Giulia Haedar

Giulia Haedar: Learning to Navigate Rough Water

Giulia Haedar is a Registered Clinical Counsellor and ACT-trained counsellor at Thrive Downtown who helps individuals and couples move through anxiety, depression, trauma and relationship strain with practical tools and a steady, collaborative presence. If you are facing something that feels insurmountable, this guide explains how Giulia works, who Giulia supports, and how to take the first step of breaking the isolation.

“A Smooth Sea Never Made a Skilled Sailor”

The saying on Giulia Haedar’s page reframes hardship in a quietly hopeful way. Rough water is not a sign that you are doing life wrong. It is often where skill, resilience and self-knowledge are built. That does not make storms pleasant, and it does not mean you should weather them alone. It means that with the right support, difficult seasons can become turning points.

What a skilled sailor learns

• Reading conditions: noticing your own emotional weather early, before it becomes a storm.
• Adjusting the sails: changing how you respond, even when you cannot change the wind.
• Staying on course: keeping your values in view when fear pushes you off track.
• Asking for crew: recognizing that reaching out is a strength, not a failure.

Understanding Your Blueprint

Giulia describes how our upbringing, beliefs and experiences create a blueprint that shapes our sense of self, our behaviours and our relationships. Much of that blueprint was drawn before we had any say in it. Counselling brings it into view with empathy, so you can decide which parts still serve you and which you are ready to redraw.

Questions that can reveal your blueprint

• What did you learn growing up about showing emotions, asking for help or handling conflict?
• Which beliefs about yourself feel automatic, like “I have to be strong” or “my needs come last”?
• What patterns keep repeating in your relationships, work or self-talk?
• Where do you feel those patterns in your body?

Understanding the blueprint is not about blaming the past. It is about setting the stage, as Giulia puts it, for meaningful change.

ACT with Giulia Haedar: Steering by Your Values

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy is Giulia’s formal training. ACT is built on the idea that painful thoughts and feelings are a normal part of life, and that the struggle to get rid of them often causes more suffering than the feelings themselves. Its aim is psychological flexibility: staying present and open while choosing actions that fit what matters to you.

The choice point

One practical ACT tool imagines each difficult moment as a fork in the road. In one direction are “away moves”, things you do to escape discomfort that pull you away from the life you want, such as avoiding, snapping or numbing out. In the other are “toward moves”, actions that bring you closer to your values, even when discomfort comes along. Simply noticing which way you are heading can create room to choose.

ACT skills you might practise with Giulia

• Noticing thoughts with curiosity rather than obeying them automatically
• Making room for feelings like fear or sadness without letting them steer the ship
• Grounding in the present moment when the mind races ahead or loops back
• Clarifying values in relationships, work and self-care
• Setting small, concrete steps that honour those values

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy: Practical Tools for Anxiety and Depression

Giulia also draws on Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), one of the most widely researched approaches for anxiety and depression. CBT focuses on the links between thoughts, feelings, body sensations and behaviours. When you change one part of that cycle, the others often shift too.

Common CBT strategies

• Thought records: writing down a situation, your automatic thoughts and the evidence for and against them.
• Spotting thinking traps: recognizing patterns like catastrophizing, mind reading or all-or-nothing thinking.
• Behavioural activation: scheduling small, meaningful activities to rebuild energy and mood during depression.
• Gradual exposure: approaching feared situations step by step instead of avoiding them.
• Problem solving: breaking overwhelming challenges into manageable pieces.

Try catch, check, change

A simple way to practise CBT on your own is a three-step pattern. Catch the thought when your mood drops or anxiety spikes, and write it down word for word. Check it by asking what evidence supports it, what evidence does not, and what you would say to a friend who thought the same thing. Change it by writing a more balanced version you can genuinely believe, even if it is only slightly kinder. Over time, this habit can loosen the grip of automatic negative thinking.

Giulia describes believing in the connection between our physical, mental and emotional aspects, and blends CBT with somatic, emotion-focused and mindfulness techniques. That means tools are not only intellectual exercises. They are practised with attention to how your body and emotions respond.

The Mind and Body Working Together

Stress and emotion rarely stay in the mind alone. Anxiety can show up as a racing heart or tight stomach, depression as heaviness or fatigue, and relationship conflict as a clenched jaw that lingers long after an argument. Giulia’s integrative approach pays attention to all of these signals.

• Noticing physical cues that an emotion is building, so you can respond earlier
• Using breathing and grounding practices to settle the body before tackling a difficult thought
• Exploring emotions as they are felt in the moment, not only as ideas to analyse
• Combining insight with practice, so change is felt as well as understood

This whole-person view reflects the hope expressed on the page: healing that transcends the counselling room and carries into daily life.

Couples Counselling with Giulia Haedar

Couple counselling and relationships are among Giulia’s specialties. The page describes working with couples, both individually and together, who feel stuck and discouraged, to identify the root of ongoing struggles, increase intimacy and open the path to better communication.

Emotion-Focused Couples Therapy

Emotion-Focused Couples Therapy, associated with psychologist Sue Johnson, draws on attachment science. It understands many arguments as attempts to answer an underlying question: “Are you there for me? Do I matter to you?” When that question feels unanswered, partners often protest with criticism or protect themselves by withdrawing. The ICEEFT website offers more about the model.

