A Chance Encounter

Timing was everything for Julie Lemon ’21 PhD-MFT.

Working as a licensed mental health counselor, she had no intentions of pursing a PhD until she came across a postcard while flipping through her daily mail. That small postcard had a big impact.

“I received a postcard from Mount Mercy inviting me to join the inaugural PhD-MFT class,” Julie recalled. “It came at exactly the right time and checked all the boxes of what I would need out of a PhD program: in-class learning, convenient location, and not focused singularly on research.”

In retrospect, Julie admitted that she was stagnant in her career at the time. Getting her PhD was just what she needed to continue growing as a mental health professional and breathe new life into her job.

“Having my PhD will open up numerous opportunities such as public speaking, teaching, writing, and research,” Julie said. “It added a second life to my career.”

“Having my PhD will open up numerous opportunities such as public speaking, teaching, writing, and research. It added a second life to my career.”

From her course work to choosing a focus area and dissertation topic, Julie felt empowered to customize her education and make it applicable to her.  

“I was allowed to tailor all the assignments and research towards the learning that was most beneficial to my project and what would be most beneficial to my future work,” said Julie.

Her clinical project, specifically, is reflective of Julie’s passions and interest area of relationship education. She created the Spiritual Program for Individual and Couple Empowerment, or SPICE.

“Each of the eight SPICE lessons includes teaching related to neuroscience and brain health and experiential exercises,” explained Julie. “We focus on faith, family, forgiveness, fitness, food, finances, and fun—all the areas that research shows are of importance in relationships.”

The SPICE program will offer both in-person and online workshops, with the online sessions launching as soon as late summer 2021.

“My experience at Mount Mercy has been life-changing in the best possible way,” said Julie.