Hello, and welcome back to another episode of A Day in the Life — where we explore what different staff members do at Ascend. This month, we’re focusing on something we haven’t ever discussed before: what happens when clients leave Ascend.
To help us explore this new world, we’re following Jenna, our Alumni Program Manager. She coordinates everything that happens after treatment in one of our facilities. Check out what she does to ensure clients thrive post-treatment when you read on here.
What Is The Alumni Program?
When clients complete a treatment program at Ascend, especially our intensive residential treatment program, we want to make sure that they’re supported even after they leave. The alumni program is just one way we ensure an ongoing connection through educational events and therapeutic group sessions with other alumni.
Some online events alumni parents and clients may wish to join include parent process, shame and resilience parent process groups, TBS support groups, teen process groups, and DBT refresher groups. We also have in-person events, like Alumni Bowling Night and Halloween Alumni Events. Parents and clients can track available groups on our Events page and choose which ones they want to attend. Jenna manages all the events for our alumni to provide regular groups and an ongoing connection with other families.
Where Jenna Got Her Start
Before Ascend, Jenna worked as a child development specialist. In this role, she found her passion in working with adolescents and their families to create meaningful support structures within the family system. She eventually felt she could do more for families working with a residential treatment facility and applied for a job at Ascend.
Jenna is actually a staff member who worked her way up at Ascend. She started out as an Educator at our Canyons facility. After about a year of working with the teens in treatment there, she transitioned to the Alumni Program Manager role and started focusing on supporting teens and families beyond their initial treatment program with us.
Why Ascend?
Jenna had several jobs before Ascend, but she chooses to remain with us because she loves the variety in her role. Planning alumni events is one of the most rewarding parts of her job, and she loves seeing every detail come together to create meaningful, joyful experiences for clients and their families.
For Jenna, Ascend is a great place to work because she sees the impact our team makes on families who seek treatment. The positive changes she encourages in the lives around her keep her motivated and fulfilled. Seeing families thriving at alumni events shows Jenna (and our entire team) that we’re transforming lives and making lasting changes within the family dynamic.
Jenna Is The Best!
When Jenna first started at Ascend, the first thing we noticed about her was her passion. She was so excited about every aspect of the treatment process and tried to learn as much as she could. With this deep exploration of our processes, she’s always able to bring fresh insights into our systems to enhance the efficiency and workflow of the entire team.
A Day in Jenna’s Life
A typical day for Jenna doesn’t really exist. Each day is incredibly dynamic because her priorities are constantly changing. One day, her focus may be on managing surveys for families to help Ascend find places where we can improve, while other days are all about coordinating referrals for families in aftercare transitioning to other programs. You may also find her planning events, conducting family check-ins, and facilitating planned alumni groups.
Jenna definitely needs to get the word out to alumni about our various events, so she spends quite a bit of time creating social media posts.
Growing with Ascend
Jenna finds Ascend to be a dynamic, supportive, and collaborative place to work. As Ascend grows in size to service many more clients and their families, Jenna is finding ways to grow right along with us. She’s discovering how to balance multiple projects, teaching herself new skills, and learning how to adapt to changing situations in the moment.
Knowing that her work has a positive, meaningful impact on the lives she touches motivates Jenna to continuously improve and give her all to our community.
Who Do You Want to See Next?
If you found Jenna’s spotlight informative, you should check out our blog to discover other Day in the Life spotlights for staff members from Admissions, Compliance, and more! We also have new spotlights coming up every month. Who do you want to learn about next?
