About Susan
Susan Futterman is a licensed marriage and family therapist (LMFT) in California with 11 years of clinical experience. She focuses on trauma, grief, anxiety and mood concerns and brings a somatic perspective to her work. Susan listens for how the body holds stress and uses that information to guide gentle, practical steps.
Her approach pairs somatic awareness with attachment-based thinking. That helps people understand how early relationships shape present reactions.
Background and approach
She also draws on existential and psychodynamic ideas to look at meaning, patterns, and life choices. Sessions are conversational and grounded. People can expect to talk about symptoms and life events, notice bodily responses, and try simple ways to shift tension.
The goal is to reduce overwhelm so clients can make clearer decisions and feel more present. Susan has a track record working with complicated grief and trauma and with depression and anxiety. She also supports people dealing with relationship stress, career concerns, identity questions, and money worries.
Additional focuses include abandonment, dissociation, panic, post-traumatic stress, shame, and sexual assault and abuse. She practices in California and conducts sessions in English. Susan holds the CA LMFT 101007 credential and brings experience rather than promises.
To start, people complete a short matching questionnaire and schedule sessions based on availability.
How somatic and attachment work translates to online therapy
Somatic Therapy helps people notice how stress and trauma show up in the body. Online sessions still allow for tracking breathing, posture, tension and movement and then trying simple exercises to ease those patterns. Attachment-Based Therapy looks at how early relationships shape current reactions and helps people change repetitive relational responses through conversation and reflection. Finding the right mix of approaches is part of the work. The therapist will collaborate with each person to choose when to focus on bodily awareness, relationship patterns, or meaning and values. Decisions about methods are based on the client's needs, goals and comfort level. Online formats offer flexibility for different rhythms of therapy. Video calls support face-to-face interaction and somatic noticing. Phone sessions can feel less intense while still allowing voice-based exploration. Live chat and text-based messaging make it possible to check in between sessions or to process thoughts in shorter, more frequent ways. These options make it easier to fit therapy into a busy life and to continue care from different locations.Frequently asked questions
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Specialties and expertise
Top specialties
Also works with
- Abandonment
- Attachment issues
- Career difficulties
- Coping with life changes
- Depression
- Dissociation
- Family conflicts
- Guilt and shame
- LGBT
- Money and financial issues
- Mood disorders
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Post-traumatic stress
- Relationship issues
- Self-harm
- Sexual assault and abuse
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Women's issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 11 years
- Licensed
- California
- Languages
- English