Meet Cynthia Wild, MA
Hi there, I’m Cynthia. A Creative Arts Therapist, Counselor, and Behaviorial Health Coach based in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
As a health and healing practitioner for over 40 years, I have guided thousands of individuals on their journey toward wholeness. My experience covers a wide spectrum of mental health issues, from severe diagnoses to everyday anxieties. I’ve worked in various environments, including in-patient units, community programs, residential and day treatment centers, health resorts, memory care facilities, and private practice. Using a creative and integrative therapeutic approach, I’ve supported individuals and groups of all ages—children, teens, adults, and families—on their path to healing.
My Background
My passion for creative healing began at age seventeen while working at a summer camp with differently abled young adults. There I witnessed the profound impact of music and dance on the campers' well-being. Seeing the joy and capacity to learn new skills significantly increase with these modalities, I fell in love with a field unbeknownst to me at the time–Creative Arts Therapies.
As a child, I survived poverty, neglect, and abuse and was a disengaged, difficult student. My painful upbringing drew me to be of service to others, but what impacted me so deeply about Creative Arts Therapies was the emphasis on strength-based approaches, rather than pathology. This combination of experiences and inspirations propelled me to put myself through undergraduate and graduate school while working full-time in human services.
While in college, I also developed an interest in Holistic Health (now called Integrative), and continuing my education, I went on to become a Kripalu yoga and meditation teacher in 1989, a licensed counselor in 1993, and a registered dance therapist in 1996.
After having worked in a variety of inpatient and community-based programs as well as in a world-renowned health resort, I developed my own style of creative, integrative, compassionate therapy and opened a private practice in Lenox, Massachusetts in 2003.
As my practice grew, I fostered children, and developed and implemented a local TV show called Mind Matters, which sought to decrease the stigma associated with seeking mental health care through interviews with local professionals on various mental health topics.
Dreaming of the openness and scenic beauty of the Southwest since learning of its geography and cultures in grade school, I left my beloved “Berkshires” in 2016 and since have made Santa Fe my home.
Using this transition as an opportunity to get back to my roots as a dance/creative arts therapist, I took over a local dance studio that was closing in the hopes of returning it to its roots as a community dance hall. Just as I was beginning this adventure, COVID-19 hit. People gathering was not in the foreseeable future, so I closed the studio and accepted a position as the director of a new Montessori based memory care facility. Here I helped to develop a thriving community in which the arts played a pivotal role.
Though enjoying this work immensely, I could not shake this persistent voice telling me the most meaningful work I could be doing was to focus on the current climate crisis. Wanting to honor this voice, I moved on. Currently, I continue my part-time private work with individuals, while also working with local climate action groups in pursuit of community and planetary transformation. I continue to enjoy dancing, hiking, playing the guitar and participating in community sing-a-longs.
Education
Lesley College - Cambridge, MA
MA in Expressive Therapies 1988
University of Massachusetts - Amherst, MA
BDIC Bachelor’s degree in Individual Concentration 1984 Interdisciplinary Degree combining the fields of: Health, Education, Psychology, and Creative Arts Therapies
A Creative Arts Therapist is one clinically trained to use the structure and expressive qualities inherent in the creative process to assess and treat a variety of populations and levels of dis-ease.
Modalities may include; music, movement, art, theatre writing and more.
Professional Experience
Licensed Mental Health Counselor - Private Practice - Lenox, MA
2003 - Present - Telehealth since 2016
Provide general integrative and psychodynamic counseling and behavioral health services for children, adolescents, adults, couples, and families.
Treatment includes; biopsychosocial and behavioral assessment, treatment planning, private insurance billing, case consultation, and discharge planning.
Licensed Counselor/Creative Arts Therapist
School Street Counseling Service, Springfield, MA 1993-1995
Provided treatment, crisis intervention, and outreach services at a multicultural agency
Supervised LMHC and Arts Therapies student interns
Day Treatment Clinician/Creative Arts Therapist
Northampton Area Mental Health Services, Northampton, MA 1988-1993
Franklin County Mental Health Center, Greenfield MA
As a multidisciplinary team member, designed and implemented psycho-educational and therapeutic groups for adults with acute and chronic mental illness. Provided treatment planning and all aspects of case management.
Behavioral Health Therapist - Canyon Ranch Health Resort - Lenox, MA
1994-2003
Offered individual behavioral health services for adults in a brief integrative wellness setting
Designed and implemented lectures, classes, and staff trainings
Services offered included: healthy lifestyle coaching, food habit management, body image, smoking cessation, stress management, alcohol and health, mind/body dialoge, movement/yoga therapy, sleep enhancement, relaxation/meditation, couples communication, depression/anxiety assessment.
Residential Counselor
Valley Programs - Northampton, MA 1984-1987
Provided counseling, instruction, advocacy, and service coordination for adults with mental illness.
Director - The Montecito Memory Care Community - Santa Fe, NM
2020-2023
Developed and implemented entire Montessori based program for brand new forty resident facility.
Hired trained, supervised and evaluated at least fifty employees.
Met with all families and collateral care professionals, developed policies and procedures, provided direct activity care.
Be available for emergencies 24/7.
“There is in every organism, including (wo)man, an underlying flow of movement toward constructive fulfillment of its inherent possibilities, a natural tendency toward growth. It can be thwarted but not destroyed without destroying the whole organism. This constructive power can be released when people come into contact with and accept their own personal inner strength. When people are trusted to make choices and find the courage to make responsible decisions, they begin to change their worlds, and when groups of people discover their inner power, revolutions are possible.”
-Carl Rogers
