The Welcome Table

Hi I'm Cyndi, a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, and a native Austinite, and I'm ardently dedicated to normalizing mental health treatment, providing services that teach people how to regulate their emotions when life swoops in, connect with others, and build a life that aligns with their values. Pain in life is inevitable for all of us and regulating difficult or painful emotions does not mean we get rid of the emotion. Rather, we can learn how to live alongside it compassionately, while simultaneously holding ourselves accountable to coping more effectively. I'm extensively trained in Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Radically Open Dialectical Behavior Therapy (RO DBT), and I'm Certified in Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR), and I truly believe in these treatment modalities. I've treated folks who have struggled with anxiety, depression, PTSD and complex trauma, emotion regulation, borderline personality disorder, bipolar affective disorder, OCD, relationship difficulties, suicidality, non-suicidal self-injury, black and white thinking, rumination, avoidance, addiction issues, sexual compulsivity, and issues related to overcontrol. I received both a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Social Work from Texas State University. My clinical journey began with a practicum at Ascension Seton Shoal Creek Hospital (SSCH), where I first learned and tailored my skills in case management. This was a foundational step for me as I then began facilitating both adolescent and multi-family DBT (Dialectical Behavior Therapy) groups at Ascension Seton Behavioral Health's intensive outpatient program (IOP). I then moved to Dallas and worked at a non-profit agency where I provided individual and group therapy services, utilizing DBT and EMDR, to women who have experienced sex trafficking, sexual exploitation, and domestic violence. Austin called me back home, where I worked at a local group practice where I provided individual DBT, RO DBT, and EMDR services, as well as facilitated a DBT skills training group. My approach is as inviting and conversational, as it is up front and direct. I believe it's crucial for people to feel heard and understood, and to become aware of their capabilities. Additionally, I believe that if we want to live a life that aligns with our values, we must be committed to making change. Thus, client engagement and personal responsibility is as equally as crucial. Having a support system and working as a team in therapy helps to reduce the load, helps us feel less lonely, helps us to feel more seen, and get needs/wants met. And the reality is that we all need help (that's the thread of connection between all of us). Even therapists!!! When I'm not working, I love cooking and baking, reading, being active, traveling, trying new things, and spending time with the people I love. A fun fact about me is that I have an Irish heritage, and it's something I am profoundly proud of and interested in. I like to research and learn about my Irish heritage, and Irish history in general. I believe mindfulness is such an important skill to cultivate as it helps me to feel less stressed in such a chaotic world, and practicing mindfulness by meditating keeps me grounded and feeling at ease. I love all critters and animals and believe that because we share this planet with them, they deserve respect and compassion. I have two pet huskies, who keep me very busy and always keep me laughing! "My humanity is bound up in yours, for we can only be human together." - Desmond Tutu What is Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)? A dialectic is when more than one thing can be true at the same time. For example, someone can be a leader AND still need guidance, we can love someone AND be mad at them, it can be sunny outside AND still raining, my emotions can be valid AND it doesn't mean acting on my emotion is the effective thing to do. For example, we can be angry at someone, AND, yelling at them might make the situation worse. We might feel immense guilt and shame, the situation might escalate, or we might lose the relationship. Emotions help us connect with others and give us information about what is wrong, which is why we need them. Equally, emotions can also cloud our judgement and discernment. Learning how to hold a dialectical stance is useful because it helps us to reduce rigid, emotion minded, and black and white thinking or mood dependent behaviors. Dialectical Behavior Therapy is a skills-based therapy and a type of Cognitive Behavior Therapy that was created by Marsha Linehan, to teach folks how to regulate intense thoughts, emotions, behaviors, and urges and navigate relationships, by balancing both acceptance and change. What is Radically Open Dialectical Behavior Therapy (RO DBT)? RO DBT is the dialectic to standard DBT! Sometimes we might struggle to share our thoughts and emotions with others, even with people we are close to, because we fear being open about private thoughts, emotions or experiences will expose us, make us feel vulnerable and uncomfortable, or prompt judgements from others. Additionally, we might also feel hesitant to try anything new because of the fear of failure, so we just completely avoid. Or, we might be overly critical of ourselves if we make a mistake/perceive we made a mistake, or if we didn't follow "the rules" exactly as stated. It's also possible that we notice incredibly small details and ruminate on them, such as changes in people's voice tone/cadence, a book out of order on a bookshelf, wondering why someone said something a certain way, etc. Keeping people at a distant, inhibiting our emotional expressions, comparing ourselves to others, being righteously indignant, and trying to control everything is exhausting and often leads to emotional loneliness in relationships. RO DBT helps folks to regulate thoughts, emotions, and behaviors, in order to let go of control and perfectionism to increase/improve emotional connection with others, and authenticity in relationships. What is Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR)? EMDR is a trauma treatment that helps folks to process a traumatic event or multiple traumatic events, without getting into all the details of the event(s). When a traumatic event occurs, the brain will often process the event on its own. However, sometimes this doesn't happen, which can result in the brain becoming easily triggered by anything in the environment it perceives to be similar to the traumatic event(s). During EMDR, a therapist will ask you to recall a painful memory, and to then focus on that memory. As you're focusing on the memory, the therapist uses bilateral stimulation, which overloads the working memory and ultimately helps to desensitize the memory, so that it can be processed in a more adaptive way. It is also believed that bilateral stimulation mimics rapid eye movement during REM sleep, and it is during REM sleep that we process emotions, memories, and all sorts of information. For example, have you ever had a problem occur during the day, and then you slept on it and felt better the next day? Thank your REM sleep cycle!