August 13, 2024

Talking to Jessica Chou, PhD, LPC, LFMT, about her work, a theme emerges: tearing down silos—from breaking through old ways of thinking by reducing stigma around substance use disorders to expanding the intersection of education and public health.

An assistant professor in Drexel University’s College of Nursing and Health Professions’ Department of Counseling and Family Therapy, Chou is blurring the lines between academics, research and community work.

“Before I came to Drexel, I had experience in the field, which definitely made my transition into research, scholarship and teaching easier,” Chou said.

During her doctorate program in family therapy, Chou began an internship at a center for women with substance use disorders. It was her first time working for a gender-specific treatment facility. Chou’s responsibilities included intakes, clinical work, program development and research.

As a family therapist, Chou was impressed by what was happening in the treatment world, especially its emphasis on family-centered work. At the same time, she recognized that there was still much work to be done. Her real-world exposure influenced Chou’s career path in a major way.

“Getting that firsthand experience at the very end of my graduate program was really crucial,” Chou said. “After I graduated, I ended up staying and working in the field for several more years before coming to Drexel.”

Those three years Chou spent working in the community formed the foundation of the work she’d do at Drexel. One of her first accomplishments after joining Drexel’s faculty in August 2017 was creating her own research lab—the Exploring Community Empowerment Lab (EXCEL).

Chou credits the “really great peer mentorship” she received from Stephanie Krauthamer Ewing, PhD, MPH, an assistant professor in the Department of Counseling and Family Therapy, who invited her to run a shared lab together, a unique opportunity that taught Chou how to build her own.

The primary focus of EXCEL is on family-centered prevention, treatment and recovery outcomes for women with substance use disorders and their families. Much of the current research examines family and parenting relationships among women and mothers with substance use disorders. Other research investigates program development, implementation and evaluation for gender-specific substance use treatment. The lab also examines the training experiences of couple/marriage and family therapists in an effort to understand and support workforce development.

“It was important for me to define my identity as a junior faculty member and professor, as well as a researcher, scholar and mentor. To understand my mission and my vision,” Chou said. “My years at the substance use disorder center guided a lot of my research agenda and trajectory.”

Setting up her lab early on helped Chou feel centered—once she’d established her priorities and interests, she could begin recruiting students and volunteers for various projects. Chou’s community-based research provides her students with opportunities for mentorship and valuable, hands-on experience outside the classroom—a hallmark of a Drexel education.

Chou teaches two master’s-level courses in trauma: a foundational class on trauma-informed care and a class on evidence-based practices for treatment of trauma. She also teaches a doctoral-level course that offers a deeper dive into trauma practices, including family therapy.

When she recruits students for EXCEL projects, she gets volunteers from her classes as well as from other programs.

“Trauma and substance use really go hand in hand and there’s a lot of coherence. I weave it into the courses that I teach, and it also helps me mentor the students who are interested in working with me,” Chou said.

Chou believes her work in the classroom, community and lab are interconnected and feels grateful that Drexel supports that balance, allowing her time to teach, apply for grants, do research and work in the field.

“I’ve had protected time, which I think is really important because building trust among experts and within the community takes time. The other part is having mentors to help me navigate that, which has been so invaluable,” she said.

Chou is currently the principal investigator for a research project that was funded by a grant from the Commonwealth Universal Research Enhancement (CURE) Program, working with co-investigators from Drexel’s College of Medicine (Psychiatry): David Bennett, PhD; Barbara Schindler, MD; and Sharlene Irving, MBA; and Joke Bradt, PhD, from Drexel’s College of Nursing and Health Professions (Creative Arts Therapies).

Bennett and Schindler have also mentored Chou since her arrival at Drexel. “They’ve been integral in supporting my growth and development in substance use research,” she said.

The project will assess the feasibility and acceptability of developing a family-based intervention to help with women’s adherence to medication for opioid use disorder (MOUD).

“When women with opioid use disorder are put on medication, such as suboxone (one of three FDA-approved medications for opioid use disorder), their next question is often, ‘When can I get off it?’” Chou said. “Then we see family members, who are supportive, also asking, ‘How long do they need to be on it?’ Though these questions are valid, stopping MOUD prematurely without a prolonged, medically supervised taper can put an individual at high risk for relapse.”

Chou said her team is piloting a brief intervention, offering resources and education to families in an effort to reduce some of the stigma around MOUD. Reduction of stigma around women’s substance use disorder is one of Chou’s key interests and central to another project she’s concurrently leading, in collaboration with the Partnership to End Addiction.

Chou said, “We’re working to develop an outreach protocol to encourage family members to engage in treatment.”

She explained that family-centered treatment is widely endorsed by SAMHSA (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) and other federal agencies, but you need professionals to facilitate tough conversations as well as buy-in from family members.

It can be difficult to get family involved for a number of reasons. Not everyone is ready to confront a relationship after there’s been a breakdown of trust and communication—sometimes bridges are burned. Or there may be logistical challenges, such as fitting therapy sessions into a busy workweek.

“Part of the study is learning the reasons and the best way to reach out. Our goal is to develop a formal outreach protocol to address some of these barriers,” Chou said.

Lastly, in an effort to continue breaking down silos, Chou worked with Schindler, Bennett, Irving and colleagues Robert Sterling, PhD, and Rikki Patton, PhD, to develop the Collaboratory on Addiction Treatment, Education and Research (CATER), the first university-wide, interdisciplinary collaboratory focusing on education, research and clinical initiatives that facilitate substance use prevention, treatment and recovery support for families.