Rosalind Wiseman

About Julia

Julia V. Taylor is a professional school counselor for Wake County Public Schools in Raleigh, North Carolina. She is the author of Salvaging Sisterhood and G.I.R.L.S: Group Counseling Activities for Enhancing Social and Emotional Development.  G.I.R.L.S. is two separate curricula, one for secondary ages, and another for elementary ages.

Originating from the Washington, DC area, Taylor received her undergraduate degree in Exercise Science with a concentration in Health Education from George Mason University.  She received her master’s degree in Psychology with a concentration in School Counseling from Marymount University.  She has been a counselor at both the middle and high school levels.

Taylor delivers solution focused workshops, breakout sessions, and keynote addresses to educators and parents at national and state conferences, public school systems, independent schools and organizations, and PTA groups.  She has conducted television, magazine, newspaper, and documentary interviews, along with authoring numerous publications about adolescent and parenting issues. She is a blogger and the Professional Interest Network Bullying Specialist for the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) and serves on the North Carolina School Counselor Association (NCSCA) Board as the Middle Level Vice President.   Taylor is also an advice columnist for greatschools.net, a website dedicated to parental involvement in education.

In addition to speaking to professionals, Julia Taylor frequently educates children, teens, and parents in local communities about relational aggression, body image, and other adolescent/teen issues.

Learn More About Julia’s Books

G.I.R.L.S.: Grades K-5. This unique group counseling curriculum provides over 80 activities divided into ten session themes. During group lessons, young girls are encouraged to share feelings and struggles as they openly discuss important issues in a safe and supportive environment. They are given the opportunity to feel empowered, gain self-awareness, develop coping strategies, improve problem-solving skills, understand that they are not alone, and learn to make healthy decisions. Girls in Real-Life Situations is designed for use by educators and mental health professionals in schools and other settings.

G.I.R.L.S.: Grades 6-12. This unique group counseling curriculum provides over 90 activities divided into twelve session themes. During group lessons, girls are encouraged to share feelings and struggles as they openly discuss important issues in a safe and supportive environment. They are given the opportunity to feel empowered, gain self-awareness, develop coping strategies, improve problem-solving skills, understand that they are not alone, and learn to make healthy decisions. Girls in Real-Life Situations is designed for use by educators and mental health professionals in schools and other settings.

Salvaging Sisterhood: Grades 5-12. This is a group curriculum designed to teach relationally aggressive and/or bullying girls how to communicate appropriately and diffuse anger without disrespecting one another. The book features over 50 activities that address issues such as the dynamics of female friendships, positive self-concepts, healthy conflict resolution, and how to lessen gossip, rumor spreading, and backstabbing.

Perfectly You: (Grades 2-5) Through a wonderful story and colorful illustrations, Perfectly You will teach young readers (and listeners) to accept themselves; treat one another with compassion; and embrace their uniqueness. It provides children with the message that character comes from within while focusing on the importance of self-acceptance, tolerance, and leading an overall healthy lifestyle.

Julia’s Sample Speaking Engagement Topics & Formats

Made Up & Branded: Body Image, the Media, and its Effects on Youth
Length: 1.5 Hours
Description: Today’s standards of beauty and attractiveness are unrealistic. Unattainable images are used to sell everything from automobiles to vitamins. It’s not a coincidence that body image disturbances among today’s youth are widespread, contagious, and toxic. This interactive & solution focused session will provide educators with an in depth understanding of body image, how the media operates, resources to empower male and female students, and tools to teach parents how to help their children to build a lifelong healthy self-image.

Growing up Girl in Today’s Crazy World
Length: Half or Full Day
Description: Relational aggression, body image issues, and general self-loathing among today’s generation of girls is widespread, contagious, and toxic.  Typical girlhood issues are multifaceted and must involve parents, students, and educators to help navigate girls through these turbulent times. This solution-focused workshop will provide participants with the opportunity to learn:

• The dynamics of body image
• The dynamics of relational aggression
• How to initiate and conduct “Girl Groups”
• How to use icebreaker activities to initiate comfortable communication
• How to involve administration, teachers, and parents
• How to work with aggressive or disinterested parent
• Solution focused and innovative strategies to deal with common girl issues
• Prevention/intervention techniques, and
• How to run detailed and insightful parent workshops

Participants will self-disclose, interact with one another, and have fun while learning how to successfully embrace and empower our girls!

Salvaging Sisterhood
Length: 1.5 or 3 Hours
Description: Incidents involving relational aggression, such as gossip, exclusion, taunting, cyber-bullying, and rejecting other girls frequently pass under the radar of educators. Relational aggression causes enormous amounts of distress and creates havoc in the schools. This interactive and solution-focused revolves around the notion “raising awareness to provoke change.” Educators will learn how to engage faculty, staff, parents, and students in the process to recognize, understand, and reduce relational aggression.  Participants will be provided with plenty of easy to implement strategies to help girls navigate the social jungle of girlhood!