Services
THERAPY FOR INDIVIDUALS
Urgent matters, transitions, and old habits that no longer serve you can be daunting when you try to navigate them alone. I aim to meet you where you are and to support you in discovering what you need and want in your life right now. I offer a kind, nonjudgmental space to attend to all the parts of you that you want to explore. While I work with a wide range of issues, I specialize in helping clients who are experiencing anxiety or difficult situations in their lives, and those who have the recurring sense they should be doing things differently somehow.
I have a special focus in and experience with meditators seeking individual therapeutic support to accompany a meditation practice.
AREAS OF FOCUS
anxiety
life transitions
working with difficult situations and people
grief & loss
women's issues
environmental anxiety and grief
meditators seeking individual therapeutic support
mindfulness training & practices
About Me
In therapy with me you’ll get engaged accompaniment as you navigate between where you are and where you’re going. My style is attentive, warm, grounded, accepting…and at times, humorous. I approach each treatment uniquely— because I view each client as a unique person with their own distinct needs.
I became a therapist after earning an MFA in Poetry and working for 10 years in environmental action and finance. Along the way, I trained extensively in mindfulness practices and insight meditation in the Vipassana lineage. Currently, I'm on the certification path with Jack Kornfield and Tara Brach in their two-year Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification Program.
Education, Certification and Training
Associate Marriage and Family Therapist, AMFT # 101575: 2017
Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) Externship & Core Skills, Northern California Center for Emotionally Focused Therapy: 2017
Narrative Therapy, Level 1 Certification, Vancouver School of Narrative Therapy: 2017
Forgiveness Training, Northern California Center for Emotionally Focused Therapy: 2017
MA, Integral Counseling Psychology, California Institute of Integral Studies: 2017
Practicum, Golden Gate Integral Counseling Center: 2016-2017
Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy (AEDP) Immersion Course with Diane Fosha: 2015
Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Teacher Practicum with Bob Stahl: 2014
Karuna Training in Contemplative Psychology, Shambhala of San Francisco: 2014
CONTACT
If you would like to discuss working with me, reach out via phone or email. I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.
Julia Ward
(415) 562-5228julia@mindfulcenter.org
Hayes Valley Office
110 Gough Street, Suite 203
San Francisco, CA 94102
“If you want to understand your mind,
sit down and observe it.”
Mindfulness training for beginners
Curious about meditation but unsure where to start? Individual training offers an opportunity to learn the foundations one-on-one, ensuring time and space for the kinds of questions that inevitably come up when we first start meditating.
After exploring your hopes and intentions for bringing mindfulness into your life, our sessions will focus on foundational practices: sitting meditation, loving-kindness and self-compassion practices.
Together, we'll develop a meditation practice that suits you—one tailored to your life right now.