Empowering individuals of all ages to heal, learn, and thrive through holistic education, therapeutic adventures in nature, and compassionate community.
About Us
Cicada Institute was created to help people move from struggle and uncertainty to authentic agency and community. We believe every person deserves to ask “Who am I?”, “Why am I here?” and “How do I grow?” and receive real answers in supportive, inspired environments. Our educators and therapists foster transformation, belonging, and leadership.
Curriculum
Cicada’s curriculum is based on developmental & therapeutic milestones :
K-8: Self-esteem, kindness, eco-literacy, play-based learning
9-12: Critical thinking, healthy rebellion, value exploration, leadership
Young Adult/Adult: Agency, life skills, mentorship, wellness, wisdom integration
Lessons blend mindfulness, community action, and creativity, supporting diverse learners and pathways to wholeness.
Therapy & Coaching
Art & Somatic Coaching : Express, process, and heal through guided creative projects. Art & Somatic Coaching at Cicada supports teens and families in building trust, awareness, and emotional language—using collage, drawing, and projective techniques to uncover stories and support wellbeing.
Wilderness & Gestalt Therapy : Reconnect body, mind, and spirit in nature with skilled therapeutic guides. Cicada’s wilderness therapy combines gestalt principles and experiential interventions (mindful movement, nature signals, animal-assisted work, fire ceremonies) to deepen insight, resolve trauma, and restore belonging.
Family Therapy : Families don’t struggle because they’re broken—they struggle because patterns formed under stress, transition, or unmet needs. My family therapy work supports families in slowing down, understanding one another more deeply, and building safer, more connected ways of relating.
Events & Retreats
Join us for seasonal wilderness healing and adventure retreats designed for youth, families, and adults. Participants explore the wild, practice mindfulness, and develop resilience in supportive, dynamic community settings.
Upcoming Events & Retreats
I would trust her with anyone, anytime, anywhere. They are in the best of hands. Sylvie is careful, compassionate, and considerate. Sylvie celebrates the incremental successes that make therapeutic processes work for healing. Sylvie helps them find their next question and empowers them to move to next phase of development. She helps them recognize those choices that result in successful habits of mind. She is creative in her approach to healing.
— Daniel, Coming of Age Ceremony
Meet Sylvie
Sylvie Fanous-Samaan Silva, Co-Founder & Executive Director is an experienced, certified educator and licensed counselor. Sylvie has been working with adolescents for most of her life and created a curriculum specifically for their most authentic and supported growth. Her constant engagement with diverse communities illuminated one common understanding, no one is insulated from the harsh realities of life. Throughout her career, Sylvie experienced clients who had cancer, lost parents, lost siblings, abused drugs, were victims of abuse, and even committed suicide. She began creating and studying ways to authentically comfort and support all of those at such critical junctures in their development. She pursued her Master’s Degree in Wilderness Therapy at Naropa University and is now a licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor. She also holds her certification in Gestalt Therapy from The Gestalt Institute of the Rockies and is a Circle of Security Facilitator, helping families work together to break trauma patterns and improve relationships.
Contact
Feel free to contact us with any questions.
Email
thecicadainstitute@gmail.com
Phone
(727) 910-4940