About Me
With a strong desire to work with people as they moved through life and its various challenges, I graduated as a Social Service Worker in 1994. Since then, I have worn many hats. A doula since 1998, beginning with labour, birth and postpartum support, my well-established skills, experience and continuing education have naturally transferred to the end of life.
In 2012, I was granted the opportunity to officiate civil marriages which led to my career as a Life-Cycle Celebrant specializing in custom ceremonies and rituals relating to loss, dying, death and grief.
My personal adventure in mothering a child with medical fragility and disabilities led me in discovering my inner writer. I published my book, What I Would Tell You, in 2015 and released a revised and expanded edition in 2018.
After years of supporting individuals, families and communities through life’s endings and beginnings, I came full circle and registered with the Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers 25 years after graduating. This designation (RSSW) authorizes me to offer counselling with a specific focus on grief and loss (including non-death loss) and issues related to receiving a terminal diagnosis or witnessing the death of a loved one.
Having cared for hundreds of people through dying, death and grief, I use my skills in providing end-of-life doula care specifically to those considering or planning a death through MAiD (Medical Assistance in Dying).
I share my full and rich life with my husband, Tim, and our daughter, Meredith, in the Ottawa Valley, Ontario.
Explore
Ready Or Not
Death Education
Preparing for death is one of the most empowering things you can do and one of the most invaluable gifts you leave your family.
Support & Guidance
Grief counselling (including living losses, caregiving, anticipatory grief, uncomplicated grief) and end-of-life doula care for individuals and families.
Ceremonies & Rituals
Custom created ceremonies and rituals to assist in navigating the intense emotions and complexities of dying, death and grief.
Speaking
Consider Julie as a speaker at your next event or conference.
Community Tea Parties
A FREE community gathering for the purpose of talking about death over food and drink (usually tea, coffee and cake) in a relaxed environment.
Community & Healing
When terrible, inexplicable things occur they can affect the entire community as a whole. Creating a space for people to gather together to share in their shock and grief can prevent isolation and foster a sense of connection.