Julia Besner, Dietitan and Mental Health Therapist

05/07/2026

These are the great people I share an office with 😊

05/04/2026

Parenting can feel overwhelming when your child is struggling—and it’s easy to feel unsure of how to help.
If your child is dealing with anxiety, depression, eating challenges, school refusal, or big emotional outbursts, you’re not alone—and more importantly, you’re not powerless.

Emotion Focused Family Therapy (EFFT) helps parents become the strongest support system their child needs. Instead of focusing only on the child, EFFT empowers you with tools to:

• Respond to intense emotions with confidence
• Strengthen your connection with your child
• Support your child through anxiety, low mood, or avoidance
• Navigate challenges like disordered eating or school refusal
• Reduce conflict and increase trust at home

At its core, EFFT believes that parents are not the problem—they are the solution.
You don’t need to have all the answers. With the right support, you can help your child feel safer, more understood, and more capable of facing life’s challenges.
If you’ve been feeling stuck, overwhelmed, or unsure where to start—this approach may be the missing piece.

Reach out to learn more about how EFFT can support your family.

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04/13/2026

My therapy group for body image during perimenopause and menopause starts in two weeks. There are 2 spots left.

This group starts April 27th at 5:30 pm, and runs for 4 weeks at $30 per session. If your changing body has impacted your sense of self, your ability to care for yourself, and your relationships, this therapy group might help you understand yourself better, learn new coping skills and self-compassion to guide you towards what truly matters to you.

Please reach out if you have questions or want to register.

04/08/2026

💛 Food is never the real problem.
If you’re struggling with restricting, bingeing, emotional eating, or constant guilt around food—please hear this:

It’s not “bad habits.”
It’s not “lack of discipline or willpower.”
It’s your nervous system trying to cope.

Many people use food to manage emotions that feel too big, too scary, or too hard to express.

If you're curious about what healing could look like, or what eating without stress and worry could be like—reach out.

Feel free to message me with any questions 😊

04/03/2026

Eating Disorder Council of NB’s Kerri Harris & Julia Besner were pleased to receive a grant award of $7,000 to help support an accessible, inclusive program for caregivers and children with eating disorders. Congratulations!

03/23/2026

🌿 New Therapy Group: Body Image & Menopause Support 🌿
Are you struggling with how your body is changing, and how your body is feeling during perimenopause or menopause?
You’re not alone—and you don’t have to navigate this stage in silence.
This 4-week therapy group offers a supportive, non-judgmental space to explore your relationship with your body and build a more compassionate connection to yourself.

✨ In this group, you will:
• Understand the physical and emotional changes of menopause
• Learn tools to cope with negative thoughts and feelings
• Reduce comparison and self-criticism
• Build self-compassion and body appreciation
• Reconnect with what truly matters beyond appearance

💬 Details:
• 4 weekly sessions (90 minutes each)
• Small group (6–10 participants)
• Led by a licensed therapist
• In-person therapy group at Seen Heard Found Counselling in Saint John
• Start date: April 27th , 5:30-7:00 pm

🌸 This group is for individuals in perimenopause or menopause who want to feel more at ease in their changing bodies—without pressure to “fix” or change them.
📩 Cost: $30 per session
Send a message or email julia@seenheardfound.cc to learn more or register.
You deserve support in this transition.

03/21/2026

Eating challenges can impact anyone at any age.

03/16/2026

I wanted to share a little about the counselling work I offer.

My approach is humanistic, which means I believe deeply in each person’s inherent worth. I don’t see people as broken or deficient. Instead, I see human beings with unique life experiences, strengths, and the capacity for growth and healing.

When we work together, my hope is to create a space that feels safe, compassionate, and genuinely supportive—a place where you can explore what matters most to you and begin to offer that same care and understanding to yourself.

My work is informed by person-centred, experiential, and existential approaches, and I have training in Emotion-Focused Therapy, Emotion-Focused Family Therapy, and CAMS (Collaborative Assessment and Management of Suicidality).

Today, I support youth, adults, older adults, and families, and I have experience working with:

• Anxiety
• Depression
• Trauma
• Family conflict and parenting challenges
• Disordered eating and eating disorders
• Body image concerns
• Women’s health and life transitions (including perimenopause and menopause)
• Caregiver support for those caring for a loved one with dementia

If you’re looking for a place to talk, be heard, and feel supported, I’d be honoured to connect with you.

Feel free to reach out if you’d like to learn more about working together.

03/05/2026

I am happy and proud to share, that I am now able to practice as a Licensed Counselling Therapist in New Brunswick. This has been a very long journey, with much personal growth, self-reflection and a healthy dose of self-doubt. I felt like my professional development as a Dietitian had stalled, especially when it came to eating disorder care. I knew, there was more I had to learn to close a gap between helping clients cope with an eating disorder vs overcoming it and reconnecting with life.
After being in practice as an intern for almost one year, I feel assured that I took the right turn in my journey, and that I am able to help fill a significant gap in eating disorder care in NB.
Thank you to my past and present clients who taught me so much, and thank you to my mentors and loved ones for all their support along the way.

02/18/2026

A free workshop for parents and caregivers/carepartners of individuals with an eating disorder.

The Eating Disorder Foundation of NL is offering an Emotion Focused Family Therapy Workshop for Families and Caregivers next month.

For more information, contact maureen@edfnl.ca

02/12/2026

Folks spend so much time/ resources "fighting" diabetes, we don't realize that the lifetime prevalence of eating disorders (ED) is actually higher than diabetes (DM). And so many of the behaviors encouraged in DM contribute to ED risk.

When people think of eating disorders in diabetes, most folks think it only applies to those with type 1. The reality is that the rate of EDs are far higher in those with type 2 diabetes. Due to providers not knowing what questions to ask, making assumptions, and encouraging restriction, EDs get missed and even promoted. Binge eating, night eating, atypical anorexia, and EDNOS are common!

--> Binge eating is not due to "lack of control." It is fueled by dietary restriction, excessive cognitive restraint (guilt / shame), emotion dysregulation / coping response, and elevated insulin levels (in folks with insulin resistance). Encouraging restriction exacerbates condition (and makes people feel like crap about themselves).

--> Atypical anorexia is not someone with "great control." It is a mental health condition not dependent on BMI, fueled by fear, guilt, and shame related to food, body, and movement. It shows up as fear of weight gain / obsession with weight loss, dietary restriction, and sometimes compulsive movement.

As professionals, please ask questions before you "congratulate" or make assumptions:
* How do you feel about your body?
* Have you experienced any weight changes? Has anything changed in your life? (I can't tell you how many clients have been "congratulated" for weight loss secondary to depression, anxiety, grief, anorexia)
* How do you feel about movement?
* How often are you eating?
* How often do you ever feel "out of control" when you eat?
* How often do you feel guilt or shame for what or how you eat?
* How often do you feel like you are unable to eat what you want or need due to financial concerns or transportation challenges?
* How do you feel about hunger?

Folks, if you work in diabetes, you are seeing folks with eating disorders, whether or not you realize it. Please learn the signs, symptoms, and how to support so you can help, not harm.

End rant. References in comments :)