U.S. Army veteran and Heidelberg alumna Jade McCloud has navigated a courageous path from combat medic to mental health counselor. Throughout the process, she’s learned first-hand about the transformative power of education and healing.
For Jade, who graduated from Heidelberg’s Master of Arts in Counseling program in 2022, service didn’t end when she hung up her uniform. It evolved. Today, as a counselor with the Veterans Affairs system, she helps fellow service members maneuver through the complex journey of healing and reintegration. Her story is one of resilience, purpose, and a full-on commitment to helping others find peace.
At just 20 years old, Jade enlisted in the Army as a combat medic. She deployed to Iraq, where she provided lifesaving medical care to both soldiers and civilians. She had the opportunity to train Iraqi soldiers in basic lifesaving skills and to offer medical support to local villagers. “It created this feeling that I wasn’t just there to fight but instead to offer knowledge and service in a way that was really needed,” Jade said.
Those years taught her adaptability and grit – her greatest takeaway from the military. “Resilience is one of my favorite things I cultivated while in the Army. Being adaptable and continuing to push past your limits was a daily occurrence.”
Invisible wounds
The transition home wasn’t easy. “I don’t think I knew at the time how much my mental health would be impacted by my service,” Jade shared. “The culture of the military is one of courage and perseverance but also of self-abandonment.”
Like many veterans, she struggled to reconcile who she had been before her deployment with who she had become. She likened the experience to Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz, who, once she saw what was on the other side of the curtain, couldn’t return home as the same person. “When I support other veterans who struggle with being understood, I try to normalize that change. Things won’t be as they were before, and that’s OK.”
Finding a new mission
Jade’s path toward counseling began unexpectedly at a female veterans’ retreat. Surrounded by women who shared similar stories of loss, anger, and exhaustion, something clicked.
“I was sitting there thinking, ‘someone has to help them, someone has to do something,’” she said. “Then it hit me. I’m someone.”
She did a complete 180, quit her business internship and began searching for graduate programs in counseling. That search led her to Heidelberg University’s Master of Arts in Counseling (MAC) program and a new purpose.
When Jade visited Heidelberg, she felt an instant connection. What sealed the deal was my meeting with Dr. DoHee Kim-Appel, Professor of Graduate Counseling.
“She sat across from me, slippers on, drilling me with questions about my life. After about an hour, she looked at me and said, ‘You have to go here.’ And I agreed. It felt like the place I needed to be. We were both right.”
In Heidelberg’s MAC program, Jade found both challenge and community. “From my very first class, I was being molded,” she said. “The faculty take counseling and mental health seriously, and it comes across in the way they teach and how they pour into their students.” They routinely walk away learning not just the material but about themselves.
Classroom to community
After graduating, Jade stepped into the demanding world of community mental health, working with individuals involved with the justice system, though she had never set foot in a courtroom. It was, as she describes, “a crash course in real-world counseling.”
“I learned quickly that amazing people can be overtaken by their experiences and end up doing things they never imagined. My time as a forensic counselor taught me that power struggles are a waste of time and to never judge a person based on their looks or charges. … Some of the most intelligent, hard-working and creative people I have ever met wear the title of felon.”
Those lessons – and the adaptability she calls “Semper Gumby,” or “always flexible,” prepared her for her next step: joining the VA system, where she now counsels fellow veterans.
Jade’s shared experience with her clients creates a foundation of trust and understanding. “We speak the same language,” she said. “I can picture the little details in their experiences because they were mine too. I know them, and they know me, and it shows in the work we do together.”
Her mission now is very personal. “It means that maybe there will be one less suicide,” she said. “There will be one more of my battles on this planet, making it through another day feeling even the smallest bit more understood or seen.”
Lessons in healing
Jade takes her own mental health as seriously as she does her clients’. A lesson from one of her professors, Dr. Meagan McBride, still guides her today: “You don’t have permission to take home what the client has told you.”
“When I walk out that door, it’s my duty to leave it there,” she said. “They need me to be mentally ready, and I can’t do that if I don’t take the time to disconnect and recharge.”
Now firmly rooted in her dream career, Jade hopes to expand her impact by helping prepare service members before they ever deploy.
“I think we could make a huge difference by teaching mental health tools during basic training,” she said. “If soldiers know how to notice their physical responses, communicate and cope, maybe they’ll be less likely to experience severe mental health symptoms later. Prevention could be a game-changer.”
In Jade's world, success isn’t measured in titles or accolades. Rather, connection is key. “I define success when the walls come down and honesty enters the room,” she said. “That’s when I know I have my clients’ trust … when they can answer their own questions and find their own way forward."
Today, she has absolutely no doubt she chose the right career. "People have trusted me with their thoughts and feelings, and I’ve been honored to watch them love themselves again, understand themselves, or find acceptance for the things they wish hadn’t happened," she said. "We speak the same language. I can picture the little details in their experiences because they were mine too. I understand the jokes, the mindset, what it means to love people as much as or even more than your family who you would have never met if it hadn’t been for the military. I know them and they know me. It shows in the work we do together."
Jade is grateful for the ways Heidelberg’s MAC program helped her build the foundation for a career that matters. “Heidelberg gave me the tools and confidence to step into this work,” she said. “It wasn’t just about learning theories. It was about learning who I am as a counselor.”