I had the good fortune of being Julia’s Certification supervisor working closely with her on the transcriptions of her work with her clients. Our discussions were lively and informative and educative for me as well as for Julia. Her ability to invite me fully into the sessions and feel the work with her was very powerful.
Julia is thoroughly engaged with her clients. On display in her work is her clinical skillfulness, her easeful attunement and the way in which that fosters a stance of secure attachment. Her work demonstrates how she weaves AEDP principles and skills into her practice with adept skill and authenticity.
Her commanding and deeply caring presence is not something that can be taught. Julia lives into the work in a bold and deeply authentic relational way.
Ilene writes of her experience of working closely with Julia..
“I have always thought Julia and AEDP belonged together. I say this not only because Julia’s way of being in the world as a person, social worker, psychotherapist was so resonant with AEDP, but also because Julia makes things better—be they people, programs, or ideas—when she loves them. I have known her since I fell in love with AEDP, over two decades ago. Her openness to me has always given me strength. In the past two years, I have watched her bring herself more and more fully to her work, as she sought to embody the theory and practice of AEDP. Whenever one of her clients would have a powerful and healing experience, and I would witness it on tape, Julia would always look at me and say, “This is what I want to be able to give all of my clients.” She truly strives to alleviate suffering, her own and everyone else’s. As a Native and Persian woman, she brings to life the beloved gifts of her traditions, as she weaves them together with AEDP, making a tapestry of healing that is uniquely hers. I am so happy to have been a part of her process and certification. She never ceases to make me a better person, therapist, and supervisor. May she continue to enrich AEDP as it has enriched her. Congratulations, Julia!!”
Of her work Julia’s reviewers say this..
“Julia’s skillfulness as an AEDP therapist is especially apparent in her powerfully empathic, carefully titrated, masterful relational work. Julia clearly understands the clinical power of therapeutic presence. I see Julia tracking moment-to-moment, balancing spacious silence with verbal and non-verbal interventions to establish safety, navigating choice points, processing affect and facilitating new, positive attachment experiences for her patients. Julia‘s kind, steady, knowing, authentic presence and the transformative effects of this presence for her patients are palpable throughout her work.”
“In witnessing the candidate’s clinical work, I felt the profound sense of trust that her clients have in her. One of the aspects that really stood out in her clinical work was her use of para-verbals to scaffold and support her clients. Her gaze was warm and welcoming, her vocalizations were soft and supportive, and she created an atmosphere of safety for her clients. Both clients clearly felt seen and understood.”
“I particularly appreciated the candidate’s ability to communicate her deep feelings of care and warmth for her clients, while simultaneously speaking to their selves-at-best. She accompanied her clients closely through State 1 distress into State 2 core affect, enabling them to deepen into feeling with the therapist at their side. Both clients indicated that they felt and valued the therapist’s healing presence.”
Of her own relationship with AEDP Julia shares this..
“I was introduced to AEDP back in the early aughts. For my job at the time, I had a supervisor who became immersed in the model. In a sense, I was being shaped by AEDP before I realized it. Once I really started studying it and attending the courses, I fell in love with AEDP. Learning the biology and neuroscience underpinning AEDP intrigued me and piqued my interest consistently. What captivated me most though was the practice.
As a Native woman, I resonated deeply with the centering of the relationship, undoing aloneness, and the attention to transformance. This felt “right” to me – as it is, as it should be. I could feel AEDP’s alignment with our ways. I needed to revisit some of what I had been taught by academia. In the process of unlearning some of those institutional beliefs, and practicing this new, “right” way, I ran face first into my own resistance.
What I realized was that to center the relationship between therapist (me) and patient, meant I needed to show up – fully, authentically – in all my Me-ness. No more hiding behind some false, arbitrary, occasionally pretentious rules. AEDP was calling me to unmask my heart and allow it to enter the therapeutic scene.
In the dance between resonance and resistance, I have learned much. I have deepened my capacity for presence, vulnerability, and authenticity as a therapist. The intimacy of AEDP has been challenging and caused much trepidation. At the same time, it has allowed me to experience bravery and wonder. AEDP shined a light on my own transformance. The process of developing as an AEDP therapist, has grounded and deepened my therapeutic relationships, expanding their capacity for healing and transformance, which is deeply meaningful for me professionally. The unexpected gift of AEDP is how it has touched me personally. To that, I bow.”
Please welcome Julia to the burgeoning community of AEDP therapists around the world. We are enriched by her work and her presence.
You can welcome and congratulate Julia at
With Great Enthusiasm
Jeanne Newhouse and Ilene Yasemsky