There’s no need to go it alone. If you're curious about my transformational coaching programs, reach out now and schedule your free 60-minute Wayfinding Session, where you will:
Explore the struggles and longings that are alive in you right now.
Get clear on which of the major midlife hurdles are derailing your “prime of life” experience .
Discern the most impactful thing you can do to start finding your way forward.
Book your Wayfinding Session below by selecting a date and time that suit you and providing the information requested. You will be sent all the information you need in a follow-up email.
(Please note that for the time being, due to COVID-19, all Wayfinding sessions are only available by phone or Zoom.)
So many women over 40 (or even younger) start to feel unfulfilled and disconnected from their life—even if it looks good "on paper". It can to come out of nowhere and leave you feeling a little crazy, because you don't know what's wrong.
Or perhaps one of the common changes that happen as we get older, like serious illness, loss of loved ones, divorce, or an empty nest, has left you feeling unmoored and unsure of who you are anymore.
Regardless of the why, you feel frustrated because you don’t know why you can't just "get over it" and you don't now how to fix it. Not to mention the impossibility of getting enough breathing room to try to figure it out.
And even if you could figure it out, you're worried that it’s too late to make any "real" change in your life.
All you really want is to wake up in the morning looking forward to your day and feeling deeply connected to your purpose, yourr passion and your people.
Chances are you think that there’s something wrong with you, with your circumstances (job, relationship, house... you name it), or maybe simply with getting older.
At this point you’ve probably read some books, or listened to a few podcasts, trying to figure out what’s going on and how to get your groove back.
Maybe you’ve started working out, or changed your diet, or invested in supplements promising renewed vitality. Maybe you’ve tried to ease your discomfort with yoga, meditation, or even medication.
Maybe you’ve made a big life change or two.
Or maybe you’ve ignored it in hopes that “this too shall pass.”
Yes, many of these things may create some positive change and help your situation feel more bearable, but... you're here because nothing really shifts that baseline disconnect, and you’re getting increasingly frustrated.
There's a simple reason these fixes don't work, and please hear me clearly:
Try this for me: Allow yourself to pause for just a moment and breathe. Then let yourself really feel all the feelings, stressors, and worries that brought you here. Don’t try to explain it or even put it into words… Just feel it.
What do you notice?
Where does it live in your body? What does it feel like? Does it have a shape, a size, a color, or texture? Does it move?
Stay with it for a few minutes and be curious. Does anything else emerge as you allow yourself to stay with the feeling?
Now thank that feeling for showing up, and let yourself drop beneath the confusion, chaos and worry, and just be open. Is there anything stirring deep within you? Something longing to be seen and heard?
Where does that live? What does it feel like? Does it have a shape, a size, a color, or texture? Does it move? Stay with that for a few minutes, again not trying to name it but just experiencing it.
Your Midlife Wake-up Call—also known as a "midlife crisis"—is your Inner Knowing trying to get your attention. For better or worse, often your Inner Knowing speaks to you in the language of discomfort, and all those crappy feelings are a message from the deepest, wisest part of you, signaling that something’s not right and asking you to pay attention.
What I want you to know is that while these things are real issues that many women face, there is another, immensely important aspect of midlife, and it's vital that you understand not just the challenges, but the invitation and potential.
The "crisis", the wake-up call, the "symptoms" you may be experiencing—agitation, irritability, moodiness, resentment, etc. that have led to the popular image of midlife women as deranged harpies—are in actuality the red flags that alert you what is out of balance, out of alignment or in need of healing in your life.
They are signaling you to stop and pay attention!
The reason life can feel so difficult, chaotic and urgent in midlife is that you are being worked by a multitude of forces to bring you into this cauldron of inner work. It is a time when you are being asked to bring all of the learning, wisdom and life lessons you’ve experienced into a coherent whole.
At its essence, at midlife you are being asked to take a Sacred Pause: to slow down and dig deep into the process of reclaiming the lost, hidden and damaged parts of yourself, and to discern what you want from the rest of your life.
These midlife years are the crucible where you do the work of discerning and defining what is essential in your life—where you start to bring the whole of yourself and your life into alignment with what is fundamental for you so that you can emerge in your wisdom years as the embodiment of purpose and empowered ease, and go on to live an inspired life.
I call this work your Midlife Soulwork
Midlife is the quintessential journey into the issues of identity, power, ego and essence—one that is crucial to attend to if you are to truly claim your place and power as a wise woman.
It's a time of reckoning, when you’re being called to pause and reflect.
All the emotional and spiritual baggage you’ve been carrying your whole life is asking to be noticed, and to be healed and transmuted into clarity, vitality, and purpose. It's not for the faint of heart, this journey.
