About Justisse

Founding and history

The Justisse Method of fertility awareness and the Justisse Fertility Management Practitioner training were developed in 1987 by Geraldine Matus. The intention was to provide information and guidance for sexual and reproductive health management with respect to individual rights and decisions. Over the years Justisse evolved into Justisse College International, a non-profit corporation dedicated to training Holistic Reproductive Health Practitioners (HRHPs). Starting in 2011, a group of HRHP graduates began training to become Justisse College faculty members and collaborators in managing the college in a non-hierarchical manner. See our current faculty and staff below.

At Justisse we provide comprehensive, purposeful and meaningful training for fertility awareness educators, aiming to have our graduates exemplify ethical standards of clinical and educational practice. Our courseware is an ever developing, multidisciplinary journey through the endocrinology, anatomy, physiology, history and life stages of the female body, reflecting the most scientifically accurate knowledge currently available, while also encouraging a functional medicine approach, scientific literacy and self-reflection. A Holistic Reproductive Health Practitioner understands the connection between menstrual cycle and general health, the deep significance that fertility awareness has in women’s lives, as well as issues of reproductive justice.

The Justisse Method

The Justisse Method is a standardized system for learning fertility awareness which allows for self-management of reproductive health, contraception, preconceptive planning, and conception timing. With the Justisse method you can avoid artificial contraception, improve your chances of a healthy pregnancy, and gain an invaluable day-to-day insight into your hormonal health.

In the Justisse Method, we chart and interpret the three scientifically proven, primary signs of fertility: cervical mucus secretions, basal body temperature and cervical position, and relate to these signs in accordance with our reproductive goals. The method can be implemented as a symptothermal (with daily measurements of basal body temperature) or mucus-only method. The Justisse method does not involve calculation rules or algorithms, but instead teaches the charter to observe, in real time, the scientifically verified signs of fertility and infertility that the female body demonstrates during the menstrual cycle, as well as understand the significance of deviations from their normal. The pedagogical process of learning and using the Justisse method ensures body literacy, and provides an estimated perfect-use efficacy rate between 97.6 and 99.6 % for the symptothermal version, and between 96.6 and 98,9 % for the mucus-only version (Peragallo Urrutia et al., 2018, Duane et al., 2022). Read more about the scientific basis and efficacy of Justisse and other similar fertility awareness-based methods here.

The Justisse method is best learned from Justisse Practitioners. Learning with a Holistic Reproductive Health Practitioner ensures that the method is taught properly, that the user is able to ask all the necessary questions to use the method with high efficacy, that they are witnessed in their learning journey and have personal support when experiencing changes in their menstrual cycle health. Our HRHP:s are committed to reproductive justice, supporting a holistic, psycho-physiological approach to managing and enhancing sexual and reproductive health throughout the female life cycle.

References:

Peragallo Urrutia, R., Polis, C. B., Jensen, E. T., Greene, M. E., Kennedy, E., & Stanford, J. B. (2018). Effectiveness of Fertility Awareness-Based Methods for Pregnancy Prevention: A Systematic Review. Obstetrics and gynecology, 132(3), 591–604. https://doi.org/10.1097/AOG.0000000000002784.

Duane, M., Stanford, J. B., Porucznik, C. A., & Vigil, P. (2022). Fertility Awareness-Based Methods for Women’s Health and Family Planning. Frontiers in medicine, 9, 858977. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmed.2022.858977

Vision and mission

Vision: A world where every person has the body literacy they need to make informed, empowered and autonomous decisions about their sexual and reproductive health.

Mission: To promote body literacy worldwide by providing comprehensive educator training in the Justisse Method of fertility awareness and holistic reproductive health.

Current operation

Today, Justisse College consists of 5 teachers and 6 valued staff members, operating according to sociocratic and feminine principles. If you would like to ask us questions directly, please sign up for an information session.

Faculty

Lisa Leger – Academic Director, Faculty Member, Order Desk Manager

lisa@justisse.ca

Lisa was in the first class of Justisse Method teacher trainers to graduate in 1989 and has practiced ever since; providing private consultations, public education and professional training in holistic reproductive health. She has managed supplement stores and worked in community pharmacy, receiving further training and insights from clinicians about natural health products. Lisa hosts public events to share her ideas about building a bridge between natural and conventional medicine.

