About Cynthia
Cynthia Cunningham is a California-based licensed marriage and family therapist with 27 years of practice. She brings lived experience in recovery, having been sober for 35 years, and draws on that background when supporting people facing addiction and codependency. Cynthia speaks plainly and helps people who feel stuck or overwhelmed find practical ways forward.
She focuses on a wide range of concerns including anxiety, depression, bipolar mood patterns, ADHD, grief, stress, and problems with sleep or eating.
Background and approach
Relationship struggles, intimacy-related issues, communication problems, and commitment worries are also a central part of her work. Cynthia also supports people dealing with caregiver stress, aging-related concerns, and complicated mood or personality issues. Her approach blends Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Attachment-Based ideas, Emotionally-Focused Therapy, and a client-centered stance.
Sessions tend to be collaborative and down-to-earth. Cynthia helps clients set clear goals and practices skills they can use between sessions. She emphasizes practical skills such as setting boundaries, saying no kindly, and stopping harmful patterns like unreciprocated attachment.
Cynthia invites people to own the pace of change and to stay in control of their treatment choices. Her tone is direct but compassionate, aimed at people ready to take active steps. Cynthia frames therapy as a partnership.
She will listen, offer straightforward tools, and walk alongside people as they try new behaviors and make lasting changes.
Therapeutic approaches and online care
The practice combines Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy in simple, usable ways. CBT helps identify and change unhelpful thoughts and behaviors, which can ease anxiety, depression, and sleep or eating disruptions. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy encourages noticing difficult feelings without getting stuck in them and choosing actions that match personal values, which is helpful for stress, addiction recovery, and life transitions.Finding the right approach is a collaborative process. The therapist will talk with you about your goals, try techniques together, and adjust the plan based on what helps. Clients are invited to set the pace and decide which strategies feel most useful.
Online therapy is offered through video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging to fit different needs. Video is useful for a full conversation and skill coaching. Phone sessions can work when bandwidth is limited or you need a flexible check-in. Chat and text provide shorter check-ins, homework support, and quick access between sessions. These options make it easier to keep therapy consistent while balancing work, caregiving, or other responsibilities.
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What this therapist works with
Most often
- Addictions
- Relationship issues
- Family conflicts
Also listed
- Abandonment
- ADHD
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Anger management
- Antisocial personality
- Attachment issues
- Avoidant personality
- Bipolar disorder
- Blended family issues
- Body image
- Career difficulties
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Co-morbidity
- Codependency
- Commitment issues
- Communication problems
- Control issues
- Coping with life changes
- Dependent personality
- Depression
- Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder (DMDD)
- Divorce and separation
- Domestic violence
- Drug and alcohol addiction
- Eating and food-related issues
- Eating disorders
- Emptiness
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- Fertility issues
- Forgiveness
- Grief
- Guilt and shame
- Hoarding
- Impulsivity
- Infidelity
- Intimacy-related issues
- Isolation / loneliness
- Jealousy
- Life purpose
- Midlife crisis
- Money and financial issues
- Mood disorders
- Narcissism
- Obsessions, compulsions, and OCD
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Paranoia
- Personality disorders
- Phobias
- Polyamory / non-monogamous relationships
- Post-traumatic stress
- Postpartum depression
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self esteem
- Self-harm
- Self-love
- Sleeping disorders
- Smoking / vaping cessation
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Somatization
- Stress, Anxiety
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
- Young adult issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
- Attachment-Based Therapy
- Client-Centered Therapy
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
- Emotionally-Focused Therapy (EFT)
- Existential Therapy
- Gottman Method
- Hypnotherapy
- Imago Relationship Therapy
- Jungian Therapy
- Mindfulness Therapy
- Motivational Interviewing
- Narrative Therapy
- Psychodynamic Therapy
- Solution-Focused Therapy
- Internal Family Systems
- Experience
- 27 years
- Licensed
- California
- Languages
- English
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