As we sit in the dim lighting of the first floor of the Logos, psychology professor Mollie Carter drinks a pumpkin spice latte. It’s early this morning, but Carter seems cheerfully awake.
She jokes about the jazz that pours out of Modero’s speakers before taking another sip of her latte.
Carter started her time at Union as an undergraduate student. Although she is a psychology professor now, she was originally a biology major with a chemistry minor. That soon changed after she took a psychology class as a general requirement.
“I enjoyed my time here at Union,” Carter said. “During my sophomore year I took introduction to counseling … and that was the class that really kind of solidified it for me: that psychology was where I was supposed to be.”
When asked what made her so drawn to psychology, Carter joked, “It was very common for my friends to come to me when they had problems, and I was like, well that’s a pretty good indication. The theories made sense to me when aspects of other fields just didn’t.”
Carter was taught by her now coworkers David Vickery and Jinni Blalack, and she formed an especially close bond with Blalack, who later became a close friend.
Blalack, now the psychology department chair, was Carter’s advisor. Blalack said that the two formed an “easy friendship.” Her story of Carter’s interest in psychology gives us insight on Carter’s dedication even as an undergraduate.
“She was a very good student. She was an excellent student,” Blalack said. “She really challenged herself to learn the discipline. Even though she wasn’t coming in as a freshman, she was able to handle the material … she studied on her own and brought herself up on the basics.”
Throughout the next decade, the two remained close and formed a long-lasting friendship.
“She had the opportunity to mentor me and make me ready for academic life,” Carter said. “And I’m thankful she did because this is where I always wanted to be, and its been an honor to be called back here.”
Carter is among the three full time professors at Union that make up the psychology department. She also teaches the introduction to psychology course, and particularly enjoys seeing other students find their calling there as she did years ago.
“I really enjoy that class because that’s where a lot of students who don’t know that they’d be interested in psychology really learn that they are,” Carter said. “It was probably the first class that I was like, ‘hey this is cool,’ so to be able to be a part of this for students is really cool.”
Carter did her Christian mental health counseling at Oral Roberts University and later counseled locally at a community health center in Jackson for three years but has found a special calling in teaching.
“I prefer teaching, but I like to teach how to counsel, you know?” Carter said. “I love to teach theories and all that — behavioral and cognitive — as I’ve had the opportunity.”
When asked if she loves the research aspect of her field, Carter lit up, “Oh yes, definitely. I’m having so much fun with that this year.”
Much of Carter’s research deals with the topic of deconstruction of faith in adolescents.
“A trend I see that is really heavy on my heart is that a lot of emerging adults deconstruct their faith, and I don’t think that has to happen,” Carter said.
Carter uses both textbook theories and her faith to teach her students to the highest potential. She likes to prepare her students for life after Union, as her professors did for her.
I could tell that Carter is incredibly passionate about teaching her students, as she eagerly told me the story of how her 11 “very capable” students in her research class successfully completed research of their own around Union’s campus.
The students’ goal was to gather information from 300 students around campus without giving any compensation or extra credit. Carter informed me that that very morning they hit 345 participants. I was delighted to realize I was one of them.
“They’ve done a lot of really hard work, and I love to do research on my own as well, but it’s even more fun to do with students,” Carter said. “They’ve worked very hard and I’m really proud of what they have accomplished.”
Although it is hard for Carter to choose a favorite part of the psychology field, she talked very fondly of her integration of faith and psychology.
“It’s my goal for the students who leave my classes (to) know the theories better than anyone else that they’re going to go to graduate school with, but even more importantly, it’s important to me that they never elevate those theories above biblical truth,” Carter said.
When asked if faith had heavily affected her career, Carter strongly replied, “Definitely. You’re not just called to be psychologists, but you’re also called to be transformed and transform others.”
“The purpose of being trained excellently at a place like Union is that you can fulfill your calling with excellence,” Carter said. “And then people really can’t deny that you do a good job, and then you get the respect from them and the opportunity to share your faith.”
At some point during my conversation with her, I thought to myself: this woman is insanely intelligent. I told her this, and she beamed before saying: “Well as they say, thank you, and Lord bless.”
“Overall here, my goal is to make disciples who are trained with excellence and the theories and techniques of psychology,” said Carter. “So that they can go out into the world that needs Jesus, and promote human flourishing, and treat psychopathology in a way that is evidence based, but in a way that upholds the truth of scripture.”