Love Like Julia.

Kristina Richie is an adoptee, author, speaker, and trauma-informed educator who has spent more than a decade working with youth and families impacted by trauma, instability, and disrupted attachment. 

She is the creator of The Julia Effect, a neuroscience-and attachment-informed framework that helps educators, caregivers, and child serving professionals understand the deeper patterns driving behavior - and respond with clarity, empathy, and regulation. 

Education & Training

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Kristina holds a Bachelor's Degree from Liberty University, and has completed multiple specialized certifications including:

• Trauma-Informed Care
• Helping Children Heal from Past Trauma and Loss
• Adoption Trauma Competency
• Attachment & Development Trauma Training
• TBRI-Aligned Approaches (Trust-Based Relational Intervention principles integrated into practice)

She has served as:

• A case manager in a residential treatment center
•  A CASA Volunteer
• A coach and educator for foster youth and single mothers
• A trainer in trauma-responsive communication, behavior decoding, and attachment supportive strategies

Her blend of academic training and lived experience gives her a uniquely powerful lens that resonates with both professionals and families. 

Why She Created The Julia Effect

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Kristina's framework was born from both professional insight and personal history. 

Adopted as an infant in a closed adoption that later reopened, she grew up navigating identity confusion, loyalty conflicts, emotional fragmentation, and the invisible wounds many adoptees carry. As an adult, she began studying trauma, neuroscience, attachment theory, and narrative processing to understand not only her own story, but the stories of the children and families she served.

But the name - The Julia Effect - came from her father's childhood.

When he was fifteen, both of his parents died by suicide two weeks apart. In the aftermath, he found safety and stability with his grandmother, Julia. Her quiet presence, compassion, and attunement during the darkest moment of his life changed the trajectory of generations to come - including Kristina's.

That single, stabilizing relationship became the heart of Kristina's mission:

Helping adults become the safe, regulated, predictable presence that transforms a child's world. 

Her Approach

 Kristina's teaching style is:

• Warm and relatable
• Emotionally attuned
• Rooted in science, delivered through story
• Practical and easy to apply in real world settings
• Deeply respectful of the complexity of trauma

She bridges the gap between neuroscience and human experience in a way that makes people say:

"Now I finally understand why this child behaves this way...and what I can do about it."

Her workshops combine:

• Nervous system education
• Attachment-based behavior decoding
• Trauma-responsive communication
• Regulation tools for adults and youth
• The 5-Wound Pattern Framework of The Julia Effect
• Story-based self-reflection that cultivates empathy and insight

Who She Serves

Kristina provides training for:

• DFPS teams
• Child welfare professionals
• Educators & school districts
• Foster & adoptive agencies
• Residential treatment centers
• Juvenile programs
• Faith organizations
• Behavioral staff and youth workers
• Foster Agencies
• Foster & Adoptive Parents

Her work strengthens:

• Emotional safety
• Regulation
• Attachments
• Resilience
• Professional confidence
• Trauma-informed decision making

Her Mission

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Kristina's mission is simple and deeply personal:

To help every child - especially those from hard places - experience a safe adult, a regulated environment, and a chance for a different future.

And to help the adults in their lives understand:

"You're not dealing with a bad kid. You're working with a wounded one - and they're doing the best their nervous system can do,"

Every training, every workshop, and every story Kristina teaches is rooted in one belief:

One safe person can change an entire generation. And with the right tools, every adult can become that person.