher training and support around refugee and migrant social and emotional skills development. I think this research could have an impact in wellbeing support and mental ill-health prevention for refugee and migrant girls.
Ultimately this research is about increasing wellbeing and resilience in high-risk populations, and better understanding how to decrease mental ill-health in school aged children.
Supervisor(s)
- Professor Vanita Sundaram and Dusana Dorjee, PhD
- TAP Member: Ioana Cismas
