Cynthia Cunningham, LMFT
California · 27 years in practice
Cynthia Cunningham is a licensed marriage and family therapist in California with 27 years of clinical experience.
License and registration
- LMFT, California
- 34049 · expires November 2026
- NPI
- 1275798241 · national provider identifier
- Years in practice
- 27
- Languages
- English
Details are as listed on the therapist's public professional profile. You can check the license with the issuing state board, and the NPI with the national registry.
About Cynthia
Cynthia Cunningham is a licensed marriage and family therapist in California with 27 years of clinical experience. She draws on long-term personal recovery to inform a practical, down-to-earth approach that focuses on real change. Cynthia emphasizes helping people make concrete shifts in relationships and self-care rather than offering abstract theories.
She works with issues like addictions, codependency, love addiction, anxiety, panic, depression, and grief. She also helps with relationship and intimacy-related issues, communication problems, and navigating life transitions.
Background and approach
Cynthia supports people dealing with eating and sleeping concerns, career questions, and mood disorders such as bipolar and disruptive mood dysregulation disorder. Her therapeutic palette includes Existential therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), attachment-based work, client-centered methods, and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). In sessions she keeps language simple and practical, teaching skills like setting boundaries and saying no with kindness.
She aims to help people stop harmful patterns and begin building a more satisfying life. Cynthia often frames therapy as a partnership. Clients set goals and guide the pace while she offers tools, observations, and direction drawn from her experience.
She values honesty, steady support, and the everyday choices that add up to lasting change. People who want straightforward, experience-informed guidance and clear tools for relationships, recovery, or mood struggles often find her style helpful. She encourages that first step and offers steady companionship along the way.
Focus areas and approaches
Everything Cynthia lists on their public professional profile, in their own terms.
- Addictions
- Relationship issues
- Family conflicts
- Anger management
- Self esteem
- Stress, Anxiety
- Grief
- Intimacy-related issues
- Eating disorders
- Sleeping disorders
- Career difficulties
- Bipolar disorder
- Depression
- Coping with life changes
- ADHD
- Abandonment
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Antisocial personality
- Attachment issues
- Avoidant personality
- Blended family issues
- Body image
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Co-morbidity
- Codependency
- Commitment issues
- Communication problems
- Control issues
- Dependent personality
- Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder (DMDD)
- Divorce and separation
- Domestic violence
- Drug and alcohol addiction
- Eating and food-related issues
- Emptiness
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- Fertility issues
- Forgiveness
- Guilt and shame
- Hoarding
- Impulsivity
- Infidelity
- 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
- Postpartum depression
- Post-traumatic stress
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self-harm
- Self-love
- Smoking / vaping cessation
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Somatization
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
- Young adult issues
Approaches Cynthia names
- Existential Therapy
- Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
- Attachment-Based Therapy
- Client-Centered Therapy
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
- Emotionally-Focused Therapy (EFT)
- Gottman Method
- Hypnotherapy
- Imago Relationship Therapy
- Jungian Therapy
- Mindfulness Therapy
- Motivational Interviewing
- Narrative Therapy
- Psychodynamic Therapy
- Solution-Focused Therapy
- Internal Family Systems
Naming an approach is not evidence of training in it. This directory copies what each therapist lists and does not check training records.
Online support
How Cynthia’s approaches translate to online work
Existential therapy helps people look at life choices, meaning, and responsibility. It’s useful when someone is feeling stuck, facing big changes, or questioning what matters to them. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) teaches practical skills for noticing thoughts and values-based action, which can help with anxiety, depression, and getting unstuck.Attachment-Based Therapy focuses on patterns in close relationships and how early bonds shape current connection and trust. It can be helpful for intimacy issues, codependency, and communication problems. Cynthia draws from these approaches to tailor sessions to each person’s needs and goals. Finding the right mix of approaches is part of the early work together. The therapist will discuss goals and preferences and try methods that fit the client’s situation. This is a collaborative process and adjustments are made as progress and feedback guide the sessions.
Online therapy offers flexibility through video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging. Video sessions allow face-to-face conversation when visual cues matter. Phone calls use less bandwidth and can be easier on busy days. Live chat or text messaging can work for quick check-ins, brief coaching, and people who prefer not to be on camera. These options help fit therapy into work, caregiving, or other commitments.
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Questions people ask
What concerns does Cynthia commonly address?
She helps with addictions, codependency, relationship and intimacy issues, anxiety, depression, grief, and stress. She also works with eating and sleeping problems, career concerns, bipolar disorder, ADHD, and related struggles.
What is her therapeutic style like?
Her style is straightforward and practical, using simple language and concrete skills. Sessions focus on boundary setting, coping strategies, and steps people can try between meetings.
How much clinical experience does she have?
She brings 27 years of experience as a licensed marriage and family therapist in California. Her long career informs how she supports people through change.
What credentials and location are listed for this therapist?
She is a California licensed marriage and family therapist - LMFT - practicing in California.
Which languages are supported and can international clients join?
Sessions are offered in English. International clients are not currently accepted.
What session formats are offered?
Therapy can be conducted by video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging to suit different schedules and needs.
How is cost handled for sessions?
Cost varies with location and therapist availability and uses a subscription model that can be canceled at any time.
How do I begin working with this therapist?
Click the Start Therapy button, complete a short matching questionnaire, and then schedule sessions according to therapist availability.
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