Intuitive Body-Based Counseling
Connecting the Wisdom of the Body and the Mind
anxiety / depression / self esteem / relationships / spirituality / loneliness / trauma / sexuality / addiction /life changes / anger / heartbreak / chronic illness
Are you ready to change?
Do you feel lost, confused, stuck in the same old relationship patterns, or paralyzed by decisions? Nagged by constant health issues or just a general sense that something isn’t quite right? Maybe you even know what it is you want to change, but you can’t seem to do it?
This isn’t your grandma’s therapy.
In these private counseling sessions, we work together to move past the rational brain and explore the realm of the body, the subconscious, and the nervous system. Once we discover what obstacles are in place, the body will show us the keys to unlocking those gateways so we can open to the possibility of change.
Our bodies experience our world differently from the way our minds do. Our bodies remember differently. You know that thing where you get freaked out by something totally innocuous? Don’t trust your own gut? Keep dating the same person over and over again even as you try to do things differently? Find yourself wanting out of some pattern in your life and don’t know how to do it? That’s a thing where your nervous system is making decisions for you. Sometimes that’s because of trauma or some old experience. Sometimes it’s what your mama taught you. Sometimes it’s patriarchy, capitalism, or white supremacy.
The good news is, it doesn’t actually matter that much what it is. What matters is that we can heal. When we reconnect the wires between the mind and the body, we can work with the nervous system to make real changes in the deeper systems of the body—and that can have an effect on the deep systems of our culture and community, too.
This is a deeply personal and intuitive process of facilitating your body’s ability to show you how to heal and change. We use tools like conversation, meditation, visualization, intuition, movement, breath, energy work, and Tarot, depending on the person and what’s going on that day. I pull from therapeutic techniques like AEDP, IFS, mindfulness, narrative therapy, and some witchier tools if we’re working with the energy body. We collaborate to figure out what your body, mind, heart, and nervous system might need in that moment.
You have everything you need inside of you to heal yourself and make a change. I’m here to help you find that magic.
“Through her one-on-one offerings as well as her books Julie has helped me find my way back to myself and rediscover colors that had long felt inaccessible to me. She’s exceptionally gifted in her ability to intuit what is needed in a particular session and her caring presence creates a safe space for exploration. I found her ability to ask the right questions, listen empathetically and offer clarity incredibly helpful and healing.
I am deeply grateful to Julie for her guidance and wisdom and can highly recommend working with her.”
Influences
Somatic practice
Mindfulness Meditation
Trauma-informed
Internal Family Systems (IFS)
Carl Rogers’ Person-Centered therapy
Narrative Therapy
Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
Accelerated Experiential-Dynamic Psychotherapy (AEDP)
Energy Work, Tarot, and Intuition
How It Works
I can work with you virtually from anywhere in the world or in person at The Wellness Clinic in West Edmonton. Everyone is different, but I recommend committing to at least eight weeks of weekly sessions to begin. It’s enough time to get to know each other, identify the problem/s, what might be sitting beneath the surface, and start to make some changes. For some people, that’s enough, while others want to continue. It’s up to you!
Please note that insurance doesn’t always cover wellness counselling. Check with your provider to see if your health spending or wellness account will cover my work with you.
60-minute session: $130+tax CAN
90-minute session: $160+tax CAN
All prices are in CAD.
I offer a complimentary discovery call of around 15 minutes so we can see if we’d be a good fit.
*I have limited sliding scale spots available for clients for whom cost is a barrier (minimum 8 week commitment). Email to inquire.
About Me
Hi! I’m Julie. Here are some things you might want to know about me, my education, and my lived experience. First, a few basics:
Master’s degree in English Literature from McGill University
Certificate in counseling from Vancouver Community College
Yoga and Meditation: 500 Hour Certified through Semperviva Yoga Studio (plus many more)
Trauma Master Series through NICABM (and others)
EMDR Integrative Training with Linda Curran
Reiki Level 3 from WestCoast Reiki Center
Process-Focused Tarot with Jessica Dore
Archetypal Tarot with Mariana Louis (and others)
Mentored by energy worker Jacqui Willcocks
Supervised by Karen Goodfellow
I have always been a sensitive person and was diagnosed with an anxiety disorder in my 20s. Tools like Cognitive Behavioral Therapy really helped me, but I also found I needed something that could get past my tendency to over-intellectualize and help me tap into my body, and yoga and meditation became touchstones. For over a decade, I ran a yoga studio in Vancouver, BC. The Pathfinding program evolved from the deep one-on-one work I was doing with clients on mindfulness and stress management at the yoga studio. I have a certificate in counseling from Vancouver Community College and have trained in trauma-sensitive practice from various perspectives. I like to work with a range of counseling techniques and tools learned through my energy work education and practice (when appropriate).
I got married kind of late, and I have plenty of experience with heartbreak and the ups and downs of the single life. I had a baby during the pandemic. I’m a feminist, which, for me, includes fighting for the rights of women, men, trans individuals, and non-binary people to be their whole and healing selves. I’m doing my best to be anti-oppressive in my work on as many levels as I can. I have a Master’s degree in Canadian literature from McGill, where I focused on writers that were engaged with questions about racism and colonization in Canadian history. You can read more about my perspective in the reading nook and/or follow me on Instagram to learn more.
I am a staff writer for Spirituality and Health Magazine and have written three books, including the Canada Book Award-winning Want: 8 Steps to Recovering Desire, Passion, and Pleasure After Sexual Assault (Mango Media), Secrets of the Eternal Moon Phase Goddesses: Meditations on Desire, Relationships, and the Art of Being Broken (SkyLight Paths), and the forthcoming Full Moon Yearbook (David&Charles).
Some of my work is quite spiritual, gusting witchy, but I only pull that out if it feels right and you’re into it—as a friend once said about me, I’m as “woo” as you want me to be. Even within the intuitive framework, everything I offer is based on research, evidence, and/or personal experience, and I have deep respect for wherever you are in your journey at this point. For me, this work is a collaboration: you’re the expert on yourself and your life, and we work together to figure out the path that’s right for you.
“Julie, I can’t thank you enough. I lack the words to express the gratitude that I feel towards our work together and for finding you on my path. You have been incredibly patient and present. You gave me the tools to understand what meaning…means! […] It’s incredibly empowering to be able to say that I am enough as I am and actually believing it. And I would have never been able to get to this point without you (or it would have taken a looooot more time!)”
— Marina O.
Once the work began, we were able to […] organize the energy within my body. Much like organizing your closet, I re-organized my emotions, simmered and consoled my pains, and uprooted the railway tie pains that were stuck throughout my body.
I learned to forgive, love and let go, of the habits, ways – I was holding myself back and I thanked anyone who had caused pain to me. These sessions helped to rip things open, remove them and heal them, one by one. Amazing.
This sh*t shines through so bright and many other friends and family have picked up on it. When they comment or ask, “What’s new?” I flat out tell them. “I’ve been on a path and I’ve been organizing my sh*t!” ☺
My mind is clearer, my body lighter and my future now looks amazing.
— J.E.M
[Julie’s] framework for helping others work through old patterns that keep coming up, for creating clarity where there was once confusion, and for reclaiming the body, energy, and life you deserve and are here to live is outstanding. She brings humour, warmth, courage and objectivity to all of her work. The last few years of my life would have looked very different had I not invested in the time and space with Julie. I am grateful for her offerings and how she supported me in taking back the reigns on my life.
— K. Gouthro