Today we’d like to introduce you to Amanda Cassil.
Hi Amanda, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I fell in love with psychology when I was in college. The compassionate exploration of what drives human behavior, particularly how people respond to hardship, resonated deeply with me. Learning that we can have agency in our lives, despite how much is outside of our control, gave me a sense of hope and purpose. I wanted to understand more, and to help others find their own paths of healing and empowerment.
I entered graduate school with the goal of becoming a professor. But as I completed my clinical placements each year, my interest in academia waned and a passion for therapy grew. The personal relationships fostered in one-on-one therapy brought the abstract concepts of academic psychology to life. It’s deeply satisfying to walk alongside someone experiencing something profoundly hard. And in that struggle, to help clients find hope and make active choices toward growth.
Most of my pre-licensed training took place in university counseling centers and it was here that I discovered my passion for supporting people working in STEM fields. I soon became a licensed psychologist, worked briefly in university counseling centers, and quickly moved into full-time private practice, where I work primarily with women and underrepresented minorities in STEM fields. I truly love the work that I do and consider myself incredibly lucky to support my clients and help them build lives they want to live. It was a long 12-year journey of education and training to get to the real start of my career, but now at 11 years into private practice, there’s nowhere else I’d rather be.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
If it had been a smooth road, I would not have grown as much as I have throughout my career. Each failure, each disruption, each challenge has brought with it a process of unlearning, reevaluating, and rebuilding. It’s exhausting. It’s hard. But given the choice, I would not remove these struggles, because they make me kinder, more humble, and more gracious—all traits I hope to keep deepening in life.
A few key challenges come to mind, the first is working while going to school. From high school through graduate school, I worked one to two jobs alongside taking classes. I was usually busy from the first thing in the morning to late at night—working, studying, attending classes, researching, writing, ugh. The concept of “rest” was sadly foreign to me. I worked all kinds of jobs: cashier, server, camp counselor, housekeeper, nanny, customer service rep, administrative assistant, editor—it’s hard to remember them all, but each one taught me a lot about who I want to be as a professional, about people management, and about running a business.
The second challenge was learning how to navigate a supervisor with inappropriate boundaries. It was profoundly stressful. I learned so much about how and when to advocate for myself, the value of pushing back when authority is being misused, and the importance of understanding the contexts and systems that we function within. As horrible as this experience was, it helped me develop tools to support many clients through their own toxic work environments. Because unfortunately, abusive work environments are common.
Third, during my early career in private practice, I faced a host of confusing and complicated medical problems and my world became quite small. This experience forced me to slow down, and to reevaluate what values and priorities guide my life choices, how ablism permeates work and healthcare, and where to commit my limited resources. My health journey has brought clarity to how I run my business. It is a helpful reminder of how it feels to be a patient and why it is important for me to be present and engaged as a provider.
As you know, we’re big fans of STEM Psychological Services. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
I started STEM Psychological Services to support women and underrepresented minorities in STEM fields (science, technology, engineering, math). These careers are profoundly demanding and competitive, so many people benefit from support—whether it’s related to their careers or to navigating life alongside such a consuming pursuit. My clients tend to value their career as a key part of their identity, value actionable steps in therapy, and actively seek growth. As a part of this specialty, I also work with highly sensitive people, neurodivergence, and chronic illness.
In addition to therapy, I enjoy providing research-informed education to the general population, because not everyone has access to therapy. These services include workshops, public speaking, and consultation to professionals and providers. I am the author of two books: “The Empowered Highly Sensitive Person” and “The Self-Care Plan for the Highly Sensitive Person.” Additionally, I host the podcast “Practicing Failure with Dr. Amanda Cassil,” where I interview other professionals around their areas of expertise and how failure helps us grow.
What would you say have been one of the most important lessons you’ve learned?
My career journey has taught me the importance of having a plan while remaining open to change. I did not become the journalist/novelist I planned for in college. I did not become the professor/researcher I planned for in graduate school. And I did not become the university counseling center psychologist I planned for in my early career. But in pursuing each of those goals diligently, I came across the opportunities that brought me here. These key pivots in my journey involved long periods of reflection, questioning, and seeking insight from mentors and loved ones before making the decision to shift. Within seasons of reflection, I have learned to make space for the grief of letting go of the dreams and plans I had. Grief and gratitude are deep friends that often visit me at the same time and I wouldn’t have it any other way—they know how to balance each other well.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.stempsychology.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stempsychology/?hl=en
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drcassil
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@PracticingFailurePodcast/videos
