Jessi Whetsel, LPC-MH/Therapist moved to Watertown a few years ago and jumped right into helping the community by joining coalitions. As a mom and experienced counselor, she brings both personal and professional expertise to Codington Connects.
Many moms want nothing but to successfully raise their kids, and Jessi is no different – it’s her biggest dream! At the same time, Jessi is a private counselor with her own practice, Better Together Counseling, and has experience as a counselor in school, college, and community settings.
Jessi has a passion for continuous learning and it’s evident through her work and volunteerism. She learned about apps during her project to develop one for Glacial Lakes SAFE, a coalition that focuses on many mental health objectives adopted by Codington Connect’s steering committee.
Learn more about Jessi as September’s featured member:
What do you like most about your job?
I love being able to help people walk through parts of their lives or themselves that they want to heal. I am trained in EMDR (eye movement desensitization and reprocessing) and I LOVE seeing people’s resiliency and insights about themselves through this.
What new thing would you like to learn or try? Woodworking!
What superpower would you choose and why?
I think I would choose mind reading, but only if I could turn it off and on. It would make my job so easy to help people in their healing but would be exhausting if I had to hear everyone’s thoughts all the time.
What’s the most important skill that you bring to the table at Codington Connects?
Since I’m from out of state, I hope that I bring in a fresh perspective of things and how they might look different here. I also love bringing in a trauma-informed lens to build empathy and compassion for our community members.
What is something you’re proud of that you wish the community knew about?
The Glacial Lakes SAFE app! I received a grant for our coalition to develop a mental health app specific for our community.
- Links to download the app:
Screenshot of the App.