Sam Cunningham

Background

About Sam Cunningham

Sam served as the Clinical Manager & now is the Director of Ascension Seton Behavioral Health & Shoal Creek Hospital. He is a Licensed Professional Counselor in the state of Texas and has been licensed in other states previously. Sam graduated from East Texas State University (now Texas A&M-Commerce) with a Master of Science Degree in Community Counseling in May of 1996 and prior to that earned a Bachelor’s of Arts Degree, in Psychology and Social Science: Sociology at Tabor College in May of 1994. ​ In the 30 plus years in mental health, Sam has worked in a variety of settings ranging from acute and residential care-psychiatric hospitals; adolescent males’ group home, school based therapy programs, home based therapy programs, and intensive outpatient programs. The majority of his experience was working with children, adolescents and families-including Intellectual Disorders, aggressive, adopted, personality challenged, abused, and psychotic clients; however he has had a wealth of experience with developmentally disabled individuals, adult and geriatric populations. This includes the IOP and PHP areas for Seton which features a variety of groups such as Dialectal Behavioral Therapy, Dual Recovery, Substance Use, General Psychiatric services, and Restore (CPT - Trauma). Now, Mr. Cunningham oversees the clinical and operational areas for inpatient and outpatient hospital service continuum. He launched ASBH IOP into virtual counseling amid the COVID-19 pandemic and has also added managing the Virtual Care team (individual mental health therapy) to his responsibilities. He also collaborates and consults with a variety of community based organizations. He also has national and international experience with working with individuals, families, colleagues, educational consultants, and other professionals in helping others improve and live a purposeful life. Now retired, he was a long time Volunteer Youth sports and life coach after observing select teams, and poor coaching & adult modeling. Sam established an organization in 2014, designed to offer children the opportunity to excel in the areas of citizenship, school, and the sports arena. Giving back & teaching life with sports as a tool. A 4 year letter winner in college football & baseball, he has enjoyed many years of coaching multiple sports and positively influencing children.