About
Julia de Souza Queiroz, PhD.
As a clinical psychologist and neuroscientist, my work integrates insights into how trauma, on one hand, and emotional growth and self-development practices, on the other, impact the functioning of both our brain and body. My journey began with a personal search for answers, which led me to specialize in the therapeutic approaches that helped me heal.
My therapeutic ‘blueprint’ is grounded in evidence-based research, interdisciplinary studies, a blend of psychological approaches, and years of personal work. Every individual’s journey is unique, and I tailor my approach to meet the specific needs and goals of each client.
At the core of my work is the understanding of how trauma shapes neurological development, alongside the natural impulse within each of us that drives connection and healing. I believe the brain and body co-participate in the healing process.
Through our collaborative work, we will explore underlying patterns that contribute to suffering, identify and challenge limiting beliefs, and cultivate resilience, emotional balance, and self-awareness. The goal is to support my clients in accessing their fullest potential, moving through pain, and finding a space of greater vitality, self-compassion, and fulfillment. This journey fosters integration and self-awareness, allowing individuals to connect with their inner wisdom and live from the core of their being.
Through our collaborative work, we will explore underlying patterns that contribute to emotional suffering, identify and challenge limiting beliefs while building the capacity to stay present with emotions and bodily sensations. The goal is to support you in accessing your fullest potential, moving through pain, and finding a space of greater vitality and fulfilment, by cultivating resilience, emotional balance, self-awareness and self-compassion. This journey fosters integration, allowing increased capacity to connect with your inner wisdom and live from the core of your being.
I believe in the transformative power of healing and am dedicated to creating a compassionate, safe space to explore your unique experiences and realize your fullest potential.
My Background
With a strong academic and clinical foundation, I hold a PhD in PsychoNeuroImmunology (2013), a Master’s degree in Neurosciences (2006), a professional license in clinical psychology with emphasis on the Cognitive Behavioral Therapy approach, and a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology (2004). I am licensed to practice in the United Kingdom, UK (HCPC #PYL048075), Portugal (OPP #27065), São Paulo, Brazil (CRP/SP #06/140568), and I hold the European Certificate of Psychology (Europsi, EAFP #PT-068228-202211). In 2024, I completed my training in Somatic Experiencing® and further advanced my expertise in The Pathwork Internacional® with 390 out of 420 hours. I am currently in training in NARM® (NeuroAffective Relational Model).
My professional journey also includes postdoctoral research roles at leading institutions, such as the Champalimaud Foundation’s Neuropsychiatry Unit in Lisbon (2019–2021), the Social and Cognition Neuroscience Laboratory at Mackenzie University in São Paulo (2015–2017), the MRI Laboratory at Universidade de São Paulo (2016-2017), and the Group of Translational Psychiatry/Neurospin in Paris (2013–2015). In addition, I specialized in trauma-informed practices (2019) and served as a lecturer in Neurosciences in Bordeaux, France (2018).
My Approaches
Currently in training
NARM is an approach that focuses on the impact of early relational experiences, especially the subtle or ongoing wounds that shape how we experience ourselves and others. When our early environment doesn’t fully meet our emotional or relational needs, we adapt in order to maintain connection and safety. We might learn to be overly responsible, to suppress our needs, to disconnect from feelings, to perform, to comply, or to withdraw. At the time, these adaptations are intelligent and necessary.
Over time, these survival strategies can turn into deeply held beliefs such as: “If I don’t perform well, I’ll be rejected,” “f I show my needs, I’ll be a burden,” “If I make a mistake, I’ll lose everything”, or “If I’m truly myself, I won’t belong.” These patterns can show up as over-efforting, over-responsibility, self-doubt, emotional disconnection, or a harsh inner critic.
NARM focuses on how these patterns are still active in the present. The work supports loosening what no longer serves you and reconnecting to a sense of aliveness, agency, and authentic connection, not by becoming someone else, but by returning to who you already are beneath the adaptations.
SE® helps us overcome the negative effects of trauma by reconnecting with the body and restoring a sense of safety.
Trauma (acute or developmental) is an incomplete physiological response to a real or perceived threat. When this response is not fully processed, it can leave the nervous system stuck in patterns of hyperarousal, shutdown, or emotional overwhelm, leading to symptoms such as anxiety, irritability, depression, rage, fearfulness, or panic.
In SE®, we work slowly and carefully, following the body’s signals. This helps regulate the autonomic nervous system, widen the window of tolerance, and strengthen your capacity to stay present with sensation.
Learning to remain with emotions and bodily sensations without immediately escaping or overanalyzing them is central to this work. When we cannot tolerate what we feel, we often get pulled into automatic ego loops such as repeating narratives, reactions, and patterns shaped by trauma. By gradually building the capacity to remain present with sensation, allowing acting instead of re-acting.
Pathwork® is a journey of personal transformation. It aims to guide individuals toward self-awareness by addressing the multiple layers of human consciousness. Pathwork® identifies three primary levels: the Mask (or ego ideal), the Lower Self (which holds our denied or destructive impulses), and the Higher Self (representing our essential nature). This awareness encourages emotional clarity and agency, while reducing shame-driven patterns, self-judgment, projections, and rigid defenses.
As internal conflicts are faced constructively, we begin to recognize where we are identified with a victim position and where we avoid responsibility. From that awareness, accountability becomes more accessible and empowering rather than blaming. Gradually, the personality awakens to deeper self-understanding, and with that growth, new inspiration and expanded perspectives emerge.
Through this process, we cultivate a more authentic and grounded sense of self, enhancing our capacity to experience vitality, connection, and meaning.
We navigate the world based on our core beliefs, which shape how we see, feel, and respond to life’s experiences. When these beliefs become rigid or distorted, life can start to feel threatening, overwhelming, or heavy, often leading to emotional suffering.
CBT is a structured and collaborative approach. Together, we explore the connection between thoughts, emotions, behaviors, and bodily responses, identifying patterns that maintain distress. Through practical tools and gentle experimentation, clients learn to question rigid beliefs, regulate emotions, and respond to challenges with greater flexibility.
By bringing awareness to these core beliefs and understanding how they contribute to emotional suffering, we begin to relate to our pain more consciously instead of automatically relying on avoidance strategies. Over time, this work strengthens autonomy, psychological resilience, and a more present and authentic way of living.