Page 142 - South Mississippi Living - September, 2021

Who or what inspired you to pursue your current career? Growing up, I always thought I would be a lawyer. After spending a year in law school, I decided that it wasn’t for me. I wanted to help people find a way to feel better and to help families to heal.
What I like best about what I do is:
I love getting to work with my clients and to get to see the transformation they can make when they start to see that change is possible and believe in themselves. I get to hold space for people in their darkest moments and show them that there is a way out of the dark.
My greatest successes have been:
Even through the challenges of COVID,
Bloom has grown to now employ myself and three full-time therapists and a part-time receptionist. I am very proud that Bloom employs and supports the lives of five women.
I also currently serve as the President of the Mississippi Association for Marriage & Family Therapy. Probably my biggest professional success was that after four years of advocacy and negotiation, in 2020 I was able to get Licensed Marriage & Family Therapists (LMFT) to be officially recognized as mental health providers by the Mississippi Division
of Medicaid AND BlueCross BlueShield of Mississippi. Since there are over 200 LMFT’s
in Mississippi, this tremendously expanded the access to care for many Mississippians that need mental health services.
What are your favorite things to do on the Coast? I have a husband, four children and two dogs, so we spend a lot of time at home in the pool, riding our golf cart around town in Ocean Springs, and with our friends.
presented by South Mississippi Living magazine
Jessi Robertson, MS, LMFT
BLOOM WELLNESS
2130 Government St., Ocean Springs 228.382.3107
www.bloom4wellness.com