About

Hi! I’m Julie Schmit, a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT), Certified Couples Therapist and AASECT Certified Sex Therapist. I believe healthy relationships are your birthright, and I’m here to help you discover love, and deepen your current relationships through practical approaches to intimacy.

Schedule a 15-Minute Intro Call

We will explore the major stressors in your life and how they shape your well-being; including your belief systems, health history, past experiences, personal strengths, and current relationships. I bring an engaged, relational style to our work, offering perspective, guidance, and practical tools as we identify what’s getting in the way and begin creating meaningful change. Because our lives are not lived only in our thoughts, we may also include the body in the process through simple awareness practices such as breathing and body-sensing exercises, guided imagery, and meditation.

Photo of Julie Schmit

You deserve to be cherished...
by both yourself and your partner.

My Story

As a child born during the sexual revolution of the 1960’s, I was fortunate to be adopted by open-minded parents. Among the many things parents typically teach their children, mine taught me the value of being self-empowered, and what today is called “sex positive.” They taught me sex is natural and generally healthy when utilized positively; little did I know what an impact that would have on me.

Since I was adopted as a young child, I felt a nagging desire to “find myself.” When I turned 18, I set out to find my biological roots (before that was a ‘thing,’ and before adoption records were open to adoptees). My search brought me to my birthplace in Southern California which, in the end, proved to be fruitful, and because of these experiences, I learned the value of healthy relationships, intimacy, and the human need for closeness.

While I was searching for my biological roots, I was drawn into the holistic healing movement, which was fresh and alive in Southern California in the 1980’s. When I moved back to Minneapolis in 1990, I put what I learned to practice.

Over the next three decades, I helped pioneer the practice of yoga in the Twin Cities.

I’ve worked as a movement specialist and yoga instructor, designing yoga-related programs for the University of Minnesota Gopher Football Team, the U of M Dance Department, the U of M BFA Guthrie Theater Actor Training Program, and the Minnesota Wild Hockey Club (to name a few of my former clients).

My work has been featured in Yoga Journal and the Minneapolis Star/Tribune. My interest in the mind-body connection and holistic healing led me to a certification from the Barbara Brennan School of Healing’s four-year healing science and energy healing program. I also have extensive experience working in rehabilitative massage therapy.

I bring this range of experience, including knowledge about the body, insight into human well-being, and the mind-emotion-body connection to my work as a relationship and sex therapist.

My approach is direct, compassionate, and peppered with humor. My style is more West Coast than Midwest and informed by my Jewish identity.

I’ve been happily married for 29 years to a research psychologist and writer. Next to our adult child, he’s the love of my life. I know personally the challenges and joys that marriage and family can bring, and, in my experience, the hard work has paid off in so many ways!

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Guest Instructor:

  • "A Guide to Tantric Sex Practices" University of Wisconsin – Stout, Sex Therapy Certification Program.

Workshop Facilitator:

  • "The Power of Pleasure-You Deserve It!" ModernWell Women’s Co-Working Space.
  • "How to Talk About Sex for Modest Minnesota Mortals" Wellness Minneapolis Health Center.
  • "Soulful Sex Secrets; Ways to Deepen Passion & Intimacy With Your Partner" Jumpstart Counseling Studio.
  • "Soulful Sensitivity: A Beginning Intuitive Development Series for Women" Wild Tree Wellness.
  • "Wild Woman Wisdom: Advanced Intuitive Developmet Series" Wellness Minneapolis Health Center.

Podcast Host

  • "Jumpstart Jam Sessions at the Edge" The Edge Magazine and Blogtalk Radio.

Professional Training:

  • Master of Arts in Adlerian Counseling and Psychotherapy – Adler Graduate School, Minneapolis, MN
  • Certified Couples Therapist – Relational Life Therapy (RLT)
  • Certified Sex Therapist - American Association of Sex Educators, Counselors & Therapists (AASECT)
  • Certified Sex Therapist - Sexual Health Alliance (SHA)
  • Certified Discernment Counselor - Minnesota Couples on the Brink Clinical Training
  • Couples Institute Developmental Model Level 1
  • EMDR Therapy
  • PREPARE/ENRICH pre-marital assessment - Certified Facilitator

Somatic (Body) Training:

  • Gina Ogden’s 4-D Wheel process
  • Body Centered Psychotherapy & Energy Healing – Barbara Brennan School of Healing
  • Yoga Instructor – E-RYT