Inspiring Conversations with Julie Anderson Smith, MA, MFTC, IFS-Certified of Ancient Sage Psychotherapy + IFS Coaching

Today we’d like to introduce you to Julie Anderson Smith, MA, MFTC, IFS-Certified.

Hi Julie, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
My story has been one of unlearning and reclaiming. For many years, I lived within a system that taught me to silence parts of myself —my intuition, my needs, even my joy. Over time, that silence became heavy. What brought me back to life was discovering Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy and realizing that all of those quieted or burdened parts of me weren’t broken —they were simply waiting to be seen and cared for.

This personal awakening became the foundation of my professional path. After twenty years of coaching experience, I returned to graduate school, earned my Master’s in Marriage and Family Therapy, and built Ancient Sage Psychotherapy. My private practice is dedicated to helping people reconnect with their inner wisdom. Along the way, I’ve been humbled to witness not just my own healing but the resilience of so many others who come through my office doors.

Now, I work with individuals, couples, families, and therapists to create spaces of safety, curiosity, and compassion. What lights me up the most is watching people experience the moment when an exiled part of themselves feels safe enough to come forward — it’s like seeing a bird released from its cage.

For me, the story is still unfolding, but the thread that ties it all together is this: we are not just here to survive the old stories. We are here to thrive, to reconnect, and to live from a place of wholeness.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Like many people, my path has not been without hardship. Over the past year, especially, I’ve faced some deeply personal challenges that have reshaped me. And yet what I keep learning—both in my own life and through my work with clients—is that resilience is built into who we are. Just as the physical body knows how to heal from injury over time, our emotional body carries the same wisdom and capacity for renewal.

This belief forms the heart of my approach to therapy. I hold a very humanistic, strengths-based perspective: that within each of us lives a resilient seat of wisdom. Life’s struggles can cloud it or bury it for a while, but it never disappears. My role as a therapist is not to “fix” anyone but to come alongside as a guide, helping people reconnect with their own inner wisdom and healing potential.

Having walked through pain and transformation myself, I know how meaningful this resilience of the human spirit can be. My word for myself for 2025 is thrive—a reminder that life is not only about surviving difficulties but also about growing, flourishing, and finding joy again.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
At Ancient Sage, my work is about creating a safe, compassionate space where clients can slow down, tune inward, and begin to listen to the parts of themselves that may have been silenced, burdened, or overlooked. I specialize in Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy, a powerful, gentle approach that helps clients connect with their inner world in ways that create deep healing and lasting change.

In my work as an IFS therapist, I often incorporate creative techniques like art or sandtray therapy as a way for clients to connect with their inner parts in a tangible, visual way. By choosing figurines to represent different parts of themselves, clients are able to give voice, form, and even playfulness to aspects of their inner system that may otherwise feel hard to access. This creative process can be especially meaningful for those healing from religious trauma, where parts have often been silenced, shamed, or forced into hiding.

I work with individuals, couples, and families all throughout Colorado, both virtually and in person at my office in Longmont. Sometimes that means helping a client navigate the painful impact of childhood trauma, other times it’s guiding parents, or supporting couples as they untangle old patterns of conflict. Across all of it, my focus is on helping people access their own inner wisdom, so they can be free from emotional pain and experience peace and connection.

My work also expands beyond therapy into teaching and coaching. I love supporting other therapists who are curious about IFS, helping them build confidence in their clinical practice. Whether I’m sitting with a client in the therapy room, or providing consultation for a new IFS therapist, the heartbeat of my work remains the same: to honor the resilience of the human spirit and to walk alongside others as they reclaim their capacity to heal and thrive. You can learn more about my work and upcoming offerings at www.ancient-sage.com.

We love surprises, fun facts and unexpected stories. Is there something you can share that might surprise us?
Something that might surprise you is that my co-therapist has four legs and a wagging tail. My dog, River, is a fully certified therapy dog who often joins me at the office. He has a gift for sensing when someone needs comfort. In one of his very first sessions with me, a client began to cry about halfway through. Without being prompted, River got up, walked over, and gently rested his head on the client’s knee. Then he curled up and lay across the client’s foot for the rest of the session. It was a simple and powerful reminder that healing doesn’t happen just through words—it happens through presence, connection, and the safety of being truly seen.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.ancient-sage.com