Our Team
Megan Sullivan
Marriage and Family Therapist Trainee
View ProfileA Body-Aware Approach
Somatic Therapy
Somatic therapy brings the body into counseling, paying gentle attention to how feelings and stress show up in breath, posture and sensation.
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Bringing the Body into Counseling
Stress rarely stays in our thoughts alone. It can show up as a tight jaw, shallow breathing, a knot in the stomach, restlessness, or a heaviness that makes ordinary tasks feel harder. Somatic therapy treats those signals as meaningful. The word somatic refers to the body, and this approach brings attention to physical experience alongside the thoughts and feelings you talk about in counseling.
Megan Sullivan describes her somatic training as offering tools for embodied self-awareness and regulation. In plain terms, embodied self-awareness means noticing more clearly what is happening inside you as it happens. Regulation means finding your way back toward steadiness when stress, worry or strong emotion rises, so you have more choice in how you respond.
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Somatic work usually happens alongside conversation rather than replacing it. You still talk about relationships, grief, transitions or whatever brings you in. The body simply becomes part of what you and your therapist notice together, which can offer another way in when a feeling is hard to put into words or when understanding a problem has not changed how it feels.
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Megan's Training and Style
Megan Sullivan is a Marriage and Family Therapist Trainee supervised by Wendy Barillas, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist #133716. Her education includes a B.S. in Psychology and an M.A. in Counseling Psychology with a concentration in Somatic Psychology at the California Institute of Integral Studies. She works with children, teens, individuals, couples and families.
Megan describes her approach as client-centered and relational. Client-centered means your goals, your pace and your sense of what matters guide the direction of counseling. Relational means the connection between you and your therapist is part of the work, a place where you can be accepted as you are right now while still growing toward who you are becoming.
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Before becoming a therapist, Megan spent twenty-five years as a teacher, and she is also a parent. Her focus areas include life transitions, grief and loss, stress, relationships, parenting, neurodivergence, emotional understanding, cultural identity, trauma and post-traumatic growth. She brings a growth-oriented outlook rooted in compassion and curiosity.
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Pace, Choice and Who It Can Suit
Somatic therapy can suit people who notice stress living in their body, people who feel numb or disconnected from physical sensations, and people who have talked a problem through many times and still feel it just as strongly. It can also appeal to anyone curious about the connection between mind and body, whether they come in for anxiety, grief, a life transition or something harder to name.
You stay in charge of what you try. Any invitation to notice your breath, posture or sensations is exactly that, an invitation. You can keep your eyes open, skip an exercise or simply keep talking. If paying attention to the body feels uncomfortable, that is useful information too, and you and your therapist can slow down or shift direction.
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For people carrying painful or traumatic experiences, somatic attention can be offered in small, manageable steps, with time to settle and look around the room. You do not need to relive anything in detail. The focus is on feeling safer in the present, built gradually and at a pace that fits where you are today.
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Choice Within Individualized Care
No single approach defines counseling at HOPE. Our therapists work collaboratively, learn about the person and concern in front of them, and shape care around individual goals. An approach may be one part of the work, and you can ask questions or discuss another direction at any time.
The therapeutic relationship remains central. Your therapist will explain what they are inviting you to do, listen to your response, and respect your pace. You do not need to arrive knowing which method you want. Therapist profiles can help, or call or email us and we will help you find a good starting point.
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HOPE offers counseling in person in Roseville and by secure video when the client is physically located in California. When you reach out, you can name an interest in a particular approach or simply describe what you would like support with.
Questions
Questions About This Support
Do I Have to Do Exercises or Move Around in Somatic Therapy?
No. Somatic work can be as simple as pausing to notice your breathing, or where a feeling sits in your body, while you talk. Your therapist may invite you to try something, such as a grounding practice, but you can always decline, adapt it or keep talking instead. The pace and the choices remain yours throughout, and you can ask why something is being suggested.
Is Somatic Therapy Only for Trauma?
No. Somatic attention can be part of counseling for many concerns, including stress, anxiety, grief, life transitions, relationships and parenting, as well as trauma. Megan's focus areas cover this wide range, and she brings the body into the work as one part of a client-centered, relational approach. You can share what you are hoping to work on and talk with her about whether somatic work feels like a good fit.
Who Offers Somatic Therapy at HOPE?
Megan Sullivan brings somatic therapy into her work at HOPE. Megan is a Marriage and Family Therapist Trainee, which means she counsels clients as part of her supervised clinical training, and her supervisor is Wendy Barillas, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist #133716, HOPE's Executive Director and Clinical Supervisor. Every associate and trainee at HOPE is supervised by a licensed clinician.
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