About Dr. Julia Smith, LPCC, NCC
Expertise for well-being & development
“One doesn’t have to operate with great malice to do great harm. The absence of empathy and understanding are sufficient.”
― Charles M. Blow
With a Doctorate in Counseling from the University of Missouri, St. Louis, I provide care as a Psychotherapist. I work with individual adults to gain resolution while supporting your self-development with the well-being and relationship health it enhances.
I have expertise in working with anxiety, depression, ADHD, and Autism Spectrum Disorder. In addition, I work with relationship concerns, grief, loss, and adjustment issues. The scope of my professional background contributes to my skill and covers community counseling, private practice, intensive outpatient hospitalization, military settings, and residential treatment.
My teaching history includes serving on university faculties in the capacities of Assistant Professor of Counseling, as well as Adjunct positions. During my full time years in higher education, I launched qualitative research to explore autonomy. Defined as the self-agency to act on personal choices with a spirit of love and cooperation, autonomy is a dynamic that supports a sense of self within the context of relationships. Research results provide observations of ways that personal needs and feelings are integrated into a individual’s decision-making process within the context of caring relationships. Regardless of how aware we are of our choices and what drives our decisions, their impact shows up in how we relate with ourselves and the world. Because it is never too late to learn and take steps towards feeling more at peace with ourselves, I am writing a book about my research findings to not only illustrate decision-making that nurtures autonomy, but to demonstrate the very real importance of self-affirming choices.
In my approach to therapy, I work with you to resolve your concerns in an empathic, nonjudgmental, and culturally sensitive climate. My psychodynamic orientation incorporates attachment and family systems thinking to address patterns and past experiences related to your concerns. I also apply cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) strategies and my knowledge as a certified Mindfulness Informed Professional.
While teaching as an Assistant Professor in New Mexico, I discovered that sculpting stone called to me. Although my process of becoming a sculptor is gradual, carving stone has been instrumental in connecting concepts with practice and nurturing my passion for self-development throughout the scope of my work. Carl Jung’s studies in the field of psychology reflect this experience, particularly in his awareness of our connection with the Divine and his identification of stones as symbols of the Self. My process of sculpting incorporates this symbolism: Just as there is a form within stones to unearth, we each have a Self to bring to light. In the context of care, a sacredness exists where the soulful song of each voice is heard and embraced.
License Numbers:
California, USA, LPCC 10570
Missouri, USA LPC 001019
Michigan, USA, LPC 6401020312
Member: National Board for Certified Counselors, # 85377