Cindy Grajkowski, MS Ed

Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist
Owner & Clinical Director, Consultant

Hi, I’m Cindy, an experienced therapist who enjoys helping people discover the healthy rewards of balanced and authentic living, self leadership, and connected relationships. 

I founded Couples and Family Therapy Center in 2009 and have been proud to sustain a small group practice of high quality specialized care where we value health and connection for our clients as well as for ourselves. 

I've been a therapist for almost 25 years and I have specialized in couples therapy, women's wellness, and anxiety disorders.  In recent years I've also enjoyed integrating adult neurodivergence awareness and care into the therapeutic process.  

My style of counseling offers a non-pathologizing and integrative approach, practical coaching skills, and deeper emotional work with plenty of laughs along the way. 

Women's Wellness:

I have had a passion for women's health, safety, and success since I was a kid.  I always wanted to be one of those amazing women in the movies that climb to the top and find a way to have it all.  As I tried to achieve that I eventually realized it was not the life for me, if I was going to keep my sanity anyway. So now I enjoy helping women find their own balance and health so they can create a sustainable and fulfilling life for themselves and their family too. Common issues I help women with include:

• Anxiety Therapy
• High achieving, perfectionism
• Self advocacy and self leadership
• Improving self worth and self confidence through prioritizing your health and wellbeing
• Midlife Mental Wellness - addressing overall wellness, relationships and new goals in this phase of life, including adapting to menopause.
• Communication skills and emotional intelligence 
• Healthy boundaries in personal and professional relationships
• Navigating marriage and relationship struggles or difficult decisions
• Infidelity recovery
• Parenting sensitive and neurodivergent kids
• Exploring what it means to be "highly sensitive," embracing and supporting yourself when you are someone who thinks and feels more deeply and seeks the bigger meaning in life's experiences.
• Exploring an adult autism diagnosis, understanding and integrating this identity into your life, your work, and your relationships. 

Couples Therapy:

I have specialized in couples therapy for most of my career because of the powerful impact it can have on the individual partners and the family as a whole.  I have been a Certified Emotionally Focused Couples Therapist and Supervisor for over 15 years and believe this is one of the most effective ways to heal relationships. When couples are suffering, the whole family suffers. The benefit of couples therapy is when you learn to heal and connect as a couple, you learn how do this as a family as well. I often help couples with:

• Reducing conflict by changing the stuck patterns of criticism, defensiveness, avoidance, and withdrawal.
• Helping distant couples who feel like roommates see if they can reconnect and build intimacy again.
• Recover from infidelity if both are committed to repairing the hurt and rebuilding the trust. 
• Improving communication and emotional intelligence. 
• Improving emotional and physical intimacy.
• Understanding neurodivergence and how that impacts the couple's relationship, and how to create a relationship that works for them. 
• Parenting challenges or conflicts, including the unique challenges of parenting sensitive and neurodivergent kids.
• Discernment Counseling - a limited set of focused sessions helping couples who are considering separation or divorce and are not sure if they are ready to commit to couples counseling. The goal is to help you find clarity and confidence in your decision and next steps. 

Due to my limited availability, I work with a small number of motivated couples at any one time to offer the best care possible. I also utilize longer sessions for the most efficient progress. This is a cash service only and sessions are typically 75-90 minutes, billed at $175.00 per hour. Individual mental health needs will be referred to a separate therapist. Start with a free 15 minute introductory call to determine if this is a good fit. 

*Intensive sessions/jump start sessions are available up to 3 hours, with a break included.

If you are looking to use insurance for couples therapy sessions, you would need to be treated for a mental health diagnosis rather than the relationship specifically. You can inquire about seeing me individually instead, or another available therapist who can help.

**Reduced Fee Opportunity for Couples Therapy (May-August 2026)

One of the most fun and rewarding parts of my work is training and supporting therapists to become amazing practitioners for our clinic and our field.  

I am mentoring an intern with a special interest in couples therapy as she finishes her program and joins us as a Marriage and Family Therapist in the fall. We will be teaching her Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy with couples willing to let us work together as we support her development.  This is offered for a limited time at a reduced rate of $100.00 per hour. 

*Process: Sessions will get started with Cindy as the primary therapist and the intern observing, as she eventually engages in co-therapy to practice her skills with Cindy's support. Eventually couples will have the opportunity to continue with Cindy at her regular rate or the intern at a reduced rate, if they would like to continue.  

Consultation:

For Clients: I offer consultation for professionals, individuals, or couples who are looking for some direct feedback, communication skills, a second opinion, or some brief coaching.  This is not psychotherapy and does not provide or treat a mental health diagnosis.  $175.00 per hour

For Therapists: I enjoy providing consultation and support to therapists whether that's case consultation, general skill building consultation, EFT consultation or supervision, or building your own practice. Reach out to me directly for options. 

Models of Therapy I Utilize:  EMDR, Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Solution Focused Therapy, Emotional Freedom Technique (Tapping), Natural & Integrative Mental Health Practices.  In addition, tools from the fields of Career Coaching and Financial Therapy.

On the personal side:

When I'm not consumed with therapy and running a small business, I enjoy a pretty simple life with my husband, kids and our adored and spoiled mini-golden retriever, Luna.  I try to practice what I preach and love to study many aspects of women's health to keep me going as an older mom. For fun you'll find me having lots of coffee-talks with friends, laughing at silly shows and stand-up comedy, or trying to keep up on the pickleball courts ;)

Contact:

To request an appointment, use the form on the Contact Page, or call the office at 715-441-1828.

Contact me directly at Cindy@CFTC-online.com

Education & Training

• Bachelor of Arts degree from U.W. Madison
• Masters of Science in Education-Professional Counseling from Concordia University WI
• Marriage and Family Therapy specialization completed at Family Therapy Training Institute
• Certified Emotionally Focused  Couples Therapist & Supervisor
• EMDR Therapist
• Certified Senior Professional Career Coach - International Association of Career Coaches

Insurance Provider for

BCBS, Health Partners, Cigna, United Health Care/Medica/UBH/Optum