Los Angeles Therapy Network

This therapist took advantage of me, my time, and money. DO NOT work with her. Is she a «good» therapist? I don’t know, but I can only guess that if she broke my trust during the initial free consultation, it’s not going to be good thereafter.
Cynthia offers the normal ½ hr free initial consultation to find out about each other and to see if it’s a fit. On her website she says that if this initial consultation goes past ½ hr she charges $ 50 for up to 1hr to continue the consultation.
Upon arriving to her home office in Highland Park I let her know I ONLY wanted to spend the ½ hour with her because I didn’t want to pay $ 50 for an hour of «getting to know each other». I’d rather invest that $ 50 toward an actual therapy session. After asking a few times to confirm the ½hr, she continued to say «why don’t we talk first?» Given I had already expressed my clear request, I went ahead with the initial consult.
The clock on the wall sat directly in front of her (behind me), so I trusted her to keep track of time and to honor my request for the ½hr consultation. 20min into it I turned my whole body toward the wall behind me to look at the clock and told her I wanted to STOP at ½ hr and she said «yes, I know you have to go soon.»
She asked me some questions about my past and then proceeded to go on and on about who in her network (including herself) would be a match for me. 50min after the consultation I started to freaked out about the time knowing I was past the initial free ½hr consult. I figured that because I had expressed my request for ½hr numerous times, she was being generous in helping me figure out the best therapist and that she would NOT charge me the $ 50.
Lo and behold, she failed to honor my request and charged me $ 50 for an hour of time I never wanted to spend hearing about her and her network’s therapy methods. I feel taken advantage of and straight out DISRESPECTED by this woman.
I would NOT recommend anyone to work with her because if she exhibits such a lack of integrity in an initial consultation, what kind of behavior can be expected in a therapist-​client relationship? She obviously cares more about tricking clients into giving her money, instead of looking out for them and respecting them.
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Here’s Cynthia’s response of my review of her… She acknowledges that I only wanted ½hr and claims that she doesn’t know why we went over. She takes *ZERO RESPONSIBILITY* for going over my repeated request for a ½hr initial consult.
**It’s impossible to trust a therapist who takes NO responsibility for their actions, and points the finger at you for something SHE did**
From Cynthia:
«Hi, I read your Unilocal review. I am sorry you had such a bad experience. I wanted to respond to you. In therapy, there is a concept of holding the frame, which means you maintain consistent boundaries of the time, fees, rules around therapy. In a consult, the purpose is first to find out more the reason someone is seeking therapy, then to determine whether you as a therapist possess the appropriate knowledge and skills to help someone, and then to inform them of how you may be able to help them.
In addition to go over the boundaries of therapy if someone is going to start treatment. I am not sure why we went over the 30 mins if you only wanted the 30 min consult. I usually don’t do 30 min consults because it just isn’t enough time and I figure most people want the time to tell their story and hear if I can help them… I was surprised to hear that things went how they did and that it caused distrust. I am glad you wrote something so I myself know the feedback.
I wanted to reach out to explain a little bit, to explain that you were charged because I would have been holding the policy, which is important to beginning any therapy, and to apologize for it being a bad experience! I hope you found the therapist who was right for you! Cindie»

I came to LA Therapy Network in search of guidance and a set of good ears. I met with Cyndie and decided I wanted to work with her (there are several other therapists there with different specialties). I had never been to therapy so I was definitely nervous and didn’t know what to expect. Cynthie really helped me get through a difficult time in my life. She always made me feel comfortable and I felt better after every session. She offered me the guidance and «light» I was searching for. She has definitely helped me grow as a person. She is really knowledgeable and a true expert in women’s issues and trauma. Thanks for helping me heal, Cyndie!