Hi! I'm a Licensed Certified Clinical Social Worker (LCSW-C) based in Maryland. I received my Masters from the University of Maryland and have been practicing for over 30 years. I help adults, older adults, couples, and families with anxiety, grief, life transitions, and end of life concerns to resolve conflicts, become the best versions of themselves, and live in peace.
What can clients expect to take away from sessions with you?
In our first session together, we'll start with brief introductions, then dive into the specifics of what you hope to achieve and the challenges you're facing. This will help us create a tailored yet flexible plan for our follow-up sessions.
Explain to clients what areas you feel are your biggest strengths.
I believe my greatest strengths as a clinical therapist lie in my ability to create a safe, supportive, and non-judgmental space where you can truly be yourself. Therapy is all about you—your needs, goals, and pace—and I’m here to listen, understand, and walk alongside you through whatever challenges you face. With over 30 years of experience, I’ve helped individuals, couples, families, and older adults navigate difficult emotions, heal from trauma, and build resilience. My approach is grounded in empathy, respect, and a deep commitment to helping you explore what you dream of achieving as well as the root causes of your feelings and experiences. I’m dedicated to providing you with tools to better know yourself, and practical, empowering strategies to move forward with more confidence and peace. Whether you’re looking toward a renewed future, heal from the past, or build a stronger sense of self, I offer a virtual space where you can feel heard, valued, and supported. I bring a thoughtful, results-driven approach to therapy that helps you uncover both the root of your challenges and the potential for a positive future. Together, we’ll create a personalized plan for growth, focusing on meaningful steps forward at your pace. Change is always within reach, and I’m here to support and guide you as you build a future filled with greater confidence, peace, and resilience.
Describe the client(s) you are best positioned to serve.
I love working with adults and older adults over the age of 45. Throughout my career I've worked with children, teenagers, young adults who were carving their career paths and learning to parent and raise families, and older adults (seniors). I have a solid foundation in working with people of all ages and developmental life stages. I've witnessed how adults whose children are in college or are grown with their own families are turning their attention to their aging parents. Sometimes called the sandwich generation, people age 45 or 50 and older face many challenges as their lives are shifting and their parents need their help, or there is "unfinished business" in their relationships. My clients are eager to improve, but don't yet have the tools or know the steps needing to be taken to clarify their goals and make them a reality. They often feel stuck, overwhelmed and anxious and I help them find heart-centered resolutions, peace and joy.
About Jacke Schroeder
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VirtualMy treatment methods
Acceptance and commitment (ACT)
If you haven't heard of ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy) I thought I would explain a bit about it for you. ACT is a form of psychotherapy that combines aspects of mindfulness and behavioral therapy to help people accept their thoughts and feelings, rather than struggle against them, while also committing to actions that align with their values. The goal is to increase your psychological flexibility—being open to difficult emotions, thoughts, and experiences, but also taking action based on what matters to you in life. This method can be used for universal challenges. I often make it a primary starting point for people experiencing grief and loss. There are six core processes in ACT and I implement them as appropriate to what you're experiencing. They are: Cognitive Defusion which is learning to witness or observe your thoughts so you don’t become dominated by them; Acceptance which is embracing your feelings, thoughts, and experiences, especially the uncomfortable ones, instead of avoiding them; Present Moment Awareness, one of my favorites, is being mindful and aware of what's happening in the here and now, rather than getting lost in past regrets or future worries, even though we will talk about the past and future; Self-as-Context is learning how to see yourself from a broader perspective, understanding that you are more than your thoughts, feelings, and experiences; Values Clarification, in other words, identifying what truly matters to you in life—your deep values—and using that as a compass to guide your behavior; and last, Committed Action which is deciding on and taking meaningful actions that are in line with your values, even in the presence of difficult emotions or thoughts. I incorporate aspects of ACT in most sessions and include other counseling modalities as well based on why you've come to meet with me.
Cognitive Behavioral (CBT)
I've received a lot of training in CBT because this counseling method can be used for many of the challenges people face. CBT is about understanding how your thoughts effect your emotions and behaviors, and then learning strategies to change those thoughts and behaviors so you can feel better and improve your health and relationships. It's truly one of the gold standard treatments for anxiety and depression, among other conditions. CBT is a collaborative process between me and my clients. The method encourages a more active and direct role by me than in some other therapies in which I guide my clients through exercises, thought challenges, and skill-building, and sometimes assignments for outside or our time together. I will encourage you to take an active role in your counseling by practicing what you learn both inside and outside our sessions. I apply this method regularly because it's a very practical approach to therapy, and I find it's effective with people who not only experience anxiety and depression but also grief and loss, anger, sleep problems, chronic pain, obsessive thinking, weight loss challenges, and post traumatic stress.
Polyvagal Therapy
Many of us experience trauma in our lives, some beginning as children and throughout our lifespan. Often the trauma has not been treated and found its home in our body leaving us in a continual state feeling unsafe and disconnected and in an emotional survival way of living. The overarching goal of polyvagal therapy is to help you shift from survival states like fight/flight, freeze and fawn responses, to states of safety and connection. We will utilize your vagus nerve, which originates in a part of your brainstem and extends down to your chest and abdomen, as a "gateway" to regulate your nervous system to promote resilience, emotional balance, and healing from trauma. Key methods I've been using for over 30 years for myself and my clients are breathing techniques, grounding and centering practices, somatic experiencing, neuroception and safety signals to be able to detect unconscious safety and danger in your environment and how to create safety.