STUDYING TRAUMA TO SUPPORT STUDENTS

MHCC counselor and instructor Eden Isenstein will be headed on sabbatical next year to better understand how trauma affects the brain, to better support Mt. Hood students in their healing journeys.

Isenstein has worked at MHCC for seven years. The seven-year mark is when faculty members become eligible to apply for sabbatical. Seeing it as a unique and awesome opportunity that not many jobs allow, Isenstein is eager to learn more to have more tools to support students, she said.

Teaching primarily within the Transitions program on campus, which provides support to students who have faced barriers in accessing education, Isenstein works with many students who also are parents. Along with learning about interpersonal neurobiology and neuroplasticity, she will be going through a practitioner’s training program through Hand in Hand Parenting to support parents in healing from their trauma, to prevent passing it down to their children.

Isenstein was born and raised on the East Coast. She started college right out of high school, but then took a year off to travel, which led to 10 years off. By the end, she and her husband moved to Portland for a change of scenery.

“I didn’t go back to school right away because I just didn’t know what I was wanting to study and it felt funky,” said Isenstein. “I think working lots of jobs and getting to a point where I was really limited in the work I could do made me realize that I kind of needed to go back to school if I wanted more career opportunities.”

Her mother was a therapist in private practice, and she knew that wouldn’t be her path, she said. But she also knew that she liked people, helping others, and was interested in the general idea of counseling. She got her bachelor’s degree in women’s studies and master’s in counseling from Portland State University.

 Isenstein said, “I think there’s sort of this mythology of everyone kind of magically knowing their passion… that just wasn’t me. I had things I was interested in, but I didn’t know how those translated into a career.”

After toying with the idea of being a middle school counselor, she stumbled upon community college counseling and found her perfect fit. Ease of access to counseling is important to her, as well as feeling part of a community and having some variety in the job. She currently teaches human development classes for the Transitions program, advises undecided and exploratory students, provides mental health and crisis counseling, and has also taught women’s studies online.

Isenstein said the most rewarding part of her job is getting to see those students she meets in classes, counseling, and Transitions successfully graduate.

“I also really just appreciate the community at Mt. Hood – some of that being my relationships with students, and then also I just have great colleagues and I just really like a lot of the people that I work with,” she said.

Isenstein will be on sabbatical during Fall and Winter terms of the 2019-20 academic year.