It requires courage.
The courage to look at your shit.
The courage to step out of the known, the comfortable, and the familiar, and take the risk to become someone new.
Someone Whole.
Happy.
Content.
Fulfilled.
The courage to fill your life with what makes your soul sing.
The courage to look deeply at your life and be willing to feel, to let go, and to become.
The courage and dedication to create the time and space you need for your soultending and then actually use it.
And I’ve found that one of the best ways to take this journey is in the company of a mentor: Another woman who can walk beside you, be a guide when needed, share what she’s learned, and hold a safe container for you do your own soulwork.
I was in a very dark space when I started working with Julie. I was anxious, restless, and managing a toxic level of stress at work and at home. I was not able to focus, and I knew something— or many things!— needed repair and reflection, but I did not know where to start. I have been in counseling for most of my adult life, so I am no stranger to the therapeutic process, but I felt that I needed a different approach. The coaching and mentoring emphasis was exactly what I needed to start my Midlife exploration.
I was able to develop a language of self-compassion to face some of my deep fears and shame centers once and for all, and I developed a liberating plan for moving forward. I achieved healing and closure for some of the shadow areas of my life that have plagued me for years, and most importantly, Julie helped me unlock a spirit of joy and strength that I have neglected. What a great feeling to know I do not have to carry all that old harmful baggage into my next half century!
What I had been experiencing as a 50-something woman about to face her empty nest is shared by so many women in midlife, and I did not have to struggle and stress on my own. Julie’s academic knowledge, spiritual support, and personal expertise were the gentle guides I needed to emerge optimistic and energized for the next phase of my life.
Yes, the journey of undertaking your Midlife Soulwork can be intense, and the experience is unique for every woman. Left to evolve organically, it can take years to get to a place of clarity, contentment, and purpose.
Here's the good news: You don't need to reinvent the wheel, and you don't have to do it alone!
Grounded in a developmental perspective, we embrace midlife as a journey to be navigated, rather than a crisis to be managed.
Within this developmental model, the midlife passage becomes a process of sifting and sorting through the stories, personas, roles and coping strategies you’ve accumulated over the years, with the goal of harvesting what is true and useful and releasing what no longer serves you.
It’s not a quick-fix, “wham-bam thank you ma’am” approach.
It is a process of becoming.
It’s an unfolding.
And I’ve found that one of the best ways to undertake this process is to have safe space, ample time and supportive guidance for your journey.
Midlife Renaissance is a year-long hybrid program that feeds your mind, heart and spirit by combining supportive private mentoring with access to provocative online content.
It is a richly layered and structured journey through the major issues, lessons, and healings that women need in order to thrive in midlife and beyond.
With your commitment, at the end of our time together you will have made major strides to become solidly grounded and clear about who you are, who you are not, and how you want to show up in the world. You will feel a sense of confidence in your ability to create that life and be well on your way to doing so.
As your Midlife Mentor, I serve as a guide and facilitator for your Renaissance experience. In your private sessions, we draw on my diverse background and expertise in intuitive healing, and training as a SoulCollage® Facilitator and Certified Creative Depth Coach to truly heal and transform the issues that are at the root of your midlife crisis.
The intention of the mentoring sessions is to engage your inner wisdom, support self-discovery, and promote healing. You will discover healing, clarity, direction and new perspective within this work, paving the way for your next evolutionary self.
These sessions, held in person in my office, via Zoom, or by phone, are where we tailor your Renaissance experience to address the issues that make your Midlife Soulwork uniquely yours. They are a chance to address issues that inevitably arise when one commits to personal growth and dive deeper into the material you're exploring in the online content. These sessions give you an opportunity for healing work, guidance, and compassionate accountability—factors that can really make the difference in effectively creating lasting change.
Also, because one of my superpowers lies in accompanying people into tender, scary places within themselves, you’ll have an ally and companion always at hand when the going gets tough.
And in case you're worried, please know that it's not necessary to think of yourself as “creative” or “artistic” to do this work!
Creative Depth Coaching combines traditional coaching with healing modalities and transformative art, all of which are anchored in the world of “depth process”. It is rooted in Jungian depth work, which explores the subconscious, underlying structures of roles and relationships, personal mythology and archetype, and harnesses the power of imagination and imagery.
“Artistic skill” is never a requirement for the work we will do. Rather, “art as process” or “expressive art” is an invitation to use common creative mediums like collage or paint to express and create movement with your emotions, energy, and inner feelings. We then use these creations to explore the deeper layers of meaning contained within them. It's a powerful way to explore tender areas gently and even beautifully. This approach is extraordinarily powerful and invites you to discover deeper layers where you want to experience active change, and where blocked energy and unconscious beliefs are in your way.
