About Julie

phone 734-665-2397 email julie@juliefrick.com

My greatest joy is to watch a person become more and more her/his “true self” and to see a person, couple or family begin to experience more pleasure and satisfaction in life. I have always loved puzzles. The life of a human being is like one giant puzzle. Suffering is what brings people to me. Together we piece together the nature of this suffering and how we can treat it. I believe that we each have within us the answers that we seek. We have just become blocked or distracted from our own knowledge. My job is to help you remove the blocks and obstacles that you have accumulated, which obscure that knowledge. When you work with me, you don’t become more like some model of health, you become more “yourself.” I believe that each person makes a contribution to the world from the uniqueness of who s/he is.

Throughout my 30+ years in the mental health field I have maintained an ongoing psychotherapy private practice in Ann Arbor, Michigan. This has remained central and a pleasure throughout my career. Other activities in the mental health field have included starting a foster care program for runaway teens, keynoting at sexual abuse and chemical dependency conferences, running ongoing groups and workshops, consulting with preschools and other institutions about sexual abuse prevention, supervising social work students, working for public agencies, consulting with small businesses, facilitating conflict resolution and, most recently, coaching auto workers who accepted buyouts from their company. I love meeting and working with people, no matter the path they are walking or the way they came into the world. I am welcoming and affirming of the GLBT community.

I am a curious person, by nature, and an avid learner, which is why I have pursued thousands of hours of post graduate training. I don’t believe that there is any one approach that works for all, which is why I have studied many approaches. I believe in sharing the tools I discover and equipping you with your own toolbox. I am currently fascinated by the explosion of knowledge about our brain and our understanding of the way it affects our mental and emotional health. We are, finally, beginning to break down the artificial boundary between physical health and mental health. This is something I have been committed to for my whole career.

People have asked me if my work is depressing. Absolutely not! It’s true, I bear witness to awful things that people have suffered. However, the people I work with are looking for a way out of their pain or for a solution to their problems. They are survivors and want to learn to thrive. I feel blessed to be a part of an awe-inspiring process as I watch people resolve painful experiences, move beyond stuckness and into a life of authentic wholeness, aliveness and happiness. I am grateful to be part of journey and moved by the trust people place in me. I strive to live up to the responsibility of that trust. I have always wanted to make a contribution to the health and well-being of our planet and its people. I wish for a world where we respect and learn from one another, no matter the difference, where we strive toward social justice and peace, where we raise children with loving care, and live in a way that protects earth's precious resources for our children and their children’s children. Sometimes the obstacles seem overwhelming. My work is my small way of contributing toward what I hold dear. Working to help one person, one relationship or one family at a time, I have witnessed how the health of one member of a family encourages other family members in their own pursuit of health. Joining with other healers, positive visionaries and all who seek to make their lives better, I hope that some day soon we will reach the tipping point.

ISSUES I have successfully worked with

Depression Anxiety Stress related disease Healthy body Supportive of Alternative as well as Allopathic Medical practices Marital or couples therapy Women’s issues Women CEO’s Men’s movement Creating financial health Dysfunctional families High trauma history Trauma in Children ADD Sexual Abuse or Incest Sexual Abuse Prevention Adult survivors of emotional/physical/sexual abuse Grief Death 12-step recovery issues: many types of recovery Infertility Lesbian/Gay Issues Minority discrimination Anti-bullying Menopause Weight control Overspending Families with Sexual addictions Dissociative Identity Disorder Post traumatic Stress Disorder Children from High visibility families