Faculty Focus Friday is a Q&A series that highlights individual faculty members in various academic programs around Spalding University. This week’s featured faculty member is Jason S. Jordan, Chair of the Clinical Mental Health Counseling program.
Why did you decide to teach at Spalding? What do you like about Spalding in particular?
I chose to join Spalding University because of the mission statement and the long tradition and standing it has in the Louisville community. Additionally, I chose Spalding University’s Clinical Mental Health Counseling (CMHC) program because of the high standards that the program has achieved.
What is your academic specialty, areas of expertise, or research?
My academic specialty is clinical mental health counseling. My areas of interest are attachment theory and adoptive families. My clinical focus has been on how to help adoptive families remain cohesive and adaptive through a trauma-informed lens.
Why is a CMHC degree a good option for students to consider?
It is an exciting time to be a counselor. Counselors are in high demand and the degree offers a wide range of career options.
What major lessons do you hope students take from this program to implement in their personal/professional lives?
I hope that all students learn to be curious about others and open to understanding the complexities of the human experience.
What is an interesting thing you keep in your office?
Magnets. I am interested in how the laws of physics can inform our theories of counseling. Magnets are a reminder of how certain things like ideas or behaviors might pull people together while other things might push people apart.
Spalding’s mission is to meet the needs of the times, to emphasize service and to promote peace and justice. How will your teaching style, your research, your class, or your curriculum support the mission of Spalding?
The mission of the School of Clinical Mental Health Counseling is to prepare students to meet the behavioral and mental health needs of a multicultural and pluralistic society. The CMHC faculty attempt to live this in and outside of the classroom. Our research and classes emphasize relationships. I believe that it is within a safe space that learning is at its best and students are most successful.