What’s Behind the Rise of Self-Parenting and Somatic Therapy – Interview with Sogol Johnson
- Brainz Magazine
- May 1
- 4 min read
Updated: May 2
Mental Health Awareness Month 2025 is shining a light on action, and no one embodies that shift quite like Sogol Johnson. An award-winning human-centered designer, she traded boardrooms for breakthroughs, answering a deeper call to heal.
Now a Somatic Therapy Practitioner, NLP specialist, and children’s book author, she’s redefining what modern healing looks like, making it radically accessible. With a successful practice rooted in somatic attachment, self-parenting, and nervous system literacy, Sogol is fiercely committed to ending the cycle of emotional wounds passed down through generations.
In this exclusive Q&A, we sit down with Sogol to talk about her journey, the evolution of the healing industry, and why she’s the trailblazer to watch this year.
Sogol Johnson Somatic Therapy Practitioner and ACC
Your message of 'breaking the cycle' resonates deeply. Where did that come from?
Thank you. That message is deeply personal. It comes from choosing courage over obligation. I walked away from a thriving tech career in corporate America not because I couldn’t keep climbing, but because I reached a point where I had to decide: keep chasing success that never quite felt like mine, or step into purpose and create change for the next generation. It wasn’t just about healing my own family; it was about paving a new way forward for others, too. This work didn’t fall into my lap. I stepped into it fully, knowing I could transform pain into possibility for myself and for anyone ready to do the same.
Becoming a parent also shifted everything. You realize you’re not just responsible for a child’s wellbeing, you’re responsible for the emotional legacy you hand down. Through self-parenting, rewiring, and somatic healing, I’ve become the kind of adult who would have protected me as a child and that’s a powerful truth to say out loud. But the healing doesn’t stop there. It’s an everyday journey one I recommit to with more awareness, more compassion, and more capacity to meet what’s next.
You’re known for a fresh approach to therapy, body-based, science-backed. What needs to change in the industry, and how are you leading that shift?
Traditional talk therapy has value, but it isn’t always enough. Emotions live in the limbic brain, which doesn’t respond to logic or language the same way the thinking brain does. That’s why so many people feel stuck: they’re trying to talk their way through what their body is still holding onto.
The truth is, therapy can feel overwhelming. It’s time-consuming, expensive, and vulnerable. For many, the idea of opening up to a stranger or starting a process that seems endless is enough to delay healing for years. And for those living with anxiety or panic, these are deeply physical experiences, not something you can "think" your way out of with CBT alone.
At The Cycle Breakers Lab, we don’t stop at insight; we put it into action. We teach the body to recognize that the threat has passed, guiding the nervous system out of fight, flight, and freeze. This is the heart of somatic healing: regulation, restoration, and real-time rewiring of old fear patterns.
Using tools like Neuro-Linguistic Programming, orienting, boundary visualization, and breathwork, we help clients catch their triggers early before the old reflexes take over. Embodiment isn't optional; it's where awareness becomes lived experience, where old triggers lose their grip, and resilience shifts from fragile to steady.
My hope? A paradigm shift where somatic practitioners, trauma-informed coaches, and other non-clinical guides are recognized as powerful catalysts for healing. These practitioners often play life-changing roles, helping people reconnect with their bodies and stories. I’d love to see a future where healing feels grounded, sustainable, and truly within reach.
You’ve built a practice focused on small steps with big impact. How does it feel seeing Mental Health Awareness Month 2025 focus on turning awareness into action?
Love this question. We’ve awareness-ed ourselves into a state of inertia. Terms like gaslighting, boundaries, and trauma bonding are everywhere on social media and in my sessions. But for many, awareness has become an intellectual exercise rather than embodied change. It's an important first step, yes, but the nervous system often remains untouched. Despite all the Gabor Maté and Bessel van der Kolk wisdom circulating, the body may still be operating as if nothing has shifted.
At The Cycle Breakers Lab, we focus on putting that awareness into action. We help the body recognize that the unsafe experience is over and build new wiring through small, sustainable shifts. Healing doesn’t have to be heavy or endless; small wins create momentum. Watching my clients walk away lighter, energized, and empowered to meet their lives differently, that’s the real revolution.
Your new children’s book series beautifully weaves emotional regulation, embodiment, and the wisdom of doing, saying, and feeling good. What inspired you to create a series that speaks not just to kids, but also quietly re-educates the adults reading with them?
My inspiration came from conversations with friends, fellow parents navigating big emotions with their little ones: shyness, tantrums, rejection, not listening. And of course, my own daily adventures with toddler triggers.
The more time I spent in libraries and bookstores, the more I realized how outdated much of the children's emotional literature felt. Every parent, teacher, and caregiver reads bedtime stories—why not make it a tool for both? A story that delights children and gently teaches adults how to model emotional regulation, embodiment, and the power of good thoughts, words, and deeds.
Before I knew it, I was dreaming up characters. The first book, Wiggles McGee: The Magic Within, is being published now, and honestly, seeing it come to life still leaves me in awe.
Join The Cycle Breakers Lab or preorder the first book of the Wiggles McGee series, visit here.
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