Cynthia Edwards-Hawver, Psy.D..
1. What's your practice focus and what kind of clients knock on your door ?
For the past twenty years, I have focused on treating eating disorders. Currently I have shifted my focus to working with parents of an eating disordered child and coaching for moms over 40 parenting young children. I also have extensive experience working with lyme disease, trauma, infertility, adoption, hypnosis, children, and parenting.
2. Tell us about yourself.
I became a psychologist after surviving Anorexia Nervosa. At 21 I needed heart surgery and I vowed if I survived I would help others. Currently, my focus is on Mama Burnout, especially for moms who are starting families later in life. I want to focus more on coaching at this point in my career. After losing my mom and step-dad during Covid at young ages, I realize life is very short. I developed a stage model of burnout as I find working moms are more overwhelmed than ever.
3. Tell us the story of a patient who you are most proud of helping.
I can't be specific as to protect confidentiality but I helped a woman recover from severe Anorexia Nervosa that she battled all her life. Seeing clients learn to live beyond an eating disorder is very rewarding to me as it is extremely complex to treat. Now I love watching a mom finding joy in motherhood again. It's such a short time period to have with your children and we must learn to enjoy it and care for ourselves in the process.
4. What's one of the hardest things that comes with being a practitioner in private practice?
I have had a small solo practice to a larger practice of supervising multiple clinicians and doctoral students. I think the hardest thing is dealing with insurance, billing, and managing people. This is why I am turning to coaching. I want to spend my time helping people and not talking on the phone with insurance companies or dealing with office drama.
5. What are the top 3 tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a private practice today?\
The top 3 things I would suggest to someone would be:
- Really think about taking insurance. It offers a lot of security for payment but be selective in which ones you choose to work with.
- Looking to expand can seem like a way to free up time and create extra income, but it is a lot to manage therapists. I would take time to evaluate the pros and cons.
- Don't specialize in everything, niche down and be really good at a few areas and don't dabble in things you are not trained to do.