Sage Heart Psychotherapy

02/04/2026

Hey, Friends!
For those of you new around here, I wanted to share a little about who I am, what I do, and how we can work together.

My name is Julia. I’m a social worker + psychotherapist, living in the Ottawa-Gatineau region of Ontario, Canada 🇨🇦.

Some of my favourite things:
🌳 Slow walks in the forest with my furry friend Daisy
☕️ Coffee
🍝 Pasta (extra sauce, always)
🍪 Chocolate chip cookies
👧🏼 My daughter Thea
🧘‍♀️ Yoga (gentle Hatha or restorative for this sensitive soul)
🌅 Chasing sunsets
🥾 Hiking
🧚‍♂️ Romance Fantasy novels
🎤 Riffing with my partner on Sunday mornings like we have our own comedy podcast (I’m not sure y’all would find us as hilarious as we do 😂)
🛋️ Working with humans and learning about what lights them up
🧠 Learning and understanding all the ways humans can be resilient & what can support us (cause life be hard, no?)

My passion is helping folks (18+) to reclaim their lives from anxiety, trauma and OCD through individual therapy, group therapy & support groups. I also love to provide clinical consultation and teach workshops about all things OCD, health anxiety, trauma & my fave therapy: ACT. I teach a small yoga offering online called Caring Hearts Yoga for deeply caring souls

You can learn more through the link in my
bio or at www.sageheartpsychotherapy.ca. My social work license allows me to work with folks living in Ontario.

Tell me... what lights you up these days? What do you want me to share more about in this space?

Drop a comment below 👇.

Thanks for being here & sharing this space with me.

With care,
Julia

12/23/2025

Wishing you a “so so” Holiday from my family to yours dear ones. Take gentle care this season 🩷 See you in 2026!

12/23/2025

12/23/2025

This season carries a lot of expectations — to feel grateful, joyful, connected.

For many, the holidays also bring anxiety, OCD flare-ups, depression, grief, or loneliness.

If this is a “so, so” holiday for you, we see you.

May we make space for compassion and acceptance — for ourselves and one another — exactly as we are.

Thanks for being here, sending you warm wishes for a “so, so” holiday season. We look forward to evolving towards our values in 2026 with you. Warmly, Julia

10/31/2025

The real buzz? 🐝 OCD’s not a quirk — it’s a mental health condition. This Halloween, honey, let’s spread awareness & reduce the stigma. 🍯✨ 🐝 Would you Bee so kind by sharing this reel?

Happy Halloween friends!

10/23/2025

Inside the therapy room: ACT based exposure with a client who is fearful of dogs and who has a goal of being able to live her life more fully with this fear.

10/16/2025

There is nothing more beautiful than someone genuinely wanting to understand OCD beyond the stereotypes. As an OCD therapist, I live for these moments — when someone moves beyond the “I like things tidy” stereotype and genuinely wants to understand the reality of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.

In light of OCD Awareness week - let’s talk about what OCD actually is—beyond the myths and memes

🧠 OCD is:
✔️ A disorder of doubt and uncertainty
✔️ Driven by intrusive, unwanted thoughts (often disturbing or taboo)
✔️ Maintained by compulsions — which can be mental (not just washing or checking)
✔️ NOT a personality quirk or preference for neatness
✨ Real understanding is the first step to real change.

Let’s keep talking about it — not just during OCD Awareness Week, but all year long. Follow to access great resources and information about OCD.

09/25/2025

Witnessing people’s growth as they bravely face their trauma is a gift. These are the kinds of experiences I hear in the process of doing Prolonged Exposure & ACT therapy for trauma. Often before we start the process we can’t imagine this kind of outcome. I continually feel inspired by the stories of those who have already started the journey. May you be inspired too.

08/28/2025

On September 7th at 3:30pm we'll be gathering for our 5th annual One Million Steps for OCD walk!

Through the International OCD Foundation, the OCD Walk is an annual grassroots fundraising event where people in cities across the world can connect, share stories, create impact, and show those struggling on their road to recovery that they are not alone, while also increasing awareness about OCD and related disorders.

As a clinical psychologist whose practice focuses on treating OCD, I hear all of my clients say that they've never before met anyone with OCD. It takes away a lot of shame to connect with people who understand. The OCD Walk is a day of connection, community, and laughter.

We will be gathering in Minto Park at 102 Lewis Street and going on a short 3km walk. We'll follow it up with food trucks and games (with prizes) for anyone who wants to hang out after the walk! Details at https://support.iocdf.org/event/ottawa-ocd-walk/e712306

We hope you join us!

The One Million Steps for OCD Walk provides a supportive community, increases awareness, and raises funds for the IOCDF and its Local Affiliates, enabling them to continue their mission of providing resources, funding research, and instilling respect. Walk with us and let's see how far we can go!

08/11/2025

Vacation time 🙏

07/24/2025

Some journeys are hard to put into words and attending my first World Conference with .social is one of those experiences! I landed back in Canada on Monday afternoon and I’m still finding the ground after a whirlwind 5 days in New Orleans connecting with other clinicians, learning from other presenters and delivering a workshop with my beloved colleagues .psi & . A highlight was taking the stage to perform a skit (full of brilliant satire) for the Follies with 4 other women about how women are sometimestreated in the world of behaviour science.

Some things I takeaway from this conference:
• community is everything - we are stronger together
• hope is a muscle that we can build again & again with intention (even in dark times)
• do the scary thing because it’s important to you - move with the fear (most of the time our brain’s overdramatize the outcome)
• thank goodness for them ACT skills… my mind had lots to say in the hours leading up to delivering our workshop 😬
• our brain’s are complex & often helpful but also often not ;)
• meeting colleagues in-person that I’ve worked with virtually is a special kind of joy
• the ability to be flexible in our behaviour is a powerful tool that I can continue to support myself in building alongside my clients with OCD and other challenges

06/25/2025

Thrilled to announce I will be presenting a workshop alongside my colleagues Marisa Mazza & Michelli Cameoka .psicologia at this year’s ACBS World Conference in New Orleans. Our workshop is titled “Sustaining the Heart of Therapy with Self-compassion: A workshop to
support therapists in working with tricky cases”. We would love for you to join us in exploring this topic via practical exercises. World Con takes place from July 16-20th this summer ☀️