Hi, I’m Julie.
Therapist. EMDR Consultant. Trauma Educator.
I believe people are often far more capable than they realize.
My work has evolved over more than two decades of teaching, counselling, trauma therapy, consultation and lived experience.
I help clients move through the places in life where they feel stuck and help therapists feel more confident supporting clients with complex trauma.
I bring warmth, curiosity, compassion and evidence-based practice to everything I do.
My Professional Background
My work is rooted in more than 20 years of experience across education, counselling, trauma therapy, consultation and professional training.
EMDRIA Approved Consultant
EMDR Certified Therapist
Canadian Certified Counsellor
Master of Education in Counselling Psychology
Trained Trauma Center Trauma-Sensitive Yoga Facilitator
Former Founder & Director, Safe Harbour Therapy Centre
Former EMDR Basic Training Facilitator & Presenter
Former University Counselling Instructor
Additional training includes advanced EMDR, complex trauma, dissociation, somatic approaches, TCTSY, Trauma-Informed Weight Lifting (TIWL), IFS-informed practice, attachment, mindfulness and nervous-system regulation.
EMDR Consultation
EMDR can feel deceptively simple in training and much more complex in practice.
I support therapists with case conceptualization, treatment planning, interoceptive awareness, complex trauma, dissociation, blocked processing and greater confidence integrating EMDR into clinical work.
My role is not to give you a script for every situation. It is to help you think more clearly, trust your clinical judgment and feel more capable supporting the clients you serve.
Let’s strengthen your EMDR practice, together.
EMDR Therapy
I work with adults who are ready to move through the places in life where they feel stuck.
Maybe you’ve already done a great deal of reflection, therapy or personal growth and understand yourself better — yet some experiences, patterns or traumatic memories still feel unfinished.
My approach is focused, collaborative and trauma-informed. Together, we can use EMDR and other evidence-based approaches to help you process what still holds you back and strengthen your ability to move forward.
You already bring the capacity for healing. My role is to help you access it.
It would be an honour to work with you.
Whether you’re looking for focused therapy for yourself or consultation to build confidence in your EMDR practice, I offer thoughtful, collaborative support grounded in trauma-informed and evidence-based care.
For clients, that may mean processing unfinished experiences and moving forward with greater clarity and confidence.
For therapists, that may mean consultation, case conceptualization and support integrating EMDR more effectively into your clinical work.
You are more capable than you realize. Sometimes the right support helps you access what is already within you.
You are not your trauma.
You may be carrying experiences that still affect how you think, feel, relate and respond to the world around you.
Therapy can offer a place to understand those patterns, build greater safety and process experiences that still feel unfinished.
What I value most about this work is witnessing people begin to trust themselves again. EMDR and other trauma-informed approaches can support the brain and body in processing what no longer needs to be carried in the same way.
Our work may include strengthening resources, reprocessing traumatic memories, increasing awareness of your body’s signals and helping you respond to life with greater choice and flexibility.
Healing is not about becoming someone new. It is about having more access to who you already are.
Healing takes time, effort and support.
Healing is rarely a straight line. The patterns we carry are shaped by our experiences, relationships and the ways our nervous system learned to protect us.
Change often happens through repeated experiences of safety, connection, reflection and practice. Over time, different ways of responding can begin to feel more available.
You don’t have to rush the process. With the right support, you can build greater trust in yourself, respond to life with more choice and move toward what matters to you.
How I came to this work
My interest in trauma therapy is both professional and personal.
Like many people, I have lived through experiences that shaped my understanding of safety, connection, resilience and healing. Over time, my own therapeutic work led me to become increasingly curious about how the brain and body respond to trauma — and what helps people move through experiences that continue to affect them.
That curiosity shaped my training in EMDR, TCTSY, TIWL, IFS-informed practice and other evidence-based approaches.
We all have unique stories. My own experiences help me bring a deep respect for how difficult healing can be — and for the capacity people have to change.
I’ve always been drawn to helping people who feel misunderstood — because I know what that can feel like.
I grew up in a large family and learned early that people’s behaviour often makes more sense when we understand what they have lived through.
That perspective eventually led me into teaching, where I found myself supporting young people who were struggling or felt misunderstood by the people around them.
A few years into my teaching career, my eldest brother died by suicide. That loss profoundly shaped my life and deepened my interest in mental health, trauma and the ways people find their way through overwhelming experiences.
Over time, what began as a desire to understand my own experiences became a commitment to helping others understand theirs.
For a long time, I believed my own struggles were something I simply had to live with.
Therapy changed that.
As I began to experience healing myself, I became increasingly interested in how change happens — and how people can move beyond patterns that once felt permanent.
After six years of teaching, I returned to school to become a counsellor. Several years later, I completed my Master of Education in Counselling Psychology and moved into community practice.
I later began using EMDR Therapy, IFS-informed, trauma-sensitive and other evidence-based approaches in my work and eventually went on to teach, consult and support other therapists in developing their own clinical skills.
From individual practice to collaborative care
Over time, my work expanded beyond individual therapy. I founded Safe Harbour Therapy Centre with the goal of creating a collaborative space where people could access different forms of support under one roof.
That experience strengthened my interest in integrated care, trauma treatment and supporting other clinicians — themes that continue to shape my work today.
A quieter chapter changed how I understood healing
The years that followed brought significant change in both my personal and professional life. I stepped away from the Wellness Centre, moved to rural Manitoba and began living at a slower pace.
That period gave me space to continue my own healing while navigating grief, loss, chronic illness and major life transitions. I also committed to sobriety and continued exploring approaches that emphasized the relationship between trauma, the nervous system, the body and our capacity for change.
Those experiences continue to shape the way I work today. I bring both clinical training and lived experience to my work, while respecting that every person’s story and healing process is entirely their own.
I believe healing can include learning to listen to yourself differently — with more curiosity, choice and compassion.
I look forward to our journey, together.
Take care,
