Jaime Lee Berger, LISW

After completing an undergraduate education at the University of Iowa with majors in psychology and social work, I was employed as a youth worker in a residential treatment facility for adolescent girls court-ordered to treatment. After five years of this work, I returned to the University of Iowa to pursue my Master's degree in social work. After earning my degree in May of 2007, I was hired as a clinician at the Adoption and Attachment Treatment Center of Iowa where I specialized in adoptive families for the following two years. My sessions focus on healing trauma, achieving secure attachment in relationships, and developing a positive self-identity. I formed Creating Connections Counseling, PLLC in January 2010 to carry on the mission of helping adoptive families, and expanded to serve any person in distress from traumatic experiences and anxiety. I was trained in an evidence-based intervention for trauma called EMDR in 2010. In 2011, I became a registered attachment clinician with ATTACH, the national Association for Training on Trauma and Attachment in children. In addition to seeing clients, I began teaching an annual graduate class at the University of Iowa School of Social Work in 2016 titled "Social Work Practice with Children, Youth, and Families." I continue to pursue specialized training and consultation for my work. My direct practice is influenced by master therapists and researchers such as Bessel Van der Kolk, Stephen Porges, Daniel Siegel, Daniel Hughes, Allan Schore, Jaak Panksepp, Deborah Gray, Heather Forbes, Sandra Paulsen, Debra Wesselman, Eliana Gil, and Ana Gomez among many others. I enjoy collaborating with other service providers, caregivers, and schools to create supportive therapeutic environments for children to heal, grow, and eventually thrive.