The Chronic Illness Therapist

The Chronic Illness Therapist - Coaching Services: monthly memberships for folks with chronic health conditions
- Counseling Services: Therapy Intensives for residents of GA, FL, and CO

If you're doing somatic work with clients and finding yourself sitting with cases that are heavy, complex, or just hard ...
03/17/2026

If you're doing somatic work with clients and finding yourself sitting with cases that are heavy, complex, or just hard to hold alone — this is for you.

Jessica's Somatic Experiencing Clinical Consultation Group is a collaborative space for SEPs in training and certified practitioners to bring real cases, sharpen your clinical skills, and actually connect with other somatic healthcare professionals who understand the work.

Whether you're navigating cases that touch on sexual concerns, sitting with something you can't quite name yet, or just craving community with people who work through a somatic lens — this group meets you there. No toxic positivity. No oversimplification. Just real, grounded consultation.

Led by Jessica Sullivan-Sanchez, LPC, CRC, SEP — SE Intermediate Assistant, S*x Therapist, and Chronic Illness Therapist

Open to all healthcare providers and SEPs seeking somatic-informed consultation and genuine connection.

Our next group call is tomorrow, March 19th at 11am.

Find the event and sign up info here:

https://www.facebook.com/share/187wmNzQLe/

03/14/2026

The hardest part about chronic illness recovery? Sometimes the thing that's supposed to help is actually making it worse.
That strict anti-inflammatory diet that's stressing you out so much you can't sleep? The stress might be causing more inflammation than the foods you're avoiding.

But here's the catch - you can only benefit from letting go if you're not stressed about letting go. Which feels impossible when you're dealing with chronic symptoms and that diet is one of the few things you feel like you can control.

This is where courage comes in. The courage to loosen your grip on the things you're trying to control, even when it feels terrifying. Even when everything in our culture tells you to try harder, do more, fix yourself.

Sometimes the most radical thing you can do is try less and live more.

Save this if you need the reminder that healing doesn't always look like hustle.

03/14/2026

Strength isn’t about always holding it together. True strength makes space for weakness, too. You can be both—resilient and tender, brave and vulnerable—all at once.

Full episode out now on Apple and Spotify! Search "Chronic Illness Therapists Podcast"

03/14/2026

You did not “do this to yourself.” If you have failed every diet, workout routine, meditation, and self-care regimen, it is still not your fault that you’re sick.

You’re doing enough. You are enough. And nothing can change that.

Embrace your worth and find solace in the knowledge that you're doing enough. Listen to our podcast to remind yourself that you're not at fault for your illness! 💭

03/13/2026

Here’s the thing about living with chronic pain - it’s messy, hard, unpredictable, and debilitating. And it’s just like the winding, tangled roots of an unlaced forest.

Tomorrow’s podcast episode is all about how we navigate the journey that is our bodies ✨

03/13/2026

Isn’t it such a double-edged sword? When you live with a chronic illness, you know your body so intricately. You experience every sensation 10 fold. And then, a somatic practitioner like me comes along and asks you to be in your body MORE. It’s like, what? Why would I do that..

Because: The enemy you know…

“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles” - Sun Tzu

Somatic work is hard because it requires us to give more awareness to the parts of ourselves that we dislike the most.

But with skilled practitioners, you don’t have to fear - we build trust in the relationship and in the room before we ask you to do hard things.

It's time to face your chronic illness head-on. With somatic work, you can learn to listen to your body and give it what it needs to thrive. Listen to our conversation to get started! 🧘‍♀️🎧

03/13/2026

As a licensed counselor living with chronic illness, I've noticed something heartbreaking in therapy: when you've internalized so much criticism—from providers, from people who don't understand, from yourself, you can end up feeling like your therapist needs to see how “terrible” you are as a person to really understand you, and therefore help you.

But here's what's actually happening: therapists doing Internal Family Systems work can see you AND see that it's your critic talking. That’s the part that's learned to label you harshly, probably because it felt safer than facing more disappointment or dismissal from others.

This is where parts work becomes so valuable. It's non-pathologizing. We're not adding another diagnosis or confirming those harsh labels. Instead, we're understanding that this critical part developed for a reason. It's trying to protect you by beating others to the punch.

For more on this, listen to Ep 104 of The Chronic Illness Therapists Podcast with Kate Zera Kray LCSW.

Not medical advice—just one chronically ill counselor sharing what I've learned about the mind-body connection.

03/12/2026

Emotional regulation isn't about fixing anything. It's about accepting what you can't control.

The hardest lesson? Learning that sometimes working harder doesn't equal better outcomes. You can work harder at your diet and still have inflammation. You can work harder at your job and still not get that promotion. You can follow every protocol perfectly and still not feel better.

It makes complete sense that we want to believe "if I just do this, I can control the outcome." We all want agency in our lives. We want to feel like there's something we can do to stop our suffering.

But there's a point of diminishing returns where the effort itself becomes part of the problem.

Real emotional regulation is learning to be with yourself differently - to tolerate uncertainty about outcomes and accept that healing takes the time it takes.

Comment "TIME" if you're learning to trust the process instead of forcing the outcome.

03/12/2026

I don't want to teach you how to poke the bear without waking it up—I want to teach you how to be a good partner to your body. This metaphor from Jason Therrien () captures something so important about chronic pain management. As a licensed counselor living with chronic illness, I've learned that the goal isn't avoiding all pain or pushing through everything. It's learning to listen, understand what your body is telling you, and respond in ways that let you do more over time without hurting more. That's the real work.❤️

Save this if you need the reminder that healing isn't about perfection—it's about partnership.

Comment “EP112” to get a direct link to listen to my conversation with Jason on 🎤 The Chronic Illness Therapists Podcast.✨

And if you’re a therapist or PT and want to learn Jason’s best tips for working with chronic pain, register today for our conference on March 6 & 7! Comment "CONFERENCE" for more info!

Not medical advice—just one chronically ill counselor sharing what I've learned about working with my body.

03/12/2026

And so… by being a little bit more objective with your body’s sensations, ex: this is a tight sensation, you know, this is a sharp sensation, this is a fuzzy or vibrating feeling…

This is how we slowly begin to stop being at war with our bodies… by allowing all sensations and feelings to have a place, and by not making a ton of meaning about the sensation.

We have to stop pretending to know exactly what the body is trying to tell us.

Instead, we say, “I'm here and I'm listening, and I might not know why this is happening. But that's okay. I trust you.”

Which is a hard place to get to. You are not failing if you can't do this.

BTW - It's not about trying to change your beliefs or bypassing harder feelings.

Start practicing being more objective with your body's sensations. It's the first step in healing your relationship with your body. Join our conversation to learn more! 💭🎧

03/11/2026

Living with ADHD + chronic pain - did you catch the workshop or replay from last weekend?

03/11/2026

As a licensed counselor living with chronic illness, I see how much damage self-gaslighting does after years of being dismissed.

Dr. Laurie Dos Santos () explained that when you hear "it's all in your head" repeatedly from so many people, you eventually start to believe it yourself. This is where support groups become powerful—peers can challenge you by asking "would you say that to me?" and the answer is always no. You internalize invalidation until someone helps you see it for what it is.

Save this for when you need the reminder that you're not making this up.💾

Comment “EP111” to get a direct link to listen to my conversation with Laurie on 🎙️ The Chronic Illness Therapists Podcast.✨

Not medical advice—just one chronically ill counselor sharing what I've learned about navigating chronic illness.

Address

1249 Hartford Avenue SW
Atlanta, GA
30310

Telephone

+14049053391

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