Hi, I’m Jaime!

Licensed Professional Counselor

And if life has taught me anything, it’s:

life is less about what happens to you, and more about what you do next.

So far in your life, you’ve followed the rules, done what’s expected of you and adhered to the unspoken social contract of always pursuing what comes next in life. And it’s worked really well for you. Because you are smart, capable and determined.

However, you’re now recognizing that even the life you’ve desired and worked so hard for comes with stress and strain in the adjustment. If you’ve worked hard for your new reality, be it a new career or a growing family, you might be surprised or disappointed by the ambivalence or resentment you’re feeling. For so long you’ve looked forward to the reality you are approaching or experiencing. You thought: “just wait until this happens. Then I’ll be happy!”

And sometimes life hands you changes you didn’t ask for or expect. This reality was not a part of your plan. I understand that. Growing up as a child in a home of divorce, I experienced a family where no one would have chosen the reality of the lives we were living. Which means, before becoming a counselor I understood:

you are not your circumstances.

For good or for bad. A successful career does not guarantee happiness. A healthy marriage still has conflict. A beautiful family isn’t immune from trauma. And negative outcomes do not dictate misery. If this feels hard to believe, I can help you understand through counseling.

Counseling is a creative process and I utilize a variety of methods to introduce new ways of thinking and relating that best suit your needs. You can expect counseling with me to be a very action oriented process, where each session we identify specific strategies or steps you will take to enact change in your life.

After all, life is just a constant series of changes: some we welcome, some we fear. It was my biology class in high school where I decided I wanted to have a career helping others and promoting their health. But it was when I arrived at Johns Hopkins University that I came to understand that would be a focus on promoting mental health.

My Masters in Counseling Psychology from Fairleigh Dickinson University equipped me with skills to help promote meaningful change in your life. People sometimes ask with curiosity, “how does talking about things help?” Counseling is a supportive relationship where I come to understand things from your perspective, and then gently challenge you to consider new ways of thinking (which in turn transforms your feelings) and relating. As I like to say, “insight is good, but insight with action is better.” So the magic of counseling is what you do differently in between our sessions, that’s where the transformation occurs.

For more than two decades now, I have been fortunate to provide counseling services to individuals and families either adjusting to major life events or trying to create change in their lives to improve mood and relationships. I can help you in your unique needs, challenges, and goals of this stage of life. It may be about letting go of strategies that have served you well so far in life and gotten to where you are, so you can embrace new ways of thinking and relating to get to where you want to be next. We will work collaboratively to determine what counseling can provide you.