Julie de Freitas

I take a flexible, down-to-earth approach to therapy, using different methods to fit what works best for you. While I pull from techniques like CBT, DBT, and Motivational Interviewing, I also take from other theories that I feel can help you grow and heal. Existential Therapy can be helpful for diving into life’s big questions—like what gives your life meaning, or why loneliness and purpose are such common struggles. Gestalt Therapy helps us focus on being present and understanding how our thoughts, feelings, and actions all tie together. As someone who strongly believes in gender equality, I’m guided by Feminist Theory, which helps me recognize how social pressures shape our experiences. Adlerian Theory is great for understanding how feelings of insecurity or comparing ourselves to others can affect us and hold us back, and it helps build confidence and belonging. I also like to explore the deeper reasons behind our actions through Psychodynamic Therapy and think Multicultural Counseling is important for understanding how your culture and background shape who you are and how you see the world.

I am member of Nederlands Institute van Psychologen (NIP) (NIP #: 246539) which is the largest professional association of psychologists in the Netherlands. The 3 core values of NIP include pride, committed and competent, all values that I am dedicated to follow as a member.

I gained my bachelors of science education at the University of Central Florida in psychology with a focus on clinical psychology. At UCF is where my passion of cross cultural psychology and the psychology of women began. ​ I obtained my Masters of Arts degree in psychology with emphasis in counseling psychology at Webster University Leiden in the Netherlands. Being an American school in the Netherlands, my cohort alone was made up from colleagues from 13 different countries. These colleagues brought international perspectives and ideas to the table which continued to expand and challenge my own way of thinking . At Webster, I focused on topics and women's issues, the experience of people of color and performed research of the experiences of those in intercultural relationships. Here is where I truly became a therapist by gaining real world experience with clients and hands on supervision. I had clients from 10 countries spanning across 3 continents and was able obtain 750 university sponsored hours and over 280 hours direct client hours. During this time, I was faced challenges in my professional, personal, and clinical identities that have made flexible and confident in my capabilities as a therapist.