Hi, I’m Julie

My “mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humour and some style.”
Maya Angelou

You are not your trauma. You can heal AND be the hero of your own life.

You may be hurting cognitively, emotionally and physically. You may desperately want someone to see you, hear you and understand what you’ve been through, are currently going through and are afraid will have to go through again.

I want to help you because I’ve been there and know how horrible it is to feel broken and stuck in anxiety, depression, and PTSD symptoms…to doubt if you will ever be okay and actually be able to live your life. I have found freedom from these symptoms and I want to help you find that same freedom that healing can offer you, your relationships and your life.

It is the greatest thing to witness someone who steps into therapy burdened with pain and walks away light and free. And the beautiful thing is that it’s your own brain and body that does the healing!

What does the journey look like? Once you and I connect, we stabilize your nervous system to stop the downward spiral. Then we upgrade or rewire your nervous system by reprocessing the trauma so your nervous system is equipped to respond to life’s adversities with resiliency. Then we help you develop skills, set goals and take action to achieve your dreams.

You can be a victor not a victim of anxiety, depression and PTSD.

Let’s work together!

You don’t have to struggle with symptoms of anxiety, addiction, depression, insomnia, pain or PTSD. Let me help you.

I have over 15 years experience working with children, adolescents and adults who come to counselling feeling broken, unloveable, incompetent, unsafe and powerless. They become the hero of their own lives. They leave counselling feeling understood, worthwhile, capable, safe and connected to themselves, their loved ones, their jobs, their communities, and their future.

If you’re trying to move beyond a sexual assault, recover from a divorce, the death of a loved one, or childhood trauma…please reach out.

Harness the capacity of neuroplasticity and heal your life. It’s your turn!

Start here for FREE

If you’re feeling stuck in your traumatic responses then this 3 part audio practice can help.

  1. Connect with your body using movement of your own making with TCTSY.

  2. Stabilize your nervous system with EMDR: access and rewire adaptive thoughts, feelings, and sensations.

  3. Thrive in a resilient nervous system with a self-compassion coaching practice.

Feel free to start your healing journey now!

What it’s like working with me….

  • Thank you for all the work you have done with me over the past 2 years.  It's hard to find someone who you connect with, but also who really understands.  I think one of the things that separates you from others, is that you have actually been through some s%$t yourself...I think you are a very special person and talented therapist.

    -S. (former client)

  • Thank you for all the support you have shown me helping me find a better path. Thank you for the hope that my future may not be bleak after all. Thank you Julie for making me a better man than the one I was when I met you.

    -E. (former client)

  • Thank you so much for being such a constant, reliable presence in my life. You helped me deal with some pretty life-restricting things…things that have been holding me back for years.

    -A. (former client)

My Credentials…

Experience

2019-Present EMDR Basic Training Facilitator, Consultant and Presenter (Envision Workshops & Winnipeg EMDR Centre) 

2020-Present EMDR Consultant (Journey With Julie, Winnipeg EMDR Centre and Safe Harbour Therapy Centre)

2018-2022 Founder & Director (Safe Harbour Therapy Centre)

2012-Present Counsellor (Self Employed: Journey With Julie and Safe Harbour Therapy Centre)

2012-2013 Sessional Instructor (University of Manitoba)

2007-2013 School Guidance Counsellor (Seven Oaks School Division)

2000-2006 High School Teacher (Winnipeg, MB; Manama, Bahrain; Graham, North Carolina)

