meet JAmie
The Heart Behind Sarajen Therapy
I’m Jamie, a licensed clinical social worker and the founder of Sarajen Therapy. For over 13 years, I’ve worked with individuals across the lifespan helping them navigate grief, anxiety, life transitions, and the quiet challenges that shape our lives. My work is warm, empathetic, and deeply human, grounded in the belief that every person has inherent worth and the capacity to grow and transform.
Therapy Rooted in Compassion, Presence, and Whole-Person Healing
My approach is client-centered, non-pathologizing, and grounded in genuine connection. I draw from multiple therapeutic modalities including ACT, CBT, and a mindfulness-oriented perspective that helps people feel seen, understood, and supported.
My style is warm, collaborative, and honest — offering a grounded presence that helps clients explore emotions, build resilience, and reconnect with what matters most to them.
I work with adolescents and adults navigating:
Anxiety & depression
Grief & loss
Life transitions
Parenting & relationship stress
Emotional overwhelm & “stuckness”
Identity challenges and periods of existential questioning
At the heart of my work is a simple intention: to create a space where people feel safe, valued, and able to breathe a little easier.
OffeRings
A Path Shaped by Loss, Love, and Lived Experience
My path to grief work began long before I had the language for it. When my sister Sarah died, my world changed. Grief rearranged everything — my priorities, my sense of self, and my understanding of what it means to sit with pain.
As I moved through my own loss, I realized how difficult it was to find clinicians who truly understood sibling grief. That experience guided my professional path. I pursued specialty training in grief therapy not just as a clinician, but as a sister trying to make meaning from something impossible.
What Shapes My Work
Grief deepened my capacity to hold space — to sit with people in the dark without trying to rush them out of it. It shaped the way I listen, what I pay attention to, and how I honor the stories people carry.
Two of Sarah’s reminders stay close to me:
“If it’s important to you, you’ll find a way.”
“Trust in a higher power. There is a plan for you.”
These ideas — values, meaning, hope — naturally inform how I show up in the therapy room.
A Practice Built From Legacy, Connection, and Meaning
Sarajen is named for my sisters — Sarah, whose memory continues to shape the way I move through the world, and Jenny, whose strength and support remain a steady part of my life today. Together, their influence inspires the values at the heart of this practice: remembrance, authenticity, transformation, and hope.
Sarajen Therapy is more than a practice — it’s a space where people can come as they are, honor their own stories, and reconnect with who they’re becoming.
Why SarajeN TherApy?
My Path to Social Work
Before opening my private practice, I spent over a decade serving individuals, families, and communities in a variety of mental health and social service settings.
BacKground
Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW)
Grief Support Specialist Certification I have worked in outpatient mental health, nonprofit settings, program coordination, and roles supporting women’s health and the well-being of underserved populations. My earlier work included international program development in Turkey, India, Nicaragua, and Belize, helping build services and partnerships within limited-resource environments.
Extensive experience working across the lifespan
A strong foundation in community-based care and global service work
Education
MSW, University of Chicago – School of Social Service Administration
BA, University of Wisconsin–Madison
These experiences shaped the way I show up as a clinician: grounded, relational, trustworthy, and deeply committed to whole-person care.
Ready to take the next Step?
Healing begins with a conversation.
Reach out when you’re ready — I’d be honored to walk alongside you. I work with clients both in person and through virtual telehealth sessions. Whether we meet in the office or online, I hold space for the same depth, presence, and intentional connection that guide my approach.