Sylvia Flanagan, MFT

I have seen many therapists and counsellors in my life. My husband and I saw Sylvia for several months and while ultimately we mutually decided divorce was our best option, Sylvia helped us find closure and understanding with each other. I am very grateful for her guidance and understanding. Unlike other counsellors we have seen, neither of us felt judged or «at fault». Highly recommended.

Cynthia is a one in a million genuine person. My husband and I had the opportunity to stay at her bed and breakfast retreat and it was just that a real TREAT. From the time we woke up she had breakfast and fresh squeezed juice for us on the table. she also helped me with learning breathing exercises and helped to clear my nasal passages with her homopathic herbal remedy. She is very caring and empathetic to your needs and she has much knowledge of the body, mind, spirit, connection. The location of her bed and breakfast was also ideal because she is centrally located to the local attracitions, sea world, blaboa park, mission beach, downtown etc. I would recommend this bed and breakfast to one who truly appreciates genuine caring and hospitality for you as a person and a guest. It is definately an experience me and Husband will never forget.

If you make the decision that it would be helpful to speak with someone about your struggles — I highly recommend Sylvia.
After trying to work things out on my own for decades, I decided to make an appointment to see if she could help. She is insightful in a non-​judging way and has a gentle manner to her. When speaking with her, I can feel her compassion and her desire to want to help. She has given me perspectives I had not even considered (over the past several years) and I feel like this has opened up a whole new, brighter chapter to my life. I can’t thank you enough Sylvia!
A couple of bonuses: convenience of making appointments online and I have not had issues with finding parking.

About six years ago Sylvia Flanagan helped my family in a time of great need with her insightful, patient, discerning therapeutic processes. My son was experimenting with drugs and alcohol as a teenager. My husband and I were feeling very hopeless as no matter what we said, our son continued his behaviors, and was becoming angrier at us daily as we tried to share our insights and wisdom (NOT what he wanted to hear!). Sylvia found the right and perfect way to intervene, and be a safe person for our son to be frank with… and then she helped my husband and I to lead in a more cohesive manner, helping our son in positive ways. Thank you Sylvia!

Sylvia is insightful and empathetic, and she’s a wonderful listener. She makes helpful, pragmatic suggestions that I’ve been able to put into practice immediately. I especially value this about her, since I don’t go to therapy just to be heard, but also to get a fresh perspective on the things I’m working on. Sessions are productive and goal-​oriented, and I leave feeling as if I’ve examined my ife, and have tangible things to consider and try. Sylvia’s terrific, and I recommend her services enthusiastically.

I went to Sylvia during a very stressful divorce. I needed help dealing with the stress, how I can be there for my kids, get my confidence back and how I can work on me so I didn’t repeat old patterns.
Sylvia is amazing! What I thought was important was that she got what I was saying. not just there to «listen». I walked out of her office having insight and the tools to work on my issues. She is a very professional, compassionate and approachable. She really helped me get my life straight and I only need to see her when I need a mental tune up. I highly recommended her and I do it all the time

Sylvia is a wonderful and enlightening counselor, listener and teacher. Through our work together over the last several years, I have become a person I like and value much more than before I began working with Sylvia. It is amazing to me how the process works, but I can honestly say that, because of her and the work we have done, I am a much happier person and I appreciate life and the people around me to such a greater extent than I ever did before. I see the positives in life and in people now much more often, where I seem to have gotten into habits before of having unreasonable expectations on myself and others. I also appreciate the little things in life to a greater degree now, and truly treasure and value my relationships with others. I feel compassion, rather than frustration or judgment, more often now; and, I feel much more able to love and to allow myself to be loved. Sylvia has truly changed my life in so many positive and wonderful ways. I feel saddened by those who say they’ve had a «bad» counselor or that their experiences with counselors have been poor … I wish these people could experience a counselor like Sylvia because I know they would not feel the same way about therapy and counseling! When I first started seeing her regularly, I was in my mid-​to-​late twenties and going through all that turmoil we all tend to go through during that time in our lives, and she helped me come out of it all a much stronger and happier person. Now, approaching my mid thirties, I check in with her when I need a «tune-​up» or when my life seems to be getting unmanageable again … and, I always leave our sessions feeling revived and enlightened once again! She is like a favorite church, vacation and spa treatment – all rolled into one! :)

I have had a lot of experience with the mental health profession, and most of it has been disappointing, negative, and/​or horrible in one way or another. Working with Sylvia has been the exact opposite of that and she has been a breath of fresh air since the time I first met her. She’s kind, compassionate, gentle, and encouraging, while also being assertive and firm when necessary. I have had a lot of issues to work through and I’ve felt safe and validated by her listening – though she is not passive, she speaks when it’s appropriate and listens when she should. Also, she remembers things! She has a good mind for details even though she doesn’t take notes.
Overall I have found my experience with her to be totally rewarding. She is an excellent representation of the mental health profession to someone who had lost faith in it. She is very suited to counseling and if you need this service, I dn’t think you can go wrong by choosing her to help you.