Blessing holds a Master of Arts in Psychology from Pepperdine University and a Bachelor of Science in Physiology and Neuroscience with a minor in Education Studies from the University of California, San Diego. During her master’s program, her academic work focused on postpartum depression in immigrant women and post-traumatic stress disorder symptomatology in asylum-seeking and refugee youth. While completing her master’s degree, Blessing worked as a public administrative analyst, providing health education on COVID-19. In this capacity, she also gathered data from patients regarding their COVID-19 diagnosis and planned, executed, and coordinated their care.
Blessing plans to pursue a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology after her time at the DCRP. Her research interests involve exploring the intersections between depression and social determinants, particularly concerning discrimination and systematic inequalities. Of particular interest to Blessing is advancing the accessibility and sustainability of culturally adaptive and evidence-based mental health literacy interventions for disenfranchised communities.