I believe healing is possible. I believe growth is possible. And I believe that no matter what you've been through, it's never too late to rewrite your story and create a life that feels deeply
connected, authentic, and free.
Before becoming a therapist in my thirties, I spent years traveling across seas and building a life across several different careers. Those experiences and my work as a therapist have taught me that there is rarely only one right way to live, love, grieve, belong, or begin again. People often carry private pain behind public strength. What may look like resistance is often protection, and beneath our differences, most of us long to be seen without having to perform for love. Healing is rarely about becoming someone new; it is often about returning to the parts of ourselves we had to leave behind in order to survive. I believe people can change when they feel safe enough to tell the truth, that compassion can reach places insight alone cannot, and that even the patterns that cause us pain often began as attempts to protect ourselves.
I am deeply passionate and devoted to my work of therapy.
I'm someone who loves deeply, feels deeply, and lives life fully. I'm an extrovert, and a firm believer in following what lights you up. I'm endlessly inspired by the work of Brené Brown, spirituality, Eastern philosophy, mindfulness, yoga, dance, and the quiet wisdom found in nature. I believe in slowing down enough to listen to ourselves, trusting our intuition, and co-creating a life that feels aligned, meaningful, and expansive.
When I'm not in the therapy room, you'll find me barefooted in the garden, water-coloring, dancing, spending time with friends and family - backpacking through the mountains, hiking, cycling, rock climbing, paddle boarding... adventures that connect me to nature and remind me of this precious gift of being alive.
All these experiences shape the way I show up as a therapist: with warmth, wonder, hope, belief, and a deep reverence for the beautifully messy, heartbreaking, and extraordinary experience of being human.
therapist, MS, AMFT
Cassandra (Marie) Amantite
About Me
(She/Her)
- De La Rosa Psychoherapy: Currently working as a Registered Associate MFT #165176 supervised by a Licensed MFT at delarosapsychotherapists.com
- Clinical Training at Kaiser Permanente Counseling Center- trained and provided therapy services to patients in-person and virtually at Kaiser in Petaluma, CA
- Active Member of RECAMFT Chapter of CAMFT -Sonoma County's California Association of Marriage Family Therapists
Experience
- Masters of Science (MS) in Mental Health Counseling - Kaiser Permanente School of Allied Health Sciences (KPSAHS)
- Internal Family Systems Therapy Core Skills Training - Completed through PESI with Stacy Ruse, LPC.
- Internal Family Systems Shame Training - completed from Tatra De La Rosa, LMFT at De La Rosa Psychotherapists
- Emotionally Focused Therapy for Couples Course - Through PESI with Dr. Sue Johnson
Current Training:
- Internal Family Systems Trauma Treatment Training- Through PESI with Frank Anderson, MD
- Perfectionism Recovery Specialist Certificate Training - Through PESI with Dr. Martin Antony, ABPP | Dr. Clarissa Ong | Deanna Smith, LCSW, CEDS
- Boundaries Specialist Certificate Course: For People-Pleasers, Over-Givers, or Clients Stuck in Toxic Relationships: Through PESI with Juliane Taylor Shore, LMFT, Nedra Glover Tawwab, LCSW, Nancy Johnston, MS, LPC
- Women's Mental Health Specialist Certificate: Through PESI with Lauren Mizock, PhD, Kristine Spano, PsyD, Lisa Tremayne, RN, Sunita Osborn, PsyD, + more
- Therapeutic Yoga for Trauma Recovery Training: Somatic, Movement, & Polyvagal Techniques - Through PESI with Dr. Arielle Schwartz
- Somatic Therapy for Complex Trauma Certification Training: Body-Based, Polyvagal & Neurobiological Techniques for Mind-Body Healing - Through PESI with Arielle Schwartz, PhD, Abi Blakeslee, PhD, LMFT, Janina Fisher, PhD, Raja Selvam, PhD
- Integrative Mental Health Certification Course: Treating Client's WHOLE Health (Nutrition, Gut, Brain, Mind-Body, Cultural & Environmental) - Though PESI with Colleen Burns, LMHC, Catherine Darley, ND, Judson Brewer, MD, PhD, Anne Procyk, ND
- Emotionally Focused Individual Therapy (EFIT) Level 1 Certificate Course - Through PESI with Dr. Sue Johnson and Dr. Leanne Campbell
- Certified Mindfulness-Informed Therapist - Completed through PESI with Dr, Richard Sears, PsyD, PhD
Education / Training
Credentials & Training
Before becoming a therapist in my thirties, I spent years traveling across seas and building a life across several different careers. 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.
MS, AMFT
Therapist & Human
Read more about IFS >
INTERNAL FAMILY SYSTEMS (IFS) / PARTS WORK
My approach is trauma-informed, holistic, and deeply personalized. I draw from multiple evidence-based approaches and weave them together in a way that honors the whole of who you are: mind, body, heart, and soul. I'm genuine, warm, and deeply compassionate. I'll laugh with you, sit in the hard moments with you, and gently challenge you when it's time.
My Therapy Approach
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, 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; 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.
1:1 individual therapy & couples therapy
My Therapy Style & Philosophy
https://therapyfinder.com/therapist/cassandra-amantite-amft-santa-rosa-ca
https://therapyfinder.com/therapist/cassandra-amantite-amft-santa-rosa-ca
Simple Practice