Education

2011 Master of Education - Counselling Psychology (University of Manitoba. Supervisor: Dr. Meera Chohan)

2006 Post Baccalaureate in Education - Guidance and Counselling (University of Manitoba. Supervisor: Marjorie Winters)

2000 Bachelor of Education - Major: English, Minor: Biology (University of Manitoba. Supervisor: Richard J. Harbeck)

Associations

Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association

EMDR Canada and EMDR International Association

Yoga Alliance

Centre for Trauma and Embodiment

Life Purpose Institute

Certification

2023 Certified Life and Spiritual Coach (Life Purpose Institute. Supervisor: Nailah Blades & Kimberly Haynes )

2022 Registered 200 Hour Yoga Teacher (Yoga Alliance: Kootenay Yoga School. Supervisor Stephania Spitzer)

2022 Reiki Master (Inner Journey Reiki. Supervisor: Purnima Chaudhari)

2022 Certified TCTSY Facilitator - 300 Hr (Centre for Trauma and Embodiment. Supervisor: Nicola Mosley)

2021 Approved EMDR Consultant (EMDRIA. Supervisor: Dr. Kelly Penner Hutton)

2019 EMDR Certified Therapist (EMDRIA Approved. Supervisor: Sue Genest)

2015 EMDR Basic Training - Audit (EMDRIA Approved. Supervisor: Sue Genest)

2013 EMDR Basic Training (EMDRIA Approved. Supervisor: Sue Genest)

2011 - Canadian Certified Counsellor (Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association. Membership #6242

Additional Training

EMDR 2.0, Making Complex PTSD Simple Again, Assessing Dissociative Disorders and Conceptualizing Treatment Planning, Advanced Stabilization Skills for Complex Dissociative Disorders, Identifying and Working with Traumatized Clients Who Have A Personality Disorder, EMDR for Schizophrenia and Other Psychoses, Parts/Ego State Work in EMDR Practice, Feldenkrais Fundamentals, Using DBT for Emotional DisRegulation, EMDR Therapy Preparation for Adults with Attachment Trauma, Catastrophic Shame: Locating Points of Entry into Stable Closed Systems of Emotional Pain, Treating Complex Trauma with EMDR and Structural Dissociation, Group Traumatic Episode Protocol, Recent Traumatic Episode Protocol, The Role of Spirituality in Trauma Wounding and the Healing of EMDR Therapy, Healing the Fragmented Selves of Trauma Survivors: Overcoming Self-Alienation, Comparison of EMDR Approaches for Managing Over-Accessing, Demystifying and Humanizing Dissociation in EMDR Therapy Practice, Advancing Excellence in Treating Complex Trauma, Healing Children through Integrating Play & Art Therapy with EMDR Therapy, EMDR Therapy & Somatic Psychology to Enhance Embodiment, Phase Four: When to Stay Out of the Way and When to Guide Reprocessing, EMDR for Early Trauma and Neglect Held in Implicit Memory, The Art of EMDR, Mental Health First Aid, Becoming Trauma-Informed, Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction, Attachment in Schools, ALLY training, Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training, Problematic Sexualized Behaviour (FASA), Working Effectively with Violent and Aggressive, Students (WEVAS), Threat Assessment Level 1, Roots of Empathy

Healing takes time, effort and support.

After all, your nervous system was developed based on your ancestor’s genetic blueprint, your childhood experiences, and it's been firing in the same survival pattern all of your life.

It takes time, repeating new adaptive pathways to disconnect old maladaptive neural pathways, so your nervous system can automatically rely on the new ones.

If you’re ready to heal, then journey with me to uncover your resilient, intuitive, authentic self and start living your life on your own terms.

Membership Courses

  • Stabilize

    Want to feel more present in your body? Practice these 6 TCTSY videos and feel more in charge of your body.

  • Rewire

    Want to respond better to triggers? Practice these 6 EMDR videos to contain, reset & rewire your nervous system.

  • Achieve

    Ready to move forward in your life? Practice these 6 videos to move past your blocks and achieve your goals.

Learn More

How I arrived to be of service for you...

I was born and raised in Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada and have travelled and worked in various places around the world. Currently I live and work on the traditional homelands of the Dakota, Anishanabek, Oji-Cree, Cree, Dene and Metis peoples known as Minnedosa, Manitoba.

Like you and many others, I’ve lived through many adverse life experiences or traumas. Yet over the past two decades, I have experienced various therapeutic approaches to move past my traumatic responses to know that I am not my trauma. I’ve also followed my curiosity to learn about the impacts of trauma and train in empirically validated, clinical interventions for cPTSD like TCTSY and EMDR so I can support others to heal, just as I did.

I know what it’s like to feel broken, exhausted by your emotions, afraid of your own body, annoyed by your own thoughts and petrified to do the work. But I also know what it’s like to feel safe enough to connect with myself, harness the energy and courage to reprocess my traumas and unlock my inner resilience!

