Jaime Cordell, LMSW
Hi there, I'm Jaime!
I want to help you feel seen and heard.
As a therapist, I love having the honor of witnessing someone’s story and getting to build a helping relationship to meet their goals together. I love finding the “root” of problems. I love helping people explore the uncharted darkness in themselves so they can be free to maximize their light, potential, and worth. I love “figuring it out” and being creative with people to make treatment work FOR YOU, whatever that looks like. I love seeing people bloom like literal flowers when they are given the safe space they have always needed. I love building hope and identifying whatever barriers stand in your way. I love acceptance and accommodation.
To feel most empowered, we must find out who we really are. Therapy in my own life has given me connection to my authentic self, access to peace, and the ability to enjoy my life. I have found safety and home in myself through the therapeutic process. As a trained professional, I feel wholeheartedly committed to helping others achieve the same outcomes. Therapy saves lives and allows people to bravely be whole within themselves. I will sit with you through the darkness to remind you of your light and together we will find a way forward.
I’m known for being warm, incredibly non-judgmental, knowledgeable, honest, fun, and understanding. Importantly, my greatest strengths as a therapist include my ability to notice patterns of behavior over time and identify cycles that may be contributing to unhappiness. Through the therapeutic process, discovering new realizations together and building upon coping skills is often transformative for people wanting to reclaim control and feel revitalized in their lives. In my experience, most people find healing by increasing their ability to understand themselves and deepening their commitment to themselves, their needs, and their aspirations. Therapeutically, there are many tools and strategies we can use together. We will find what works best for you.
You deserve to put yourself first. You deserve to nourish your soul. You deserve to become the strongest version of yourself. I would be so honored to meet you and begin this journey with you.
EDUCATION
- MSW, Eastern Michigan University
- BSW, Eastern Michigan University
WORKS WITH
- Young Adults
- Adults
TYPES OF THERAPY
- Person Centered Therapy
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
- Trauma-Informed
- Strengths Based
Since childhood, my experiences have taught me how to honor both traumatic pain and post-traumatic growth. At first, some perceive me as a bubbly, lighthearted person but they quickly discover that I also hold real space for deep pain and darkness, honoring the very raw, heart-wrenching experiences that so many of us have unfortunately experienced in this world. Life can be terribly unfair and we often don’t have a choice but to endure the pain associated with things beyond our control, such as traumatic loss, abuse or neglect, social oppression, broken relationships, chronic illness, and more. I’m here to honor your experiences and I would never sugarcoat what you have gone through. I see you. I hear you. I want to create a safe space for you to authentically feel however you feel.
In that same space, I want to reignite the parts of you that have been buried for far too long. The parts of you that make you feel alive and whole again. The parts of you that existed before the world distinguished the fire within you. I know it’s hard. I know it may seem impossible. I know the sadness and anxiety of it all feels like you’re stuck without a way out. If there were an easy solution, you would have already found it. But together, we can find a way forward. I want to truly walk alongside you in this journey as we shift from pain and isolation to the rekindling of your soul and a new way of being.
I know healing is possible because of my own experiences.
When a therapist fell asleep on me while I was speaking in session, I vowed to make sure no one ever felt that disrespected and unimportant. As a therapist, I am unquestionably devoted to my clients and treat each person with the utmost dignity and respect.
When both my parents struggled with addiction my entire life so badly that I never felt like I was enough, I was hell-bent on learning how to feel love unconditionally. As a therapist, I commit myself entirely to ensuring that my clients feel unconditional positive regard from me and also have enough support in their life outside of therapy.
When I was involved with Child Protective Services (CPS) and the “family court system” as a child, I knew all I wanted when I grew up was to amplify the voice of others so they never felt so silenced and powerless. In my work with clients, my goal is to assist you in living your most empowered life – whatever that looks like for you. This is your life. Your voice matters. You deserve to take up space in the world. I want to help you be unapologetically yourself.
When my mother died while I was 15, I knew I never wanted another person to feel so alone and helpless. Becoming a therapist was a natural choice. Therapy is the one space in life where you can feel connected to a completely non-judgmental person who is 100% focused on your wellness. Healing starts when we feel heard and understood, connected to someone human-to-human.
When I was in a near fatal car accident leaving me with chronic pain and permanent injuries, I knew I never wanted someone else to feel so trapped or uncomfortable in their own body. This has given me enormous empathy and insight into the lives of those with chronic illness, especially those who experience invalidation or misunderstandings from others. My personal experiences combined with my training on the intersection between chronic illness and mental health have allowed me to serve this population in a unique way. I understand the complexities of the mind-body connection and feel proud to be a trusted therapist in our community for those with chronic illness or pain.
Sometimes our painful experiences are hard to explore but the personal death/rebirth cycle in my own life has given me the opportunity to grow, continuously be a better version of myself, and to fully step into my abilities as a therapist. When feeling isolated, connection is the medicine. When feeling broken, trusting our inherent wholeness is healing. I want more than anything to fix the neglectful, oppressive, discriminatory systems that keep so many people down. I believe in hope, healing and change. I believe we can make this world better by starting with ourselves. Since I am not able to reform/rebuild the entire mental health, social services, medical, educational, political systems – for now, I hope to meet with as many people as I can to help them connect to their inner light and authenticity.
FAVORITE SELF-CARE
Being in nature as much as possible and walks with my dog.
FUN FACTS
- I love nature, flowers and paper products (planners, stickers, highlighters etc.)!
- My cat and dog are my favorite friends, along with my plants.
- I have gone skydiving and I love to travel.
LIFE MOTTOS
““Finding yourself” is not really how it works. You aren’t a ten-dollar bill in last winter’s coat pocket. You are also not lost. Your true self is right there, buried under cultural conditioning, other people’s opinions, and inaccurate conclusions you drew as a kid that became your beliefs about who you are. “Finding yourself” is actually returning to yourself. An unlearning, an excavation, a remembering who you were before the world got its hands on you.” – Emily McDowell
“True belonging is the spiritual practice of believing in and belonging to yourself so deeply that you can share your most authentic self with the world and find sacredness in both being a part of something and standing alone in the wilderness. True belonging doesn’t require you to change who you are; it requires you to be who you are.” – Brené Brown
