Cynthia A GeistLicensed Professional Counselor

I am a very positive person. I look for the good in people and allow for imperfections in others. I know that we can change our lives for the better, achieve goals and dreams, and have healthier relationships. This may mean doing some hard work, but I have a growth mindset, that we can practice to develop better decision-making skills, better habits, and better relationships. I have seen progress in these areas in my own life and in others.

Because I have a positive outlook, I use strength-based therapies and look at the whole person. We look at what is going on in a person's life now, in the past, and what is wanted in the future. We look at solutions to immediate issues as well as long-term issues. I like to use mindfulness and personal strengths to remind clients of where they are and how far they have already come. I believe that what we feel, think, and do are all related, so we look at all of those aspects in therapy.

The scope of my graduate classes was quite broad so that we were exposed to a wide variety of counseling issues and experiences. My advisor was my professor in several classes and I learned my strength-based counseling ideas from him, which dovetailed with my own therapeutic convictions. Through my practicum and internships, my viewpoint was broadened by my supervisor and colleagues from how important emotions are in therapy to neuroscience and how the brain works, I am willing and excited to explore with my clients to find the best avenue of therapy for them as individuals.

After getting my teaching degree, I held a variety of jobs, then became a stay-at-home mother, which I believe was my most important job. I then went back to teaching English, first to middle school and then to high school students. I loved being a teacher and working with teenagers. I was a school counselor part-time while I was getting my MS in Counseling. I have also worked part-time for myself, and have worked part-time for a child advocacy center in western Kansas, where I gained experience with trauma and abuse. I have also facilitated a grief group for over four years. I have experience in counseling for grief, trauma, depression, anxiety, PTSD, Christian issues, women's issues, and with children and adolescents, I believe sometimes you just need someone to talk to.

3924 Edgemont, Wichita, 67208, KS