Julia Gaw

Everyone has times in their lives when they feel confused, conflicted, overwhelmed, or just plain stuck. Finding the right person to help you sort through it can feel overwhelming too—which is thankfully where I come in.

I’m a Licensed Mental Health Counselor with over 10 years of experience working with a wide range of concerns, including anxiety, depression, pre- and postpartum challenges, relationship issues, self-esteem, and major life transitions. Over the years, my practice has evolved to focus primarily on adults who want to better understand what is getting in the way of their happiness, relationships, success, or overall well-being.

I’m warm, open-minded, down-to-earth, and believe humor absolutely has a place in therapy. I’m also serious about boundaries and helping people find their voice. You don’t have to become a different person to feel better. Often, our work is about understanding yourself more clearly, recognizing what is no longer working for you, and becoming more comfortable making choices based on what you actually need—not just what keeps everyone else happy.

My approach combines CBT with talk therapy so we can work on both what is happening in your life right now and the deeper patterns that may be contributing to it. Sometimes you need practical tools to manage the chaos of everyday life, and sometimes you need to understand why certain feelings, relationships, or situations affect you so deeply. I believe there is room for both.

I work especially well with people struggling with boundaries, anxiety or depression, people-pleasing, relationship patterns, or a general feeling of being stuck or disconnected from what they want. Together, we’ll look at the thoughts, behaviors, expectations, relationships, and past experiences that may be keeping you there.

My style is practical, realistic, and direct. I’ll meet you exactly where you are while still encouraging you to look at the harder truths when you’re ready. I want you to leave therapy with greater insight into yourself, but also with tools you can actually use in your everyday life.

Our first session is really about getting to know each other. I’ll ask questions about what brought you to therapy, what’s been going on in your life, and what you’re hoping might feel different. There’s no expectation that you show up knowing exactly what you want to work on or where to start—figuring that out can be part of the process.

You can expect me to be curious, open-minded, and genuinely interested in understanding your world. I use humor regularly because hard things don’t always have to feel dark. We’ll start identifying patterns, talking about what may be keeping you stuck, and figuring out what kind of support will actually be useful to you.

The first session is also your opportunity to get a feel for me. Therapy is a relationship, and finding someone you feel comfortable being honest with matters. You don’t have to have everything figured out before you walk through the door—that’s kind of the point.