Cynthia Stern
Hello - I’m Dr. Cynthia Stern, a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and Certified Mental Performance Consultant (CMPC®). My approach to therapy is supportive, practical, and goal focused. Therapy should be a space where you feel comfortable being yourself while also being challenged to better understand the patterns and obstacles that may be keeping you from where you want to be. I work with people who are accustomed to setting high standards for themselves and operating in environments where focus, confidence, and performance matter. My clients often want to manage pressure more effectively, strengthen their mental game, navigate personal or professional challenges, or find greater balance without losing the drive that has helped them succeed. My background in clinical psychology, organizational leadership, business, and mental performance allows me to bring a unique perspective to therapy. Together, we’ll identify what may be getting in your way and develop practical strategies to build confidence and improve focus. Our work will help you manage pressure, strengthen resilience, and create meaningful change in both your personal and professional life.
First session
Your first session is about getting oriented, not diving into everything at once. We'll start with what brought you in, such as the situation, the pressure point, or the pattern you're trying to understand, and I'll ask questions to get a clear picture of your history, your goals, and what's actually been getting in the way. You'll get a sense of my approach to this work: direct, collaborative, and focused on root causes rather than surface-level fixes. We'll talk about what a realistic path forward looks like, including which tools or approaches make sense for your specific situation, and how sessions are structured, how often we will meet, and what progress tends to look like. There's no pressure to have it all figured out by the end of the hour.
Strengths
Sessions are practical, direct, and collaborative, with an emphasis on connecting insight to action. A background spanning clinical psychology, organizational leadership, business, and mental performance brings a broad perspective to understanding challenges and finding strategies that fit each client. The approach goes beyond simply understanding why something is happening. The goal is to develop useful tools that can be applied in everyday life, particularly when navigating high expectations, pressure, relationships, transitions, or performance challenges. Clients can expect a supportive environment that also encourages growth and accountability. Whether the focus is building confidence, managing pressure, improving relationships, or navigating change, our work centers on developing strategies that feel authentic, realistic, and meaningful to your goals.
Ideal clients
My ideal client is someone standing at their own version of 4th and goal, facing a high-stakes decision, transition, or performance moment where the pressure has started to work against them instead of for them. This includes athletes, executives, entrepreneurs, and creatives who are used to performing well but have hit a mental block, a plateau, or a pattern of anxiety that's getting in the way of what they're capable of. They tend to be high-functioning and self-aware enough to know something isn't working, even if they can't yet name exactly what it is. Many are navigating a major transition, a career change, a shift in identity after retirement, a leadership role that's testing them in new ways, or a relationship pattern that keeps repeating. Some are managing the effects of overworking, perfectionism, or a values misalignment between who they are and what their role demands. What they're looking for isn't reassurance, it's a collaborator who will help them get honest about the root cause, not just the symptom. They're ready to do the work: examine the "yips," build new tools, and come out the other side more resilient and better equipped to handle pressure the next time it shows up.
Treatment methods
Cognitive Behavioral (CBT)
I use Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to help clients identify the specific thought patterns driving their anxiety, self-doubt, or performance blocks, then examine how accurate those thoughts actually are. We work together to catch distortions in real time, such as catastrophizing before a big moment, all-or-nothing thinking after a setback, and work to replace them with more accurate, useful ones. From there, we translate that shift into behavior: practicing new responses in low-stakes moments so they hold up under pressure. CBT gives clients a concrete, repeatable framework they can use on their own, not just insight that fades once the session ends.
Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT)
I use Emotionally Focused Therapy to help clients understand the emotions driving their patterns, especially in relationships, the ones underneath the argument or the shutdown, not just the surface reaction. We slow down a moment of conflict or disconnection to identify what each person is actually feeling and needing, and how those needs get missed or misread. From there, we practice new ways of expressing that need and responding to a partner's old cycles of pursuit and withdrawal, or criticism and defensiveness. EFT builds a felt sense of safety and connection, not just better communication skills.
Motivational Interviewing
I use Motivational Interviewing to help clients work through ambivalence, the part of them that wants change and the part that's resistant to it, without pushing or lecturing. Rather than telling clients what to do, I ask questions that help them hear their own reasons for change out loud, and explore what's kept old patterns in place, whether that's overworking, avoidance, or a habit that no longer serves them. MI works especially well when someone feels stuck or unmotivated, since it builds internal buy-in rather than relying on willpower alone, making change feel like their choice, not mine.
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- CaliforniaLicense 106744