Cassandra Amantite

My Therapeutic Style

Welcome in, I'm Cassandra, and I work with adults and couples. Therapy can help you build a stronger, more compassionate relationship with yourself and deeper, healthier relationships with others, while moving toward a life that feels more authentic, purposeful, and fulfilling.

I don't believe you're broken, and I don't see you as a diagnosis to be treated. I see you as a whole human navigating a complicated world the best way you know how. Together, we may gently explore the deeper roots of your struggles and make sense of the ways you've learned to cope and protect yourself. We’ll honor the wisdom in those adaptations while also noticing what may no longer be serving your life, relationships, or future.

Clients often describe me as warm, positive, genuine, and easy to talk to. I bring a compassionate heart and an uplifting spirit to our work. In our sessions, you don't have to hide the parts of yourself that feel shameful, angry, painful, or grieving. There is room for all of you here—the anger and tears, the hope and fears, the laughter and messiness of being human. I'll meet you where you are, move at a pace that feels right for you, and sit alongside you through the moments that are hardest to hold, while helping you connect with strengths and possibilities that may feel out of reach.

Individual Therapy

I draw heavily from Internal Family Systems (IFS) and parts work, which offers a compassionate way of understanding the different parts of ourselves that can sometimes feel in conflict. Parts work can be meaningful whether you're navigating a specific challenge or feeling ready to understand yourself more deeply.

For example, there may be a part of you that longs for change and another that feels afraid and holds you back. Sometimes a part can take over so completely that you feel overwhelmed with anxiety, depression, or loneliness. Rather than trying to get rid of these parts, we'll learn to approach them with curiosity and compassion and understand how they’re trying to help and protect you, what they fear, and what they need. As your relationship with your inner world and parts changes, your outer life can begin to change too.

Together, we may also explore other ways to support your whole mind-body well-being. This might include learning to regulate your nervous system so you can feel more grounded and have greater choice in how you respond to stress or triggers; making changes to sleep, movement, nutrition, substance use, stress management, and social connection to support your mental and physical health; clarifying your values so you have a stronger sense of direction when making decisions; and exploring spirituality when it is meaningful to you.

We may also practice staying present with difficult emotions without letting them take over, while building skills for setting boundaries, communicating more effectively, and responding to life in ways that feel more intentional.

Couples Therapy

When couples come to therapy, they're often caught in a painful pattern that neither person knows how to get out of. For example, one person reaches for reassurance, connection, or change, while the other pulls away, shuts down, or becomes defensive. The more one partner reaches, the more the other retreats, and the cycle continues. Before long, you're having the same argument again and again, both feeling hurt, misunderstood, and alone.

Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) helps couples slow this cycle down and understand what is really happening underneath the conflict. Instead of focusing only on who is right or what needs to change, we look at the deeper feelings and needs that can be difficult to express: “I need to know you're there for me,” “I'm afraid I'm not enough for you,” or “I want to feel close to you, but I don't know how.”

These deeper emotions and attachment needs often drive the visible conflict, even when they remain hidden beneath criticism, defensiveness, withdrawal, or anger. By bringing them into the open, we can begin to transform the cycle that keeps pulling you apart.

Over time, couples can learn to turn toward one another instead of against each other, communicate more openly, repair after conflict, feel safer being vulnerable, give and receive love in ways that truly land, and experience greater trust, intimacy, affection, playfulness, and partnership.

My Background

Before becoming a therapist in my thirties, I spent years traveling across seas and building a life across several different careers. Those experiences taught me healing isn't one-size-fits-all, and that the need for connection, belonging, and meaning transcends borders.

I completed my Master of Science in Counseling at Kaiser Permanente School of Allied Health Sciences and trained clinically at Kaiser Permanente's Counseling Center in Petaluma before working at De La Rosa Psychotherapy. You can learn more about me and my services by visiting my website.

I’d Love to Connect!

I offer free 15-minute consultation calls to see if we’re a good fit. No pressure, no commitment beyond, just a real conversation about where you are and where you want to go.

Email: Cassandra@CassandraMarieTherapy.com