Shapo Interactive LLC
My Marriage Coach
Premarriage - Marriage - Reconcilation
Jacqueline Shapo, PhD, JD
About Coach Jackie
Jacqueline (Jackie) Shapo, PhD, JD, completed her undergraduate work at the University of Michigan and graduated Phi Beta Kappa and with High Honors in Psychology. She earned her PhD in Psychology (Clinical) from George Mason University in 2003. She completed internship training at the GMU Counseling Center, and her dissertation work was in the field of marriage therapy. Jackie completed conflict resolution trainings with the Mediation Training Consultation Institute and the Center for Social Gerontology in Ann Arbor, MI, as well as with the Northern Virginia Mediation Service.
Jackie also holds a JD from the University of Michigan Law School and, prior to her return to psychology, focused on corporate litigation, products liability, and tort law in Chicago, Detroit, and Virginia. She also worked in the financial services industry. Her experience in demanding fields and as a business owner gives her special insight into navigating the family-work life balance.
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Married 29 years, Jackie is Mom to five (2 daughters and 3 sons) ranging in age from 14 - 22 years old. Jackie's professional work since 2005 has primarily focused on constructive communication coaching & conflict resolution in a family context. Based in Potomac, MD, she serves clients in MD, VA, DC and remotely.
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Jackie is a speaker on many topics, including strengthening marriage, tackling loneliness, communicating constructively, and the impact of tech on families. She also speaks on family conflict resolution strategies. She has presented in Michigan, Virginia, and Maryland including for the Observer and Eccentric Newspapers, Learning in Retirement Institute, George Mason University Counseling Center, JCC: Older Adults Program, Arlington County Bar Association, Elder Law Section and the Virginia Academy of Elder Law Attorneys.
The Journey
In 2005, Jackie combined her psychology and law backgrounds to open her first conflict resolution practice "Proactive Answers, LLC" in Ann Arbor, MI. Her focus then was helping parents in high-conflict divorces learn to create positive relationships where they could co-parent respectfully and constructively, so children and parents could thrive again. A remark still rings in her ear from those days.... She was working with a set of high-achieving professionals who had an especially contentious divorce and who were court-ordered to work with her. The father remarked after several months of work and significant improvement both in the co-parenting relationship and the emotional well-being of their child, "I wish we could have worked with you while we were still married." If only...
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Marriage work was one of her long-standing passions and why she completed her dissertation and had significant clinical training through the George Mason University Marital Therapy Project. Jackie earned her PhD in Psychology from George Mason University in 2003. The demand for working with high-conflict divorced families was great, but her longing to go back to helping couples while they were still married was getting stronger.
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After moving to Virginia in 2013, she continued family conflict resolution work with a special focus on family conflict involving senior care. While this work also felt important, that early client's remark still rang in her ear. Following a break beginning in 2019, and a move to Maryland, Jackie opened her current practice, Shapo Interactive LLC, in March, 2022, to focus on premarriage, marriage, reconciliation, and coaching for key relationships.
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