Jessica McLaughlin LPC-MH
My name is Jess McLaughlin, Licensed Professional Counselor with 13 years of experience in the mental health field. I grew up in a variety of towns in South Dakota and my family has a history of work in both education and farming. I served in the South Dakota Army National Guard as a medic for 9 years, with one deployment during Operation Iraqi Freedom/Operation Enduring Freedom. I am married with 2 young children, 2 dogs, and a cat. I enjoy hunting, fishing, camping, cooking, travel, and board games. My experiences in my younger years have sculpted a love for hearing a person’s story, finding the resiliency, and the healing that can happen in a healthy environment. I knew at a young age I desired a career helping others and being a counselor has continued to be my passion.
My experience during my deployment at 19 years old gave me a strong desire to find a way to help those with wounds that you cannot see. My first hours of work experience after graduating from The University of South Dakota’s Master’s program in community mental health was conducting neuropsychological testing under the supervision of the psychologist. I then found a full-time job working primarily in addiction treatments running intensive outpatient treatment and aftercare programming for both adults and adolescents. I then work in a community mental health clinic with a range of clientele to include those with severe and persistent mental illness and I also started work in supervising young professionals. When we moved to be closer to family I worked for the college campus student health clinic as a counselor, supervisor and then as the Assistant Director of Counseling Services. Mixed into the past few years I worked with the graduate program on campus as an instructor for their counseling program. At this time in my career, I am excited and proud of being part of a team of people dedicated to providing quality services to our community.
As a counselor I am passionate about identifying what you need from our work together. I understand how hard and uncomfortable reaching out for mental health services is. I provide room to develop an understanding of how the work in counseling is both biologically and emotionally influenced. I have experience in working with trauma, addiction, disordered eating, anxiety, depression, Bipolar Disorder, PTSD, grief/loss, relational concerns, athletes, head trauma, seizures, and health concerns. The techniques and theory I am prone to using elements of person centered, CBT, Solution Focused, Motivational Interviewing, trauma informed therapy and other evidence based practices.
