(she/her)
Often rebooked
I am a licensed therapist in California, holding a master’s degree from Columbia University, with over twenty years of experience. I lived in the Bay Area for nearly 20 years and now proudly call San Diego County home. I strive to create a warm space where curiosity and compassion guide us in exploring and understanding our lives. I deeply value self-agency and believe in the power of personal journeys that invite choice and meaningful reflection. It is truly a privilege to support my clients, and I hold our work together with genuine care and respect. Please note my office hours are generally Monday through Friday, between 10am and 4pm. If you seek a consistent time outside of these hours, feel free to ask for my availability.
The first session will open with a conversation about yourself and what, at the moment, you hope therapy will address. I am open to questions about the process. I love deep listening and asking reflective questions for you to have as much space as you would like to share your experience. This helps me have a clearer picture of your expectations and I hope gives you a sense of my strengths in the work.
I continue to develop a keen ability to authentically hold a positive regard and remain grounded through complex, unsettling times. I have deep respect for our human experience and can manage difficult discussions with humility, levity, and empathy.
My ideal client is someone who has been through hard things and has found a way to keep going—to build a life, to grow, to show up for others and themselves. From the outside, they may seem strong, capable, even successful, but inside they can still feel stuck in patterns that make it hard to fully enjoy their life. They are thoughtful and curious, with a quiet sense that there is more available to them—more ease, more meaning, more freedom. They’re open to exploring themselves more deeply, even if that way of turning inward feels new or unfamiliar. Many of the people I work with come from cultures or environments where introspection wasn’t always encouraged. In our work, we make space for that. We don’t have to reject where you come from to grow. Your patterns made sense in the context of your life, and together we can gently understand them while creating new ways of being that feel more aligned and freeing. I love working with people who are ready—at their own pace—to move beyond just getting through life and begin to truly experience it.
Psychodynamic
My practice is grounded in gently exploring both past and present experiences to uncover deeper meaning in our challenges and strengths. Through this process, we learn to hold our stories with greater compassion, allowing for more peace, balance, and clarity in our lives.
Mindfulness-Based Therapy
I bring training and experience in cultivating the attitudes and foundations of mindfulness to support the development of lasting skills that help us hold both pain and joy with greater ease. Together, we will explore practices that foster new perspectives, inviting healing and deep self-compassion—so that we can more fully appreciate even the simplest moments in our beautifully complex lives.
Person-centered (Rogerian)
I deeply value each person’s lived experience and hold a core belief that we all carry the capacity for healing within us. I see therapy as a collaborative and compassionate space where empathy and authenticity can support meaningful growth. With the right conditions—community, trust, and support—we naturally move toward health, resilience, and self-acceptance. Rather than focusing solely on analyzing difficulties, I strive to honor each individual’s unique context and cultivate a greater sense of self-worth, agency, and wholeness.
Eclectic
Over the years, I’ve trained in a range of therapeutic modalities that have meaningfully shaped my work, including Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Narrative Therapy, Dialectical Behavior Therapy, Play Therapy, Hypnotherapy and Motivational Interviewing. While these approaches offer valuable, sometimes directive tools, I integrate them in a way that invites reflection rather than prescription. My goal is to offer ideas and perspectives that individuals can explore at their own pace—taking what resonates and adapting practices in ways that feel authentic and helpful to their unique journey.
3 ratings with written reviews
October 26, 2025
I feel understood and that I am able to step out of my thoughts and anxiety and look at it from a difference perspective. Julie meets you where you are, without judgment, and empowers you to be well.
May 10, 2025
I didn't choose two of the above because I truly couldn't choose just two - she is "all of the above" - she's exceptional.
March 21, 2025
Julie was great. It was my first therapy session and was nervous and she really helped relieve that and was comfortable by the end. She really listened and it was just an all-around great first session.