Jenny Koos – Faculty Member, Director of Communications & Public Relations

jenny@justisse.ca

Jenny began her studies with Justisse in 2009, and became a faculty member in 2018. In Sweden, she has championed fertility awareness and women’s empowerment through body literacy in countless debates, lectures & webinars, client sessions and social media for 15 years. Her first book “Fertilitetsförståelse” (“Fertility Awareness”) was published in 2022.

Suvi Lehtilä – Faculty Member, Curriculum Coordinator

suvi@justisse.ca

Suvi began her studies with Justisse in 2014 and joined the Justisse faculty in 2021. She was the first professionally trained fertility awareness educator in Finland and a founding member of the Nordic Union for Fertility Awareness that promotes evidence-based education in fertility awareness based methods and natural fertility management in the Nordic countries. She has a special interest in different fertility awareness based methods and their application for populations with varying needs.

Geneviéve Rajoy – Faculty Member, HRHP

genevieve@justisse.ca

Geneviève has been working with menstrual cycles and fertility since 2009. She began her studies at Justisse College International in 2013, and became a faculty member in 2021. As the first secular certificated fertility awareness educator in Ecuador, her purpose is to continue to bring this essential information to Spanish-speaking countries, and help to train more HRHPs in South America.

Carolina Fischmann – Faculty Member, HRHP

carolina@justisse.ca

Carolina is an Anthropologist and Dietitian who began her studies in Justisse College in 2016, becoming a faculty member in 2021. She is the first fertility awareness educator in Brazil and a passionate advocate for reproductive justice and fertility awareness as an amazing tool for those who want to manage their fertility and menstrual health. She is interested in bridging the gap between evidence-based practice and social justice.

Staff

Dr. Colleen Holland – Director of Professional Practice

colleen@justisse.ca

Colleen is a doctor of chiropractic specializing in a functional medicine approach to reproductive health since 2001 and is a 2018 graduate of Justisse College. In her role with JCI, she contributes to the root cause understanding of fertility challenges by developing some of the coursework and coordinating a continuing education program for its students and graduates. She also runs a private practice from her home in Colorado, USA where her passions are preconception planning and complex health issues.

Michelle Soto – Director of Finance & Operations

michelle@justisse.ca

Michelle is a passionate advocate for reproductive justice and education. Prior to graduating from Justisse College in 2020, she dedicated over 5 years to working in reproductive and maternal health programs in the Amazon region. Since then, she has established her personal practice as an HRHP.

Allison MacBeth, HRHP – Social Media Coordinator

allison@justisse.ca

Allison has a Master’s degree in sexual health education and has been an integral part of our community since 2013, starting as a student and later serving as the Justisse College Registrar. She has served on the AFAP board of directors as well as the FACTS advisory council and is deeply dedicated to all matters reproductive health. Allison currently holds a seat on the Community Council for CeMCOR and volunteers on the planning committee for the Justisse FAE Convention, in addition to helping us spread knowledge of the method and training program via social media.

Meghan Vyleta – Administrative and Financial Assistant

meghan@justisse.ca

Meghan has been with Justisse College since 2019 and credits charting with helping her conceive her three babies. Prior to working with JCI she was a laboratory biologist, postpartum doula, and breastfeeding counselor. She is dedicated to supporting the College’s mission to empower future generations to have agency over their bodies and health through fertility awareness.

Natalia Sotomayor – Ombudsperson

ombudsperson@justisse.ca

Born and raised in the Andes highlands, Ecuador, Natalia is a therapist, anthropologist, translator and interpreter, currently working as the Director for the Compassionate Inquiry training in Spanish. In her private practice she combines diverse forms of therapeutic work, including IFS, Brainspotting, and Art Therapy. Using her skills in deep and compassionate listening, holding space for people’s strong emotions, needs and longings, she helps people from diverse backgrounds resolve conflicts based on the values of diversity, equity and inclusion as well as supporting them in developing practices that align with their authentic selves.