The Shanti Counselling Centre welcomes Julie Petrynko , a Masters intern from the Adler School of Professional Psychology.

Julie practices from a person-centred approach to counselling, working to establish meaningful and genuine connections with each person she works with and to provide an accepting and calm therapeutic atmosphere.  She recognizes that each person and his / her experiences are unique and therefore Julie believes that it is necessary to provide therapy that meets the distinctive needs of each individual.  She believes that we all have the ability to create the change in ourselves that we wish to occur and it is her passion to help guide individuals on their personal journeys of change and growth. 

 In the future, Julie is excited about pursuing several of her ambitions.  As a teacher, she has had many experiences working with at-risk youth.  It was largely due to her work with these inspiring young people that prompted her to initiate her education in counselling psychology and, therefore, work with Youth will undoubtedly be in her future.  Julie is also very passionate about advocating and working with the underprivileged population of Vancouver and so envisions much of her future work being involved with the Downtown Eastside neighbourhood residents. 

In her spare time, Julie enjoys keeping healthy and active in just about every way possible.  She enjoys time at the gym, riding her bike on the sea wall, hiking, kayaking, yoga, meditation, writing and saying yes to anything that feels right.  

Julie’s areas of counselling interest include, but are not limited to:

• Grief and loss
• Relationship issues (partners, parenting, family)
• Child and adolescent issues
• Spirituality
•  Life balance and purpose
• Life transitions
• Depression
• Anxiety