About Casandra
Casandra (Cassie) Starback is a licensed Master of Social Work who brings 22 years of experience in gerontology and supportive care. She practices in Michigan and focuses on helping people cope when stress, anxiety, grief, or depression make daily life harder. Cassie centers practical, everyday strategies so people can manage the challenges they face now.
Her background includes work in clinics, residential care communities, and community organizations such as the Alzheimer's Association.
Background and approach
That work shaped her understanding of aging, caregiving strain, and end-of-life concerns. She uses that experience to help people facing life transitions and the losses that sometimes come with them. Cassie uses Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and self-compassion practices in sessions.
She guides people toward values-based choices and small, manageable steps. Sessions often include mindfulness exercises, ways to reduce self-criticism, and tasks that build resilience. She also supports caregivers dealing with isolation, compassion fatigue, and the practical burdens of caring for someone who is aging or ill.
Cassie helps people find sources of support and ways to replenish themselves while handling ongoing responsibilities. Her style is collaborative and down-to-earth. She treats each person as the expert on their life and works together with them to identify goals.
Cassie aims to make progress feel realistic and sustainable, one step at a time.
Evidence-informed approaches and online support
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy helps people notice difficult thoughts and feelings without getting stuck in them. It focuses on identifying personal values and taking small actions that move someone toward a meaningful life. Self-compassion work teaches how to soften self-criticism and use kind, practical strategies when stress or grief feels overwhelming. These approaches are useful for anxiety, caregiving strain, and life transitions.Finding the best approach is a collaborative process. The therapist will work with each person to choose techniques that match their goals and circumstances. Together they will adjust pacing and methods so the work feels manageable and relevant.
Online sessions are offered by video call, phone, live chat, and text-based messaging to make therapy more flexible. Video is useful for face-to-face conversation and guided exercises. Phone sessions can fit into a workday or be used when bandwidth is limited. Live chat and text messaging allow shorter check-ins, written reflection, and support between longer sessions. These options help people fit therapy into daily life and keep momentum between meetings.
Questions people ask
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What this therapist works with
Most often
Also listed
- Experience
- 22 years
- Licensed
- Michigan
- Languages
- English
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