Frankly, I’ve frequently found that people who previously thought themselves to be lacking in that particular "artsy" gene have been deeply moved by discovering just how beautifully they can express themselves through simple processes, such as SoulCollage®.
The online material brings supportive structure to what can feel like murky and often overwhelming processes of introspective soulwork. By using this kind of containing structure you are able to move intentionally and more efficiently through the major areas of developmental growth and healing that you’re being called to confront.
I often tell clients that the material there is meant to poke at you! It is fodder for our sessions and designed to surface material that might otherwise not come up.
In the online portion of the program we ensure that you encounter the essential elements of Midlife Soulwork, such as: making space for self-care, dealing with you Inner Critic, connecting to your inner knowing, and tapping into your midlife power.
It's a great blend of left-brained learning and right-brained creative exploration!
Relax into an understanding of the mysteries of the midlife passage
Discover what is essential to your life and what is not and, so you are clear on where to invest your precious time and energy.
Reclaim your stories and rediscover a solid sense of who you are, so you can spend more time in the present rather than regretting the past or worrying about the future.
Learn to access your inner wisdom to guide your steps so that you can confidently follow your own knowing and natural rhythms.
Get a clear sense of your own needs and learn to lovingly set boundaries that prioritize your own self-care so you can be more fully present to others in your life
When I began I hoped to regain some stability and calm in my life after a series of huge changes that left me feeling frighteningly unmoored. My goal was to find a way to feel whole through all the changes, and discover where I fit in this upside down world.
Through a combination of SoulCollage® and heartfelt conversations with Julie, I was able to identify profound personal truths, unpack and discard old expectations that were weighing me down, and come closer to an understanding of my power and worth as an aging midlife "matriarch."
The program comes with online lessons, videos, meditations and a workbook that allowed me to spend as much time as I needed on each lesson, before meeting one-on-one with Julie to work through my discoveries.
This is an eye-opening exploration of a stage of life that many of us are unable to claim in its fullness. I rave about it to friends and would recommend it to any woman who wants to claim her beautiful midlife essence.
Worthington, OH
Faced with a major life change at the age of 57, the death of my daughter and taking on the responsibility of raising my granddaughter, I felt as if hit by a triple-punch. I knew I wanted and needed a different path than what I had followed in the prior decades, but was at a complete loss as to how to proceed.
As woo-woo as it might sound, I have reconnected with my inner essence and the joy that resides therein. I've been introduced to various tools, many of which I currently use and some of which I know I will use in the future. These tools are incredibly useful for bringing me back to my essence, looking at situations and options through a different lens, and tethering me solidly in the spiritual and emotional world which was woefully missing from my former life.
It was wonderful to have a space which was 100% nonjudgmental, supported by someone who helped me honestly take a closer look at some scary things. The structure of the online coursework, combined with written work, and the one:one sessions with Julie, who had a fantastic method of sneakily guiding me forward, was the perfect balance to keep me moving forward.
Worthington, OH
Though not in midlife in the technical sense of the word, I had lived through so many ups and downs at age 30 that I felt I had lived more than half my life. Through body-based therapy, I had been able to work through so much of the trauma, but I still wanted to know myself, find my intuition, and get inspired instead of just going along life on a treadmill. I felt like I was looking to everyone around me to tell me the right thing to do instead of connecting with myself and my inner knowing. I was always worried about taking care of other's needs, meanwhile feeling completely deserted myself.
Doing this work was like the unfurling of a flower bud in spring. I was able to see all the parts of myself, including the sad, scared, and lonely parts, and get in touch with what I wanted and needed. I started to get really clear about what I wanted in life and truly be able to trust my gut.
As a highly analytical person, I appreciated the opportunity to learn and take in new information, and as a creative person, I loved the freedom to expand upon the idea through Soul Collage® and other outlets. The process leads to a wonderful and gentle excavation of your true self.
It's truly exciting to be able to look back and see how much growth I have experienced through genuine self-exploration, including connecting in with parts of me that I had long since hidden away. By working with all of my feelings and desires, I got to connect in with the true expansiveness that comes from knowing oneself.
Columbus, OH
Much as midlife, with all its changes, causes uncertainty and unpredictability, few can argue that recent years have created a similar dynamic on a global scale: the pandemic, the fights for racial and economic justice, the economy, politics, and international agressions that threaten to destabilize the world we've known.
Many of us are reeling from this once-in-a-lifetime level of unprecedented change.
There's an ever-present sense instability—of not being able to land on anything resembling solid ground.
Yet if you take the time to breathe and quiet your mind, perhaps you can sense a subtle undercurrent of potential and possibility at play.