• Recognizing the painful cycle the couple gets caught in, and seeing it as the shared problem
• Uncovering sensitive spots, sometimes called raw spots, that make certain moments feel so charged
• Helping each partner express the softer feelings beneath anger or distance
• Creating new experiences of reaching and responding that rebuild trust and closeness

Signs a relationship may benefit from support

• The same argument keeps coming back, with no real resolution
• One or both partners feel lonely even when together
• Conversations turn into criticism, defensiveness or silence
• Physical or emotional intimacy has faded and is hard to talk about
• A major event, such as a move, new baby, job loss or betrayal, has shaken the relationship

Working individually on a relationship

Because Giulia works with couples both individually and together, you can begin even if your partner is not ready to attend. Individual sessions can clarify your own patterns, needs and hopes for the relationship. Learn more on Thrive’s couples counselling page.

Narrative Therapy and Person-Centred Care

Rewriting the story you tell about yourself

Narrative therapy pays attention to the stories that shape our lives, especially the dominant ones that leave little room for strength or hope. Giulia may help you notice “unique outcomes”, times when the problem story did not hold, and build on them. A person who sees themselves as “always anxious” might discover moments of courage that point to a truer, more complete story.

You are the expert on your life

Giulia’s approach is collaborative, and the page describes the client as the expert in their own life. Person-centred care means your goals, pace and values guide the work. Giulia’s role is to create a safe, non-judgmental space and to empower you in your journey of self-discovery.

Who Giulia Haedar Supports

Trauma and PTSD

Trauma can leave the nervous system on high alert, with flashbacks, avoidance, irritability or numbness. Giulia’s blend of somatic awareness, mindfulness and cognitive tools can help you feel safer in your body and more in control of your responses. If you are in crisis, call or text 988, or call 911 in an emergency.

Depression, anxiety and grief

These often show up together, especially after loss or major change. Counselling can offer both space to feel and practical strategies to cope, so you are not left choosing between insight and relief.

Self-identity and self-esteem

If your inner critic is loud or you are unsure who you are apart from others’ expectations, counselling can help you build a steadier, kinder sense of self.

This work often involves noticing where your self-worth depends on performance or approval, and gradually grounding it in your values, relationships and the qualities you respect in yourself.

Career exploration and transition

Career changes can shake identity, finances and confidence all at once. Giulia supports clients exploring new directions or adjusting to a transition, using values and strengths to guide decisions.

Helpful questions in career counselling might include: what energizes you and what drains you, which strengths you most want to use, what your values say about the kind of work that fits, and what fears are shaping your choices.

Immigration transition

Moving to a new country can bring excitement alongside grief, loneliness and the pressure of starting over. Common challenges include missing family and familiar culture, navigating a new language or workplace norms, having credentials questioned, and feeling caught between identities. Counselling can make space for all of it.

Support might include grieving what you left behind, building a new community, managing the stress of practical hurdles, and finding a sense of identity that honours both your roots and your new home.

Starting Counselling with Giulia Haedar at Thrive

Giulia’s page says the first step to healing is reaching out to break the isolation, and acknowledges that this step can feel difficult. Here is what it usually looks like at Thrive.

1. Free 15 minute consult: book a consult and ask for Giulia, or share your needs through the contact form to be matched.
2. First session: you talk about what feels hard right now and what you would like to change, at a pace that feels manageable.
3. Collaborative plan: you and Giulia choose a blend of ACT, CBT, mindfulness, narrative or emotion-focused work that suits your goals.
4. Ongoing sessions: Thrive offers sessions in person at 470 Granville St., near Granville SkyTrain Station, and online by secure video. Ask at your consult which options Giulia currently offers.

Questions you might bring to the consult

• How do you decide whether to use ACT, CBT or another approach?
• If my partner is hesitant, how would individual sessions about our relationship work?
• What does a typical session with you look like?
• How will we know if counselling is helping?

Asking these questions is part of breaking the isolation. It lets you get a sense of the person you would be working with before you commit.

The Thrive Formula in Giulia’s work

• Regulate: mindfulness and somatic awareness to calm the storm in your body.
• Reveal: exploring your blueprint and the stories you live by.
• Reclaim: values-based action and new ways of relating that let you thrive.

Fees vary by service, and current rates are shown when booking or on the contact page. Giulia is a Registered Clinical Counsellor, a designation granted through the BC Association of Clinical Counsellors, and many extended health plans reimburse RCC counselling. You can also browse our team.

Giulia Haedar FAQ

Can I come to couples counselling without my partner?

Yes. Giulia works with couples both individually and together, so you can start on your own.

What is the difference between ACT and CBT?

CBT often helps you examine and adjust unhelpful thoughts. ACT focuses more on changing your relationship with thoughts and acting on your values. Giulia draws on both.

Does Giulia Haedar work with trauma?

Yes. Trauma and PTSD are listed specialties, and the work is paced with safety in mind.

Can counselling help with a career change?

Yes. Career exploration and transition is one of Giulia’s specialties.

I recently moved to Canada. Is this a good fit?

Immigration transition is a listed specialty. Counselling can support you through the practical and emotional sides of starting over.

What if I feel nervous about the first session?

That is very common. Giulia’s page acknowledges that reaching out can feel difficult and overwhelming. You can share as little or as much as you like at first, and ask any questions about how the process works.

Will I get homework?

Often there are small practices between sessions, such as a thought record or a mindfulness exercise. You decide together what fits your life.

Break the Isolation with Giulia Haedar

Whatever storm you are in, you do not have to sail it alone. You make sense, you are not broken, and connection heals. Book your free 15 minute consult to connect with Giulia Haedar, or call Thrive at 604-227-0297.