Inspiring Conversations with Cymone Damon Sams of Reconnect Marriage and Family Counseling

Today we’d like to introduce you to Cymone Damon Sams.

Hi Cymone, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My husband, Jarvis, has always been a teacher and a mentor at heart, and he wanted to impact the black community by providing mental healthcare. He began his career with an interest in working with BIPOC couples and teaching to budding therapist who were interested in working with the community as well. We always talked about opening up a practice to be able to work for and sustain ourselves while also helping our community. I was honestly very reluctant just due to questioning myself and capacity. However, the type of person that I am is a go-getter and I love a challenge so beginning this business was the right type of challenge that I needed. We were able to begin the business in 2021 as just a solo practice, then have a number of employees began in 2022, and have sustained ourselves since.

We began in a time during the pandemic where many people were turning to therapy due to what was going on in their local as well as global community. People were scared and needed an outlet to talk about issues that stemmed from years before and present day. Both Jarvis and I have different viewpoints on how we view a client and how we work with clients, but what is the same as how we serve clients. In 2024, we expanded our practice to have an in-person component as many clients were tired of seeing their therapist on Zoom. Fortunately, and unfortunately, many therapists still remain online, but clients want to connect with someone in-person to have conversations, get feedback, and tell their story. To address this need, we saw that as a space where we could to do that and continue to serve.

Our mission has also been to help BIPOC therapists as well as therapists that identify with LGBTQ+ community to learn how to run a private practice. We hire associate therapist to learn about the business of private practice will also being able to build their caseload. With this starting point, therapist can leave our practice with the knowledge and clientele to start their career where they may not have had an opportunity before. We meet a lot of young (career-wise) BIPOC therapists that often don’t feel seen in the practices that hire them. This is not to say that other private practices don’t support BIPOC therapists, however, many of them can fail to address the needs of people of color.

Jarvis and I are so proud to serve not only the community of Pasadena and Altadena, but the greater Los Angeles area, and the state of California (virtually). To be a place and in space where BIPOC therapist and clients can feel seen means that we have begun to accomplish our goal.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
With any business, there are struggles, highs and lows, and we have worked through it all – together. Many things can tear couples apart just because of the difficulties that are experienced, communication issues that aren’t fully worked through, and sometimes the lack of problem-solving. People ask us all the time if our marriage works because we’re both therapist, and I think it helps. But, we both grew up only children, very independent individuals, and have a common goal to serve the community. At the end of the day, we always come back to that notion of why we started this.

Some of the struggles included financial means and resource, marketing, and staffing concerns. We have never taken out a loan for this business and we were broke our first year. Much of our salaries from our other jobs went into this business, and every day I wanted to quit. I’m not gonna lie, but Jarvis has a very positive attitude and he can see his way through things. He made a plan, we made some adjustments, and followed through with those plans.

As you know, we’re big fans of Reconnect Marriage and Family Counseling. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
Reconnect Marriage and Family Counseling is a group private practice located in Pasadena, California, and we also serve the state of California, virtually. We primarily focus on couples with a variety of concerns such as navigating the space of being newlyweds, divorce, infertility, and an array of other concerns. Jarvis specializes in work with couples navigating difficulties in their relationship and has over 10 years of experience. We also specialize in life transitions for individuals experiencing career changes, graduating from school/college, and working through past childhood issues and concerns with their parents and family. Lastly, we specialize in psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy providing psychedelic dosing sessions as well as integration for clients seeking to go deeper in their therapeutic work. Cymone has training from the leader in psychedelic research and science, the Multidisciplinary Association of Psychedelic Science (MAPS) as well as Polaris Insight Center with substances, such as MDMA, psilocybin, and ketamine. Ketamine is the only legalized substance that is being used within psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy at this time in the state of California.

Practitioners/therapists of color are small in numbers within the therapeutic space in general, and there is a large gap when it comes to psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy. We aim to meet that need and clients where they are. We are most proud of our brand in that we are, sadly, one of the few private practices owned by people of color. We believe it’s important for everyone to have a space where they feel seen so that they can heal in the way that they see possible working with people who care about them.

What matters most to you? Why?
What matters to us most is serving our community and helping clients figure it out. Many people these days don’t have the space to sync, reflects, cry, and see through things. We believe that everyone deserves that space to be emotionally held and supported.

Pricing:

• We accept insurances, such as Aetna, Optum/United Healthcare, and Blue Shield of CA. We are working on accepting Anthem but do not at this time.
• Individual therapy sessions range from $100-$250 (60-90-minutes sessions)
• Couples therapy sessions range from $150-$350 (60 to 90-minute sessions)
• We offer biweekly and monthly sessions. Biweekly sessions are at standard rates and monthly packages are $350 a month for individual. (75-90 min + support) and $500 a month for couples (90 min, plus materials and additional support)
• Psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy: $500 for each dosing session; preparation and integration sessions are the cost of an individual session. Insurance is accepted and a client can have anywhere between two and eight sessions total.

Contact Info:

• Website: www. reconnectmfc.com
• Instagram: @reconnectmfc
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/reconnectmfc
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/reconnect-marriage-and-family-counseling/?viewAsMember=true
• Other: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists/reconnect-marriage-and-family-counseling-pasadena-ca/928701