Juliette Horwitz
I am often described by others as very intelligent, warm and non-judgmental. I also have a good sense of humor. - I am an experienced trauma-informed therapist. I help clients who have experienced trauma and PTSD.
Specializing in trauma and PTSD, grief and traumatic bereavement, ADHD and Autism and chronic pain and illness. I can support you in getting the relief you are seeking, either through change and acceptance.
- I provide neurodiverse-affirming care and specialize in helping clients with ADHD, Autism and AuDHD. - I support clients through their grief journeys, especially if you have lost someone to suicide, murder, or an accident. I also help people going through ambiguous loss. - I think of disability and chronic pain/illnesses in terms of finding better accommodations rather than believing that the client is the problem. I help you determine what can be changed and what needs to be accepted. I received an excellent education, first a BA in Economics at the University of Chicago and then with my Master’s in Counseling Psychology from California State University, Long Beach. Since receiving my Master’s, I have continued to heavily invest in my education and received several certifications in mental health models. I have worked with many different types of clients with a wide range of socio-economic backgrounds, ages, races, religions, nationalities, ethnicities, disability statuses, educations, sexual orientations, and gender identities. I am an LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC affirmative therapist. I have a lived experience of not being part of the dominant culture in several of my own identities, including religion, nationality, ethnicity, disability and sexual orientation and I use that experience to nurture my empathy for all my clients. I feel incredibly lucky that I am a therapist because providing therapy is a passion for me.
First session
I know that meeting a new therapist can be a little nerve wrecking. As such, one of my main goals during our first session is to you make you feel relaxed and understood. I always have a non-judgmental attitude and you will be able to see that for yourself in the first session. We will start getting to know each other and confirm that I am a good match for what you are looking for in therapy. I will provide you with legal and ethical disclosures. I will review the administrative details about my practice and about using your insurance, if you are using insurance benefits. I will then ask you questions so I can better understand your history. It is my honor and privilege to hear your story, and I will always approach it from a non-judgmental and non-shaming attitude. I do this first because it’s the right thing to do but also because I have never seen someone change if they were shamed or disrespected. I will ask you about your symptoms and how much these symptoms impact your life. We will also start identifying your strengths and recognizing what you have already done successfully. With this information, we will start formulating your goals for therapy. If you are coming to see me for treatment of trauma symptoms, we will start talking about these symptoms and associated history, but I will make sure to do this in a manner that minimizes the sense of overwhelm.
Strengths
Some of my greatest strengths are my intelligence, my unending curiosity and my non-judgmental attitude. I have also cultivated a certain joy about the world, despite its many challenges, and I bring this joy and hope to therapy to either help you change or help you better accept a certain situation. I believe that therapy is more than knowing WHY we have the patterns we do. I believe a crucial part of therapy is having more tools on HOW to change these patterns. As such, I use tools from various therapy models such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), Internal Family System (IFS), Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). I make sure to customize these tools to fit your unique attributes, preferences, and goals. However, all the techniques in the world do not matter if you and I don’t have a strong relationship and this is a place in which I believe I excel. I can’t guarantee that your symptoms will decrease, although the majority of my clients do experience a reduction in many of their symptoms. The one thing I can guarantee is that I will care deeply about your wellbeing. I will be compassionate and caring when you are suffering, I will worry about you when things are difficult, I will gently challenge you when it is appropriate for you in order to achieve your goals and I will celebrate your successes with you.
Ideal clients
My specialty is to help to clients who have several, overlapping symptoms and difficulties. In particular, I've been particularly effective in reducing or eliminating symptoms for clients that have a mix of the groups of symptoms below: 1) PTSD and trauma symptoms. • always feeling on edge, anxious, not safe • nightmares or flashbacks • difficulty with self-esteem • difficulty in relationships with others • difficulty with emotional regulation, having very intense emotions and changing emotions rapidly • feeling sad or depressed, which can include lack of interest in most things, difficulty with motivation, difficulty with concentration • always feeling tired or depleted 2) Symptoms related to having ADHD, autism or AuDHD (whether you have a formal diagnosis or not). • executive functioning issues: - difficulty with short-term memory - difficulty with planning, organizing and sequencing tasks - impulsivity - hyperactivity, such as feeling like you are driven by a motor - being either hyper-focused or not focused at all - procrastination and time blindness • Neurodiversity symptoms: - difficulty with social communications, including reading and responding to social cues - sensory overload (to light, sounds, smells) and burnout; or intense sensory seeking - difficulty with transitions and processing information - worrying about the way you appear to others - need to mask symptoms at work, at home and with friends I have also found that many neurodiverse clients have issues with shame due to the way others have reacted to their neurodiversity when they were growing up. 3) Experience chronic physical pain and/or illnesses I serve clients who have fibromyalgia, back pain, ME/CFS, Long Covid, MCAS, IBD (IBS, Chron's disease, ulcerative colitis) migraines and autoimmune disorders. The techniques I use can help you not only feel physically better but also feel better about having chronic pain and disability itself.
Treatment methods
EMDR
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is a very effective treatment for trauma. It can help you reduce the way your body feels like it still is in the traumatic memory (for example, tensing up the body during a car accident). The way EMDR works is that, after processing, you will still have the memory but the body sensation and intensity associated with this memory will be greatly reduced or gone.
Internal Family Systems (IFS)
I have used Internal Family Systems (IFS) with great success for several years with many of my clients. IFS is a gentle, non-blaming approach to resolve many symptoms of trauma, PTSD, ADHD and autism, and depression and anxiety. It works wonders on self-esteem. Across different issues, by using the IFS model, we can help you reduce internal conflict, self-judgment, guilt and/or shame.
Dialectical Behavior (DBT)
I am certified in Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT). I help my clients learn how to use this method and they often get significant relief. This method focuses on 4 important concepts: 1) emotional regulation so that you have fewer ups and downs; 2) distress-tolerance so that you have many tools to get through painful moments or crises without making things worse; 3) interpersonal effectiveness so that you learn how to establish boundaries and communicate in an assertive manner and 4) mindfulness which is the foundational skill for the 3 others.
Compassion-Focused
Compassion-focused therapy is an effective method to reduce the voice in your head that is always criticizing you. I have found that people who have survived childhood abuse as well as people with ADHD or autism respond particularly well to this method. It does wonders on low self-esteem, feeling embarrassed or feeling like an imposter.
Strength-Based
Many of my clients have a number of mental health diagnoses (depression, anxiety, PTSD, chronic pain, ADHD and autism) and many times all of these disorders at once. It can feel absolutely overwhelming to feel that so many things are wrong this us. A strength-based approach is a much empowering way to approach having multiple disorders - we focus together on identifying what already works in your life and do more of it, instead of only focusing on what does not work.
Location
Virtual sessions