Cassie McCarthy, LICSW

02/12/2026

If you had to stay quiet, manage your parents’ emotions, or survive in an unpredictable home, you may still be carrying trauma from childhood.

I specialize in helping women make sense of early wounds that still affect their adult lives—especially when it comes to relationships, self-esteem, and anxiety.

Using CPT, we identify the beliefs and patterns that are no longer serving you—and create new, healthier ones.

📍Available in MA, VT, VA, IL, and FL
💻 Virtual trauma therapy
📞 Let’s talk

02/09/2026

You’ve been told to “just move on.” But the self-doubt, anxiety, and confusion don’t go away that easily. Narcissistic abuse rewires your brain to second-guess yourself constantly.

I help women reclaim their identity, self-worth, and clarity after narcissistic relationships—whether with a partner, parent, or friend.

We’ll work together using trauma-informed, evidence-based therapy to rebuild trust in your own voice.

📍Serving clients in MA, VT, VA, IL, and FL
📞 Reach out to get started

02/05/2026

When someone you trusted lies, cheats, or violates you—it doesn’t just hurt. It can shatter your ability to feel safe with others, or even with yourself.

I help women recover from betrayal trauma by addressing the emotional flashbacks, trust issues, and shame spirals that often come after being deeply let down.

With CPT, we focus on making meaning of what happened and reclaiming your identity in the aftermath.

📍Offering therapy in MA, VT, VA, IL, and FL
💬 Message to learn more or book a consult

02/04/2026

One thing that gets misunderstood in trauma therapy:

Retelling the story is not the same as treating the trauma.

With good intentions, therapy can drift into recounting what happened — because being heard matters. But understanding how trauma shaped someone’s reactions is what actually reduces shame and restores a sense of agency.

Clients often feel safer and more empowered when the work helps them make sense of their responses, rather than asking them to relive the past.

This distinction changes how trauma therapy feels — for clients and clinicians alike.

Tell me your thoughts below.

02/03/2026

Sharing something you may find useful to pass along or use with clients.

A lot of people struggle with whether what they went through “counts” as trauma — especially when there wasn’t a single, obvious event or when their reactions feel confusing or hard to justify. That uncertainty often shows up as anxiety, self-doubt, or hesitation about therapy itself.

This checklist is designed to help people think through trauma exposure in a clear, non-pathologizing way, without forcing labels or conclusions. I’ve found it helpful for clients who need language and structure before they can make sense of what they’re experiencing.

If it’s useful in your work, feel free to share or use it with clients:

👉

Wondering if what you went through counts as trauma? You're not alone! Get clarity: free validating, women-centered trauma checklist.

02/02/2026

Trauma recovery isn’t about mindset hacks or toxic positivity. It’s about facing the truth in a way that feels safe, structured, and supportive.

If you’ve felt dismissed by therapists who don’t understand trauma, you’re not alone. I specialize in Cognitive Processing Therapy, an evidence-based treatment designed specifically for PTSD and trauma-related symptoms.

This work is deep—but it’s also incredibly freeing.

📍Online trauma therapy in MA, VT, VA, IL, and FL
📞 Contact me to schedule a consultation

01/29/2026

Intake often feels heavier than it should.

Not because clinicians don’t know trauma theory — but because most of us were never taught how to think through trauma at intake, when information is incomplete and the pressure to “do the right thing” is high.

I was asked to record a short video explaining why trauma-informed intake so often breaks down, what clinicians are actually holding at that stage, and why structure matters more than speed.

This isn’t a technique talk or a checklist. It’s about decision-making, scope, and why intake uncertainty is a systems issue — not a clinician failure.

If you’re doing intakes and find yourself wondering:

• how much to ask

• what to name (or not name) yet

• how to pace trauma safely

• how to protect both your client and yourself

this will likely resonate.

▶️ Watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XiaoXteGrg

I’ll also be teaching a 1-hour training that builds on this thinking and walks through the full trauma-informed intake framework for clinicians who want more structure.

Brief overview on the impact of a trauma informed intake process on clinical outcomes, client retention and practice KPI's. Presented by Cassie McCarthy, LIC...

01/29/2026

You don’t have to justify your pain. If your birth experience left you scared, dismissed, or emotionally overwhelmed, that’s trauma—even if everything “looked fine” on paper.

I specialize in working with women navigating birth trauma, IVF stress, and postpartum PTSD.

Together, we’ll help your nervous system settle, release what your body’s been holding, and create space for real healing.

📍Licensed in MA, VT, VA, IL, and FL
💬 Online sessions available—message to learn more

01/27/2026

A lot of people experience dissociation, depersonalization, or feeling unreal — and immediately assume it means something is “wrong” with them.

What often gets missed is a different question entirely:

Does what I went through actually count as trauma?

Many people live with real nervous-system symptoms while minimizing their experiences because:
- there was no single “big” event
- it wasn’t violent or obvious
- other people seemed to handle it fine

That disconnect creates a lot of self-doubt.

I recently wrote about why dissociation and feeling unreal are often protective responses, not signs of weakness or pathology.

If that resonated, the next helpful step isn’t coping harder — it’s understanding whether your experiences involved threat, loss of safety, or powerlessness in ways that your nervous system had to adapt to.

I created a short checklist to help people think through that question clearly, without pathologizing or minimizing themselves.

👉 Does This Count as Trauma? (free checklist)
https://cassiemccarthy.com/trauma-checklist-for-women/

Clarity often comes before healing — and you don’t have to figure this out alone.

Wondering if what you went through counts as trauma? You're not alone! Get clarity: free validating, women-centered trauma checklist.

01/26/2026

A lot of adults describe feeling foggy, disconnected, or unreal — and assume it means something is wrong with them.

Most are told it’s anxiety.
Many are told to ground harder or regulate more.

But experiences like dissociation, depersonalization, and derealization are often protective threat responses, not pathology.

When we mislabel them, we miss what the nervous system is actually doing — and people end up blaming themselves for a response that once kept them safe.

I wrote a deeper piece on:
• what these states actually are
• why they develop
• and what helps (and what often doesn’t)

If this has ever resonated with you — personally or professionally — the article is here 👇

When Feeling “Unreal” Isn’t Anxiety — It’s a Protective Response Many adults describe feeling foggy, disconnected, emotionally numb, or like they’re watching their life from the outside. They say things like: “I don’t feel real.

01/26/2026

Toxic, abusive, or emotionally neglectful relationships can leave lasting scars—even if they ended years ago.

Whether you were manipulated, gaslit, or made to feel small, it can be hard to trust again. Harder still to trust yourself.

I help women untangle the mental and emotional aftermath of relationship trauma using evidence-based therapy (CPT) that’s structured, supportive, and trauma-informed.

📍Available in MA, VT, VA, IL, and FL
💻 Online sessions
📞 Reach out to talk through what’s next