Geode Health

By Meredith Knight
| Photo by Candor
Pictures

Vanna Cassimere took a circuitous
route to her career in mental healthcare. Raised in a military
family, she spent her childhood in many places around the country and around
the world, even graduating from high school in Japan. Drawn toward the
medical field, she completed her undergraduate degree in hospital
administration. But it wasn’t until she found herself in New Orleans after
Hurricane Katrina and witnessed the dearth of mental health services in a
town that so desperately needed them that she realized her true
calling.

Now as a clinical social worker/therapist
with Geode Health, Vanna can provide those services to individuals struggling
with adjustment disorder, anxiety, bipolar disorder, depression, generalized
anxiety disorder, post-traumatic stress, psychosis, and schizophrenia. “I’m
passionate about guiding my clients to an improved chapter of their health
and wellness,” she said. “Because each person I see is unique with their own
personality, challenges, and struggles, I develop a unique plan specific to
each client’s needs. I’ve had success by promoting self-awareness and
empowerment as an inclusive approach to therapy.”

Vanna has benefitted from varied experiences
throughout her mental-health training. Those include an internship in an
equine therapy program and her time at Harris County Psych Center, which she
says was intense but formative exposing her to treatment teams, stellar
psychologists, and many diagnoses under one roof. Now she offers in-person
outpatient talk therapy and telehealth — often a combination of the two — for
adolescents and adults at the Geode Health Montrose Boulevard location.
Through her partnership with Geode Health, Vanna can offer talk therapy in
combination with medication management or other therapies provided by other
Geode professionals.

“Talk therapy (also known as psychotherapy)
is a personalized way to connect with a patient and help them eliminate or
control troubling symptoms so they can function better and can increase
well-being and healing,” Vanna said. Problems helped by psychotherapy include
difficulties in coping with daily life, the impact of trauma, medical
illness, loss (such as the death of a loved one), and specific mental
disorders, such as depression or anxiety. There are several different types
of psychotherapy, and some types may work better with certain problems or
issues.

Vanessa now practices out of the Geode Health
Montrose office. Geode Health was founded on the principle that mental
healthcare should be accessible, affordable, and effective. They provide
outpatient mental health services for adults and children partnering with
psychiatrists, psychologists, and therapists to deliver effective mental
health support quickly, in person or virtually, with providers that utilize
the latest in evidence-based care. Their no-wait policy means patients can
see a provider within days — not weeks — at locations across DFW, Austin, and
Houston. They’re in network with over 50 different health plans — and
counting — and 70% of their patients show improvements in their clinical
outcomes.

When not on the job, Vanna enjoys spending
time with her three-month-old and 19-month-old babies and taking cycling
classes. “It’s important to find time for yourself to unplug and unwind,” she
said.