As a trauma therapist, my intention is to support people like you to harness your inner resilience to not just survive, but to thrive in your life. The latest research in Trauma Theory and Neuroscience proves that that it’s in us to heal. Your nervous system has the capacity to change. I truly believe if I can do it, then you can, too. Feel free to read about my journey below or listen to the first episode of my podcast.

I’ve always been a fierce advocate for the underdog because I am one … I was the sixth born into a family of seven kids! My parents selflessly dedicated their lives to their children but their nervous system dysfunction resulted in my own dysregulation and left an imprint on my nervous system.

As an adolescent, my dysregulation resulted in behaviours that others used to label and treat me as a ‘trouble-maker’. I used the ‘fighting energy’ of my sympathetic nervous system to become a teacher myself so I could advocate for the kids who were lost - like I was...

In my third year of teaching high school, my eldest brother took his own life. Already on shaky ground myself, I ping- ponged from one trauma to another, creating more difficulty for myself, for many years.

For the longest time, I thought my struggle with my mental health was a life sentence.

But with therapy, I started to feel differently. My intuition was affirmed in Peter Levine’s book, Waking The Tiger, when he said “trauma is a fact of life. It does not, however, have to be a life sentence. Not only can trauma be healed but with appropriate guidance and support, it can be transformative.”

So after six years of teaching I went back to school to become a school counsellor to support student’s mental health. Then after another six years, I wanted to help people more effectively so I went back to school, obtained my Masters and became a counselling therapist in the community.

I instructed counselling courses at the University of Manitoba, and then set up my own psychotherapy practice using Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) to support individuals in the community to heal - just as I had healed.

It appeared that all my hard work was paying off! I met my husband and that attachment taught me that it was okay to trust. My felt sense of security in the world was getting stronger. We started to build a family but the Universe had other plans…

I endured four miscarriages and had to face the reality that my nervous system’s go-to response was now in dorsal vagal shutdown. After some time away from my private practice, I reluctantly realized that my lifelong dream to have a family had to came to an end.

I painfully let go of that dream and dusted off my dream of building a holistic Wellness Centre. One that housed therapies that could support all the differently types of healing I had learned about and experienced - all in one place! Just like in the schools when I was a counsellor and as described in Bessel van der Kolk’s book, The Body Keeps the Score.

…then COVID-19 happened.

Everyone’s nervous systems were activated - and some people spilled over onto others. My fawning response stemming from childhood made it an extremely challenging time. What started out as a dream to offer a place for people in the community to heal, like my brother, ended up being the place for me to heal within relationships, too!

I enrolled in the Trauma Centre Trauma Sensitive Yoga (TCTSY) certification program. Going through that training offered many experiences to Reclaim My Body. My Authentic Self. My Resilience. My Intuition ... My Power.

I certified as a Life & Spiritual Coach, Reiki practitioner, and a 200 hour yoga teacher. My husband I moved out of the city to be in nature where my nervous system could relax and thrive.

I sold my Wellness Centre and focused my energy on writing my first book, creating my online Wellness platform and offering my healing services.

As a highly sensitive person, I have a deep appreciation for the awesomeness of humanity and of life itself. But most importantly, I have an unwavering belief that it’s in us to heal.

It would be an honour to work with you!

To co-create an environment that is safe enough to cultivate compassion for yourself, connect with yourself and harness your innate capacity to heal so you can live an authentic life.

Whether it’s participating in a 1x1 healing session; downloading my free training; listening to my podcast, or joining the membership community and practicing the healing courses at home, I’m here to facilitate your shift from surviving to thriving in your life.

And like Maya Angelou says, my “mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humour and some style.”

Thanks so much for visiting my website and taking the time to learn about how I can help.

I’m grateful our paths have crossed and I look forward to our journey, together.

Take care,

Book a Healing Service

Not sure if you need help? Book your free 15 minute consultation.

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Use the guided videos each day to rewire a resilient nervous system. Participate in the chat and evolve into your best self. Join the live monthly zoom calls with Julie and step in to your best life!