In-Person in Menlo Park, CA 94025
Online in California
Rewire the Root. Reclaim Your Joy.
Do you ever find yourself shutting down or overreacting when life feels overwhelming, even when part of you knows better? You're not broken. Those reactions are old protective patterns your nervous system learned long ago to keep you safe. They just haven't gotten the message that you don't need them anymore. 🌿
It takes real courage to look at these patterns, and the fact that you're here says a lot about your readiness to grow.
I'm Dr. Cindy Sholes, a UCSF-trained neuroscientist and clinical hypnotherapist since 2003. Over more than 20 years and thousands of clients, I developed rREST® (Rapid Reprogramming of Emotional Stress Technique). It's a gentle, root-cause approach that resolves automatic stress responses without blame, shame, or years of rehashing the past.
I work with adults, teens and young adults facing anxiety, emotional triggers and relationship patterns that keep repeating. As old patterns resolve, clients often find they can show up calm, present and connected. Their loved ones often notice the change first. 🦋
What would change in your life if you could stay calm and grounded in the moments that usually knock you off balance?
If you're curious, I invite you to book a free Soul Strategy Session. We'll explore what you're looking for and decide together whether rREST is the right fit for you. ✨
I kept the neuroscience to one credential line because that style hasn't landed with most people. If Therapy Tribe shows only the first few lines in search results, the opening question will do most of the work.
Client Focus
Session Format: Individual sessions.
Age Specialty: Adult, Senior, Teen, Young Adult
Demographic Expertise: LGBTQ+, Men, Women clients.
Languages: English
Treatment Approach
- Emotion-Focused Therapy Emotion-focused therapy supports emotional awareness and expression, helping individuals understand underlying feelings, transform unhelpful emotional patterns, and develop healthier responses to personal and relationship challenges.
- Hypnotherapy Uses guided relaxation and focus to access the subconscious mind. It is often used for habits, anxiety, and pain management.
Approach Description: My Approach 🌿
I see emotional reactions as neurological rather than pathological. When you shut down, overreact or feel flooded with anxiety, your nervous system is running an old protective pattern, usually learned early in life to keep you safe. Nothing about you is broken. The pattern simply needs to be updated.
My primary tool is rREST® (Rapid Reprogramming of Emotional Stress Technique), a mind-body method I developed that builds on Dr. Scott Walker's Neuro Emotional Technique (NET). Rather than managing symptoms or analyzing the past, rREST works at the root of a pattern, where it first began. It's gentle and non-retraumatizing. You don't need to relive painful memories in detail for real change to happen.
My work draws on my background in neuroscience and more than 20 years as a clinical hypnotherapist. Sessions combine guided inquiry, body-based stress-response checks, acupressure, focused breathing and guided meditation.
I believe you are the expert on your own life. I meet every client with compassion, curiosity and respect, without blame or shame, and we move at a pace that feels safe for you. My goal is to help you reclaim your personal authority so you can respond to life with calm, clarity and joy. ✨
Fees & Insurance
Fees
- Average Session Fee $300
- Affordable sliding scale therapy: apply if you may be eligible.
- I believe healing should be within reach, so I offer several ways to make rREST more affordable: • Package savings: Reduced per-session rates when you book a series of sessions • Referral appreciation: A thank-you discount when you refer someone to my practice • Sliding scale: A limited number of reduced-rate spots for clients with financial need I hold a special place in my heart for people who spend their lives caring for others, such as teachers, caregivers and other service providers. If that's you, please let me know. 💖 Because every situation is unique, I'm happy to talk through options that work for you. We can discuss them during your free Soul Strategy Session.
- Out of Network
Education & Credentials
Cindy Sholes Ph.D. Neuroscience, Medical Hypnotherapy
- Female
- License # CH4032
- Licensed in CA
- Practicing Since 2003
Education: • PhD in Neuroscience, University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), 1996. My doctoral research focused on developmental cell biology, specifically how molecules guide cell identification and specification.
• BS in Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology (MCDB), University of Colorado Boulde
Cindy Sholes Practice Details
Therapy Sessions
- Available In-Person in Menlo Park, CA 94025
- Available Online for residents of California
Welcome to Mind Wave Institute 🌿
Most of us have a moment we wish we could take back: the sharp reply, the shutdown, the wave of anxiety that came out of nowhere. Afterward, we often know exactly what we "should" have done. Yet the next time life feels overwhelming, the same reaction shows up again.
That's not a lack of willpower. These automatic reactions are protective patterns your nervous system learned long ago, often in childhood, to keep you safe. Insight alone rarely changes them, because they live below conscious thought. At Mind Wave Institute, we work directly with those root patterns so they can finally resolve.
Who I Work With
I work with adults, teens and young adults who:
• Feel anxious, on edge or easily overwhelmed
• Find themselves shutting down or overreacting in relationships
• Notice the same painful patterns repeating at work, at home or in love
• Have specific fears such as public speaking, driving or flying
• Have tried talk therapy or other approaches and understand their "why," but still feel stuck
What Is rREST®?
rREST (Rapid Reprogramming of Emotional Stress Technique) is a gentle, root-cause method I developed over more than 20 years of practice and thousands of client sessions. It builds on Neuro Emotional Technique (NET), created by Dr. Scott Walker. rREST helps your mind and body release automatic stress responses at their source, without blame, shame, or years of rehashing the past.
rREST is not retraumatizing. You don't need to relive painful memories in detail. Instead, we gently identify where a pattern began and help your nervous system update it, so calm, clarity and joy have room to return.
What a Session Looks Like
Each session begins with a conversation about what's going on for you and which patterns keep showing up. Then we:
• Check how your body's stress response reacts to key statements and beliefs
• Follow that response back to the root, the first time the pattern was set
• Release the stored emotions using acupressure points and focused breathing
• Often close with a guided meditation that brings your younger self and your wise adult self together
Many clients describe feeling lighter and calmer afterward. Changes usually settle in over the next night or two.
How Many Sessions?
Everyone's journey is unique. Most people notice a meaningful shift in a pattern within about three sessions, and many choose to work with me for six to ten sessions to address several patterns and build lasting change. 🦋
As old patterns resolve, clients often say they can respond instead of react, set boundaries with more ease and feel at home in themselves again. Their loved ones often notice the difference first.
In Person and Online
I see clients in person at my office in Menlo Park, on the San Francisco mid-peninsula, and online via Zoom for clients anywhere in the world. Online sessions work just as well as in-person sessions, and many clients find it easier to relax in their own familiar space.
About Me
I hold a PhD in Neuroscience from UCSF and have been a practicing clinical hypnotherapist since 2003. My work has been featured in The Wall Street Journal and USA Today. I'm also a co-author of Triggered: From Reaction to Resilience. From 2019 to 2024, I co-taught rREST with Dr. Mitra Ray and trained 70 coaches in the method. My mission is to help people break free of old patterns, reclaim their personal authority and live with authentic purpose and joy.
A Note on Scope
rREST is a complementary, nervous-system-focused approach. It doesn't replace medical or psychiatric care, diagnosis or treatment. I'm glad to work alongside your doctor, therapist or other providers, and I'll always be honest with you about whether rREST is the right fit for what you're facing.
Your Next Step ✨
What would become possible if the reactions that hold you back simply… quieted down?
If you're curious, I warmly invite you to book a free Soul Strategy Session. It's a relaxed conversation where we'll explore what you're looking for, I'll share how rREST might help, and together we'll decide whether working together feels right. There's no pressure, just an honest conversation about your next step. If you would like to schedule a free consultation, copy and paste this link into your browser: rrest.drcindysholes.com/sss-landing