Licensed to practice in Ohio and accepts 9 insurances. Specializes in Crisis Intervention, Serious Mental Illness, Trauma and PTSD and 10 more.
(she/they)
New to Grow
I'm Kassandra, a Licensed Independent Social Worker trained at Case Western Reserve University. My clinical foundation was built doing crisis intervention and specialized trauma work with survivors of sexual assault, child abuse, and sex trafficking before. I became independently licensed. That experience isn't a line on a resume. It's the reason. I can sit with the hardest things clients bring in without needing them to minimize, manage, or explain themselves first. I work with adolescents, adults, and older adults individually and with couples. I'm explicitly LGBTQIA+-affirming and have experience with transgender and identity-related concerns. I offer telehealth across Ohio and accept insurance through Grow.
The first session is about getting oriented, understanding what brought you here, what you've already tried, and what you need from therapy that you haven't found yet. I won't push you to talk about trauma before we've built enough trust for that to feel safe. If you're coming with something specific like a recent assault, a childhood you're still carrying, something about your identity that's never felt easy to say out loud, we'll start wherever you are, not wherever I need you to be. By the end of the first session, you'll know whether my approach fits. I'll be honest if I think someone else might serve you better and I'll help you find them if so.
My approach is trauma informed and tailored to the specific person in front of me. For trauma and PTSD, I use EMDR — Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing — which works on how traumatic memories are stored and processed, not just how you think about them. For co-occurring trauma and substance use, I use Seeking Safety. For broader mental health work, I draw on ACT, mindfulness-based approaches, and psychodynamic frameworks depending on what fits. I work in a strength-based, relational way, which means I'm not cataloguing what's wrong with you. I'm working with what's already in you that can help you heal. I'm affirming and open-minded, and I approach identity as part of the whole picture, not a separate issue to manage.
Other specialties
I identify as
EMDR
When something traumatic or highly stressful happens, your brain's natural processing system can get overwhelmed. The memory gets "locked" in your nervous system exactly as you experienced it, complete with the original sights, sounds, thoughts, and painful emotions. When you remember it today, it feels like it is happening all over again. EMDR acts like a digestive system for your mind. It unlocks that stuck memory, helps you digest it, and lets your brain file it away into normal past history so it no longer hurts you in the present
Humanistic
Humanistic therapy is an approach to mental health that focuses on your unique potential rather than your flaws or diagnoses. Instead of viewing you as a patient with a "sickness" to be cured, it views you as a fundamentally good person who already has the inner strength to grow, heal, and make the right choices for your life .In this style of therapy, the counselor does not act like an all-knowing expert who tells you what to do. Instead, they act like a supportive partner or a guide on your journe
Trauma Informed Care
Is not a specific medical procedure or a single type of therapy. Instead, it is an overall approach, a shift in mindset, used by therapists, doctors, and schools to support people who have gone through highly stressful or frightening life events. In traditional care, a professional might look at someone who is struggling and ask, "What is wrong with you?" In trauma-informed care, that question shifts to, "What happened to you?". This approach recognizes that difficult behaviors (like anger, panic, or shutting down) are not flaws or signs of being "bad." Instead, they are normal survival strategies that a person's brain developed to protect them from past danger
Strength-Based
Is a style of counseling that focuses on what is going right in your life rather than what is going wrong. In traditional therapy, the focus is often on fixing your defects, diagnosing your illnesses, or listing your failures. Strength-based therapy turns this around by focusing on your internal resilience, your talents, and your past successes. The core belief of this method is simple: You already possess the skills and survival traits needed to solve your current problems. The therapist’s job is to help you rediscover those strengths and figure out how to use them today.
Compassion Focused
A style of counseling designed for people who struggle with a harsh "inner critic." If you constantly judge yourself, feel intense shame, or feel like you are never good enough, this approach helps you turn down the volume on that critical voice. The core belief of this method is that your brain is naturally wired for survival, not happiness. You cannot control the difficult thoughts or emotions that pop into your head, but you can learn to treat yourself with the same kindness and warmth you would show to a dear friend when they are struggling.