When I can hear past the fear, I become sure that this time of deep challenge is also an unparalleled opportunity to create potent change.
I am sure that we, humanity, are in the midst of the ultimate Sacred Pause.
On every level, from the global community to the individual level, there is an invitation to deep healing and discernment.
As women in midlife, we are being worked upon not only by our personal midlife challenges and changes, but by this nexus of world events, which makes the potency available to us even greater.
We have a chance to consciously choose how we want to create our lives. To decide who we want to be and how we want our lives to feel.
This program provides guidance and support to find the answers to these questions and more, for those who want to make the most of this unprecedented opportunity for growth.
An in-depth intake process and prework featuring An Invitation to Pause, so that you can enter this healing intensive with a solid foundation
A full year of one-to-one support, with 18 private mentoring sessions (usually twice a month) where you take deeper dives into places where you might be stuck and do the kind of healing work that addresses the particular issues that make your midlife passage uniquely yours
16 (and counting) in-depth explorations so that your time and energy is efficiently focused on the most important issues of the midlife journey
Recorded sessions so that you can focus on our session without worrying about taking notes and listen back to our conversations later to more fully absorb the session
Email support so that you can check in, share you’re a-ha’s, ask questions, and always feel supported
Targeted support calls so that have the support you need when triggered or stuck in resistance
The opportunity to engage with other women in the program within the course portal and in monthly Q&A calls
Year-long membership in Midlife Evolutionaries, our online community for curious, compassionate women seeking to harness the transformative potential of midlife to become their fullest selves.
An abundant Wayfinding Kit with supplies you’ll need to gently and creatively explore all the issues as they arise
Rich, curated, and continuously updated Resource Lists so that you know where to go for further exploration
Payment plans available, and Equity Pricing for Women of the Global Majority* or experiencing financial need
*The term Global Majority is a collective term that encourages us to recognize that together, those of African, Asian, Latin American, and Arab descent, along with people of dual heritage and Indigenous people from around the world, comprise roughly 80% of people worldwide
In your wayfinding call, we'll take the time to:
Explore the struggles and longings that are alive in you right now
Get clear on which of the major midlife hurdles are derailing your “prime of life” experience
Discern the most impactful thing you can do to start finding your way forward
There's no commitment, no obligation, and whether we decide to work together or not you will come away with a better understanding of your situation, and the relief that comes from being deeply witnessed.
This is not counseling or therapy. My background is in developmental psychology - specifically the study of adult development and aging. I am not trained or licensed as a therapist or counselor and I do not treat people with clinical disorders.
My mentoring programs are more in alignment with coaching or spiritual direction, designed for women looking for support but not necessarily therapy.
This program is designed to help you see your stories, create new awareness, and implement meaningful change so you can live your life at its fullest and most vibrant.
The first step in the process is a free, 60 minute Wayfinding Session. During this time we will explore the struggles and longings that are alive in you right now, and get clear on what’s in your way. We’ll also discern whether this program is a good fit for you, and that we are a good fit for each other.
No hard sell, no obligation. Just a chance for a good gut-check and come away with more clarity - whether you choose to work with me or not.
I believe that for real and lasting change to occur we need to honor each woman's timing, and there needs to be time for integration along the way.
The pacing for our work is actually pretty fluid and set by you. Some people move a little faster and can be complete in less time, other times it takes a bit longer. Setting this up as a year-long program creates the time and space you need for this kind of depth work and also recognizes the reality of your day-to-day life.
This is the work of a lifetime. It’s about making major shifts in consciousness and in your way of being, and creating new patterns, all of which do not and cannot happen overnight.
I know it can be intimidating to try new technologies, so I do my best to make sure everything is straightforward and easy to navigate. The program portal is easy to navigatye, and you'll have clear instructions on accessing the materials living there.
I use Zoom for calls. You will have clear instructions on how to connect and can always call or email me if you have any questions. Most importantly, nobody has broken anything yet!
If you not sure whether this is a more in-depth process that you need right now, check out my other mentoring program, Navigating the In-Between, and also schedule a Wayfinding call. Together we'll see if I'm the right fit for you, and sort out your best next step.
Please don’t fall victim to the “just push through it” mentality, or to the “this too shall pass” school of thought. Because I promise you, either approach will at best extend your misery longer than necessary, and at worst lead to even bigger problems.
Remember, your discontent is a wake-up call from the wisest part of your being. Ignore the call and you run the risk of living into old age not as a vital, dynamic wise woman but a woman plagued by thoughts of what might have been.
There's no need to simply "carry on", and no need to go it alone.
I currently have a few spaces available. Reach out now, and let's see how I can support you.