About
Hello, I'm Julia. I am a qualified Integrative Counsellor and hold a Level 5 Diploma in Professional Counselling accredited with the NCPS (National Counselling and Psychotherapy Society).
This approach to therapy means that I use key aspects from a range of counselling models so that your experience is tailored to you.
I consider myself to be a warm and empathic person and aim to provide a safe, non-judgemental space in which you will feel seen and heard. I have experience working with a range of issues and difficulties. I believe it is important to build a trusting therapeutic relationship with my clients in a space that feels safe to explore difficult emotions, thoughts and memories.
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My Back Story
**Trigger Warning**
We all have a back story and I am no different.
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Born in 1973, I found myself entering into the foster system a number of times within that first year of my life. Abandoned by my birth Mother before my first birthday, I was placed into a different foster home where I was to remain. At 11 years old, I was adopted by the foster family and given a new name. My childhood was spent in Bedfordshire and a few years later, when I was 14 years old, we all moved to Kent. I had experienced more than my fair share of childhood trauma and abuse, and had high hopes of a less stressful adolescence. I began a Wedding & Portrait Photography business with a school friend in 1992 and in 1998, I married, and we went on to have two beautiful children. In 2003, I became seriously unwell and ended up in hospital for two weeks with pneumonia. Following this, I had a cerebral leak and became depressed and suicidal. Having survived a suicide attempt in 2007, I was resting in hospital as an informal patient when I was violently raped by the nurse on my suicide watch. He was taken into custody the same day, and went on to serve some years in prison followed by deportation to his birth country. Unsurprisingly, I became mentally unwell and 'disappeared from my mind' for awhile. I was placed under section and taken further into the mental health system where I resided for the next 7 ½ years. Most of that time was spent receiving a variety of therapies such as EMDR (Eye Movement De-sensitising Reprocessing), DBT (Dialectical Behavioural Therapy), TF-CBT (Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) as well as creative interventions such as Music and Art therapy with the whole goal of rebuilding a life worth living and returning me to parent my children.
I was discharged from psychiatric inpatient care in 2013, and eight years later, I was able to begin the four years of training to become an Integrative Counsellor. Meanwhile, I work with Heal for Life, Uk volunteering on the healing retreats for adult survivors of childhood trauma and abuse. More recently, I work with another charity SpeakUpCIC, where I am helping to set up a peer support group in the community for people who struggle with their mental health.
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I hope that by sharing some of my story, you will feel inspired to continue on your healing journey, knowing that you too can lead a life worth living.