Julie Gillespie, DPT (She/Her)

For more than thirty years, Julie has been helping men and women overcome pelvic disorders through physical therapy. A pioneer in the advancement of pelvic floor wellness, Julie led the nation’s very first university-based clinical Women’s Health Program at the University of Southern California, where she helped the faculty treat patients for incontinence and pre- and post-partum muscle problems through physical therapy. Her leadership and development of unique treatment plans for muscle dysfunction resulted in significant improvements for the men and women in the program. She is known for her warm and empowering approach to helping patients, her sense of humor in demystifying any preconceived notions about pelvic floor therapy, and her way of emboldening patients who believed their conditions were too socially embarrassing to discuss and resolve.

Her customized treatment plans can relieve a variety of urinary, bowel and sexual conditions including dyspareunia, coccydynia, testiculitis, vulvodynia, and vaginismus. With a specialty in identifying and treating pelvic floor disorders, Julie has worked with hundreds of patients throughout the Los Angeles area to achieve optimal core fitness.

Overall wellness is Julie’s goal for all patients, and Julie believes in an integrated approach to physical therapy. She supports a combination of therapeutic studio and pool exercises, manual trigger point release therapy, biofeedback, dilator therapy, postural stabilization, meditation, yoga, Pilates and behavioral retraining, all with the goal of relieving pain and improving each patient’s emotional, physical and sexual wellbeing. 

Julie works with women whose inner core has been detrimentally affected by the stages of menstruation, maternity, postpartum and menopause. She also treats women who have been subject to sexual trauma or assault, to help them regain sensitivity, strength and comfort. For women or men in rehabilitation and recovery from pelvic floor injuries or surgeries, Julie helps strengthen the inner core muscles that have been compromised.

Julie also works with athletes, developing treatment plans to manage the impact of up-training, down-training, and injury. She has helped countless elite athletes and cyclists with pelvic floor therapy for injury and repetitive use. 

Julie earned her Masters and Doctorate in Biokinesiology and Physical Therapy from the University of Southern California, and her Physical Therapy degree from Mount Saint Mary’s College. Julie has owned and/or managed several ob/gyn, continence and women’s healthcare groups in California, including the Women’s Health Program at USC.  

Julie has taught Women’s Health in the physical therapy programs at Mt. St. Mary’s College, Northridge and Loma Linda. In 2019, Julie was invited to Shenzhen, China to lecture on pelvic floor conditions and sexual dysfunctions. She has been recognized for her pelvic floor research with an award  from the American Physical Therapy Association.

On a personal note, Julie is the mother of five — triplets and two singletons — and she enjoys hiking, running, skiing and quilting. She is the author of Magical Multiple Moments.