Jessica Sullivan Sanchez, MS, LPC, CRC, NCC

she/her/ella

How I Approach Therapy

Attachment | Somatic Experiencing | Sex Therapy

I see the human experience through the lenses of attachment theory and the body.

Attachment encompasses the dynamics of all our relationships. It’s how we react to closeness and intimacy or the opposite: distance and aloofness. Our attachment patterns form in our early infancy and always answers to the questions: who do you go to when you’re vulnerable? How do you manage crisis and stress? It shows up in our family, with friends, and at work. In our low nurture culture, most of us struggle with insecure attachment styles. I use attachment theory to help you identify your attachment style and cultivate a more secure style to bring you peace and safety in your relationships.

As a somatic trained therapist, I help you become aware of and track your nervous system. We expand your sensation language and your ability to be in your body. You’ll learn how to listen to what your body is saying and attend to it throughout the day. Maybe it will lead to less pain or discomfort. Most often it leads to more acceptance, ability to tolerate stress, and increased self-compassion.

Sex therapy is more than just talking about intercourse. It’s about learning/understanding your sexuality, your body, your gender, how to receive pleasure (not just sexual). how to give and receive consent, how to manage relationships, etc.

Why I Became A Therapist

Like most therapists, we find ourselves in the helping profession because we’ve experienced difficult times and want to make meaning of it and understand ourselves better. I have lived experience in my therapeutic specialties and find great joy in helping others in similar situations.

I enjoy helping others sit with their emotions, connect to their bodies, reexamine patterns, and find pleasure in this life. I care deeply about my clients and want to sit beside them through their struggles. I very much believe in the therapeutic process because I’ve been the person on the couch. You’ll have a therapist that knows what it’s like to be on the other side.

On A Personal Note

Effective therapy requires vulnerability and trust, which can be difficult in a relationship where the focus is mostly on you. I am a person ,too, filled with my own mistakes, struggles, and joys. My lived experience informs my therapy and our relationship. I've included some information about myself to help you get a sense of my journey before you “walk” through my door.

I’m originally from Orlando, where I found it relatively easy to navigate my bicultural identity in a whirl of theme parks, suntan lotion, and food chains. I spent many summers in Costa Rica with my extended family, which is why I’m passionate about serving the Latinx community. I was raised as a Latter Day Saint (Mormon) though I emotionally left the church sometime in my adolescence. My nose was often in a book and my eyes fixed on Buffy the Vampire Slayer reruns.

I’ve always loved movement and began dancing at the wee age of three. Even though I initially had to be bribed with Mentos, I grew to love it deeply and have kept it in my life to this day. My love of movement has expanded to include pilates, rock climbing, strength training, cycling, etc. The relationship between the mind and body is such a beautiful experience.

It can also be a terrifying experience. The end of my freshman college year I was a passenger in an automobile accident that left me with a femur and two spinal fractures. My survival was miraculous and the impact permanent. Recovery was difficult, frustrating and lonely. Then in graduate school, I became inexplicably ill. I wrote it off as stress. It continued after graduation and I became worried. I began to search for the underlying cause. Thankfully I found an answer in a very short time (thanks to my own therapist at the time) and was diagnosed with Hypermobile Ehlers Danlos Syndrome.

The joy I had once felt in my body stopped in my chest and turned to icy fear. I suddenly had to navigate this new diagnosis and what it meant for my relationship with my body. I didn’t set out to do chronic illness work but it found me anyway. Because of my experience I found a new passion helping others with chronic illness heal their relationship with their bodies.

My spouse and I have an infant son, Val, and three beautiful cat floofs (Moo, Atalanta, and Wadsworth). I currently spend my weekends snuggling Val, reading, doing pilates or making embroidered vulvas.

Qualifications

I earned my BS in Anthropology & Human Biology and BA in Psychology from Emory University. I completed my MS in Clinical Rehabilitation Counseling from Mercer University as a Rehabilitation Administration Scholar. I am a licensed professional counselor (LPC012756) in the state of Georgia, certified rehabilitation counselor (CRC), national certified counselor (NCC), and Somatic Experiencing Practitioner (SEP).

*Please note that my license is under my legal name, Jessica Sullivan.

I am in the process of becoming a certified AASECT sex therapist and pilates instructor.

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