Heal Thyself: Sansea Jacobson on healing through empathy and modeling wellness

Guest Sansea Kaphan Jacobson, Dartmouth ’96, was assured of herself when she arrived at college, pre-med bound. But then she found Sanborn Library and let her love of literature guide her studies and put the pre-med dreams to bed. She took advantage of the corporate recruiting process to find her first job after college in the IT consulting world. She found, however, that she was more interested in impacting the people she served than the project outcomes. She decided to get back on track to the helping professions.

After completing the post-bac courses necessary for med school, she had the opportunity to work in a hematology lab at the NIH. An astute mentor told extrovert Sansea that she would likely prefer clinical oncology than the pathology in the lab. So, she pursued this line of work in medical school and found herself bedside with dying patients. The psychiatry rotation showed her that it was really the psychology that had drawn her to that work.

Her career now encompasses clinical work with teen experiencing anxiety and suicidal thoughts, but she also advises residents and fellows and mentors them through the psychiatric program. When one student asked about her medical center’s wellness education efforts for her fellow practitioners, Sansea realized that it was up to her to lead the program and model what wellness looks like. In this episode, find out from Sansea how listening to the narrative and reacting with empathy can create meaningful linkages on ROADS TAKEN with Leslie Jennings Rowley.

About This Episode's Guest

Sansea Jacobson is Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Co-Chair of the UPMC Graduate Medical Education Wellness, Environment, Learning, and Living Committee and program director of child and adolescent psychiatry fellowship at Western Psychiatric Institute & Clinic of UPMC, where her clinical and advocacy efforts are focused on the prevention of suicide in youth through her work at the Services for Teens at Risk (STAR) Center. Through her multi-faceted work, she has become one of the pioneers in a field devoted to reforming our relationship with media in order to promote positive mental health messaging for our nation’s youth.

Executive Producer/Host: Leslie Jennings Rowley

Music: Brian Burrows

Find more episodes at https://roadstakenshow.com

Email the show at RoadsTakenShow@gmail.com

Find more episodes at https://roadstakenshow.com

Executive Producer/Host: Leslie Jennings Rowley

Music: Brian Burrows

Email the show at RoadsTakenShow@gmail.com