Hi, I'm Julie, founding member of Cocoon Collective and a practicing Marriage and Family Therapist for the past 10 years. I'm a Bay Area native, and I appreciate the area for the diversity of people it attracts. I was drawn to psychology through a desire to better understand why and how we are the way we are. I am absolutely fascinated by family dynamics and how our family of origin impacts our future relationships. I nerd out over attachment theory, and will be curious to hear all about your relationship patterns. I strive to understand what is preventing someone from being their most contented self, and work to solve it.
I like to think of myself as funny, but you can be the judge of that. I am warm, down-to-earth, and will likely try to make you smile at least once per session. My primary goal is to ensure that therapy with me is a good experience for you. It may be hard, uncomfortable and heavy at times, but I will never leave you feeling worse after a session than where we began. Rapport is extremely important to me, and I will strive to find a pace and style that works for you. I bring my whole, authentic self to therapy, and I ask that you do the same.
My therapy specialties include helping women struggling with their mental health from pregnancy, postpartum depression, menopause, miscarriage, and PMDD. I also have expertise in guiding women and men in the technology industry through work stress, burnout, imposter syndrome and perfectionism.
An experiential approach that helps you notice how emotions, defenses, and old relational wounds live in the body in real time. By slowing down and staying with felt experience in the safety of the therapeutic relationship, deeper healing, resilience, and transformation can emerge.
Exploring how unconscious patterns and past experiences shape your present self. Understanding the healthy and unhealthy defenses you've accumulated through your lifetime — and letting go of the ones that no longer serve you.
Combining the neuroplasticity benefits of low-dose ketamine with skilled psychotherapy to access deeper layers of healing, shift long-held patterns, and open pathways to revelations that might otherwise take much longer to reach.
Integrating body-based awareness and mindfulness practices to help you access and release trauma stored in the body. Reframing negative thought patterns while cultivating greater emotional presence and self-awareness.
Santa Clara University School of Education and Counseling Psychology – MA in Counseling Psychology with emphasis on Health Psychology
Tufts University – BA in Psychology with minor in Child Development
AEDP Level 1 Certification
Certified Deliberate Practice Supervisor
Gottman Level 1 Certification
Extensive training in CBT, CBT-I, ISTDP, CPT (trauma-informed care), Ketamine-Assisted Therapy, Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy and EFT.
“As a product of a difficult childhood, I have faced many struggles when it comes to interpersonal relationships. I had heard many positive things about the use of ketamine in conjunction with therapy to assist in healing from a difficult past. This is how I found Julie. I decided it was time to try something else, as nothing seemed to help previously, and I am so glad I did.
Julie has absolutely helped me with her kind nature and interesting perspectives, to help me have compassion for myself. This was the key to my healing journey. She provides a safe, nonjudgmental place for me to discuss my feelings and analyze why I react the way I do in certain circumstances. The ketamine session I had with her opened my mind to so many revelations that would have probably taken me WAY longer to come to without this innovative treatment.
I feel like my life is so much better now, as I can catch myself before reacting to things that are going on or are being said to me. My relationships with family, friends and coworkers have improved dramatically, and I have Julie to thank for that. She is patient, understanding and consistent.” - former client
LMFT #109508