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Monday 8am - 5pm Tuesday 8am - 5pm Wednesday 8am - 5pm Thursday 8am - 5pm Friday 8am - 5pm Saturday 8am - 5pm Sunday 8am - 5pm

Cynthia Manuel-Shah, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist

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United States
San Jose, CA
Cynthia Manuel-Shah, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist

Bay Area therapist for moms (36+) with newborns & aging parents. Release perfect, find flow. Hey there mama. in motherhood. Call me today.

Feeling a rollercoaster of emotions, and need a moment to think out lout w/o judgment? Maybe you are the mama that has experienced a miscarriage, high risk pregnancy, baby in NICU, or infertility. Or perhaps you are having difficulty adjusting to motherhood, not connecting with your newborn and feeling anxious/depressed. Sometimes partners, family and friends don't understand what it's like to experience the joys and pains of creating a little human. One moment there is excitement, the next there is pain when finding out things aren't going as planned. If you are a BIPOC woman, the natural thing to do would be to say that everything is fine, be strong, and power through all of it on your own b/c that’s how we are “built.” You know what dear mama? This is something that we have been taught to survive, but I am here to let you know that you don't have to do this alone. I know what it like to experience the joys, pains, isolation, etc. Please reach out, so that we can work together to help you evolve into your best self through this transformative (and complicated) process.

10/20/2025

DM: "Boundary" for a free consultation. Let's connect!

10/18/2025

Thank you and good night sis.

10/16/2025

Today is World Pregnancy Loss Day. I'm thinking of every mama who has lost a baby—to miscarriage, stillbirth, SIDS, ectopic pregnancy, termination for medical reasons, or the death of a newborn.

When I think of my own pregnancies and losses, I carry so many different emotions. I carry the hope, birthdates, what ifs, grief, shame, guilt, names, and a feeling in my pelvis that carries the most weight. At times I feel like it's heavier than my own heart. You know that lump in your throat you got as a child when you did something wrong? I feel that same sensation in my body—it comes and goes, settling in the place that held both life and grief, and a bunch of medical mysteries that are still unfounded to this day.

I remember miscarrying the same day that my lola became an ancestor. I tried to make it a beautiful thing, saying that my lola was with them. And honestly, when I was at my lola's funeral, I couldn't tell the difference of who I was grieving. Was it my lola, my child, or myself?

I share this not for sympathy, but to bring light to the complex emotions that a mother (and partner) can experience. People will say, "this happens to a lot of women" or "better that it happens now than later." Or "don't you just want a healthy baby?" People don't know what to say, and will say what they think may be comforting, but they will never really know the complexities of what is going on for you. The attachments that have been made, or the pain that your body has experienced.

So Dear mama, I see you.

Your grief doesn't need to make sense to anyone else. It doesn't need to follow a timeline or fit into neat categories. Your body didn't fail. You didn't do anything wrong. That weight you feel? That's not weakness. That's love with nowhere to go.
Today, I'm holding space for you and your angel babies. You don't have to be okay. You don't have to find meaning. You can just be here, carrying what you carry.

And mama? You don't have to carry it alone. Not today, not ever.
💔🕊️

08/31/2025

✨Cheers to my amazing friend while my 5-year-old melts down in the background because he's done with whatever activity he was doing and wants something else RIGHT NOW.

This photo is peak motherhood at 40-something: trying to celebrate people you care about while juggling everyone's needs from across town. Holding a drink in one hand, an activity bag in the other, and somehow trying to show up for both worlds.

Got there late, left early to go fill a month's worth of pills before September 1st because someone has to remember these deadlines.

Your friends matter. Your family needs you. Your heart wants connection AND you want to take care of everyone. All true, all exhausting.

This is what love looks like when it's spread across generations and responsibilities and a really good celebration you're trying to squeeze into real life.

If you're ready to stop feeling guilty about wanting both connection and family time, I'd love 💕 to support you.

Send me a DM or visit the link in my bio to schedule a consultation.

08/29/2025

Hey Mama. Sending you a reminder to be extra gentle with yourself today. You've been through a LOT.

With love and grace,
Cynthia

08/01/2025

Today marks 15 years that we have been married 💕

He knew all of me and we struggled together through many growing pains. But through the losses, fertility treatments, hospital stays, and a pandemic - even though he was by my side, there's no way he truly understood what I was going through.

Fertility treatments didn't happen to my arm and belly - they happened to ME.

As the strong, independent, do-things-without-asking-for-help Filipina 🇵🇭🇺🇸 I was raised to be, I handled miscarriages, pregnancy complications, and postpartum depression and anxiety exactly how you'd expect - alone. I didn't want to admit I was struggling.

He was there 24/7 when the world shut down. Supportive as anyone could be. He did all the things. But I was still alone in my thoughts. His words and actions were meant to comfort, but because of PMADS, I couldn't receive them.

And there was no way I could share my unfiltered thoughts because they felt too dark, too scary, too much.

This is ONE example of the cost of untreated PMADS.

Sometimes I wonder if I would have enjoyed the newborn stage more, been less hard on myself, if I had just leaned in to receive the type of help I needed. But honestly? I didn't know what I know now. How raw, intrusive, and isolating it could feel - EVEN when support you think you need is right there.

PMADS affects 1 in 5 birthing people. You're not alone, even when it feels like you are. And it is treatable and WORKS.

That's why I'm here as a BIPOC Perintal Mental Health Therapist for, who is also a Later-in-Life Mom. I get it. Let's work together so you can finally:

❤️Regulate your nervous system
💜Receive the support that's waiting for you
💙Rest in the comfort of your own thoughts, body, and community

You don't have to carry this alone like I did.

Ready to stop suffering in silence? DM me "SUPPORT" and let's talk about how therapy can help you feel held, not just helped. 💙

🌐www.cynthiamanuelshah.com

07/25/2025

🌸 It's official—I'm now a Perinatal Mental Health Certified Provider.

Sometimes life has a way of showing you exactly where you belong. My 20s taught me I was called to support people of color through their mental health journeys and find liberation.

Fast forward to my own journey toward motherhood—infertility, high-risk pregnancy, NICU stays, and endless appointments with my IUGR baby. I did what I'd always done as a Filipino woman who'd faced challenges before—powered through with a smile while drowning inside.

Finding the PMH-C with two years later felt like coming home. Here was training that actually understood stories like ours—the messy, beautiful, complicated reality of becoming a mother when life doesn't go according to plan.

I get to show up for Bay Area BIPOC women experiencing first-time motherhood at 36+. Not just as their therapist, but as someone who's been there. A Thera-MAMA who knows what it means to be re-birthed, rePURPOSED by our own experiences.

This is my calling, refined and deepened by everything I've lived through and NOW here to be with you on your unique journey 💙 into motherhood. Let's drop perfection, and step into confidence with who you are becoming without the guilt. I don't know where you need to be, we can get there 🙏🏽

07/18/2025

Love that he displays his brown skin and sees all the different parts of himself.

07/17/2025

Join us for the next Mamas Sama Sama
A virtual support group for Bay Area later-in-life moms created by and for BIPOC womyn.

📆 Aug 20
⏱️ 12-1
✉️ cynthia@cynthiamanuelshah.com

Address

San Jose, CA

Opening Hours

Monday	8am - 5pm
Tuesday	8am - 5pm
Wednesday	8am - 5pm
Thursday	8am - 5pm
Friday	8am - 5pm
Saturday	8am - 5pm
Sunday	8am - 5pm

Website

http://www.cynthiamanuelshah.com/

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