Julia Samuel
Julia Samuel | |
|---|---|
| Born | September 12, 1959 United Kingdom |
| Occupation(s) | Psychotherapist, specialist in paediatric counselling |
| Known for | Co-founder of Child Bereavement UK, grief psychotherapy |
| Notable work | Grief Works: Stories of Life, Death and Surviving; This Too Shall Pass: Stories of Change, Crisis and Hopeful Beginnings; Every Family Has A Story: How we inherit love and loss |
Julia Aline Samuel (born Guinness; 12 September 1959) is a British psychotherapist and specialist in paediatric counselling.
Early life
Samuel is the daughter of banker James Edward Alexander Rundell Guinness (1924–2006) and Pauline Vivien Mander (1926–2017). She descends from the banking branch of the Guinness family, founders of Guinness Mahon in 1836, tracing her lineage back to Samuel Guinness (1727–1795), brother to Arthur Guinness.
She has four siblings: three older sisters and one younger brother. Among them, Sabrina Guinness works as a television producer, Miranda is a journalist, Anita was married to Hon. Amschel Rothschild, and Hugo Guinness is known as an artist and writer.
Career
Samuel transitioned from a career in publishing to training as a counsellor. Her expertise lies in grief psychotherapy, and she served as a bereavement counsellor within the NHS paediatric department at St Mary's Hospital, Paddington, where she introduced maternity and paediatric psychotherapy initiatives.
In 1994, she co-established Child Bereavement UK and continues to act as its patron. She conceptualises trauma as unresolved psychological injuries stored within the brain’s amygdala and promotes EMDR therapy as an effective intervention.
In 2021, she developed the Grief Works App available on iOS and Android platforms, aimed at assisting those coping with bereavement.
Recognition
Samuel was honoured with the title Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2016 New Year Honours for her contributions to supporting bereaved parents. Additionally, she holds the position of vice president at the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy and has received an Honorary Doctorate from Middlesex University.
Books
Her debut publication, Grief Works: Stories of Life, Death and Surviving, came out in 2017.
The follow-up book, This Too Shall Pass: Stories of Change, Crisis and Hopeful Beginnings, was published on 5 March 2020.
Her third work, Every Family Has A Story: How we inherit love and loss, was released by Penguin Life on 17 March 2022.
Personal life
At age 20, on 6 March 1980, Julia married Michael Samuel from the Hill Samuel banking family; he is the son of Hon. Peter Samuel, who later became the 4th Viscount Bearsted.
Her father, James Edward Alexander Rundell Guinness, was a former partner and chairman of the family bank Guinness Mahon as well as chairman of the Public Works Loan Board between 1970 and 1990. James Guinness is descended from Robert Rundell Guinness, founder of the Anglo-Irish Guinness family. Her siblings include artist Hugo Guinness and Sabrina Guinness.
Julia Samuel is among seven godparents to Prince George.