Mentoring

APPROACH

I am holistic in my mentoring style. That is, my mentoring considers all aspects of my mentee as a person including their values, background, interests, and future goals both personally and professionally. I believe in collaborative mentoring where the mentor and mentee share power and access to resources with the aim of helping the mentee reach their goals. In practice, this often looks like developing independent training plans with mentees that are revisited in on a regular basis. I find that this approach facilitates open communication and normalizes that goals can and do change. I encourage individual meetings as well as group meetings in order to facilitate information sharing and collaboration among team members. I also use scaffolding whereby I provide more guidance and support upfront and gradually reduce this as trainees build their skills and become more confident. When working with mentees, it’s important for me to guide them in applying for grants and travel awards as well as facilitate networking. As I have stood on the shoulders of those who came before me, so do I allow my mentees to stand on my shoulders.

Review from past mentee: “Cassie was a terrific graduate supervisor to me. Cassie not only helped me navigate the scary world of applying to graduate school, but Cassie continually challenged me to think through conceptual and theoretical issues related to addiction. Cassie was open, honest, and caring. Cassie approached being a graduate supervisor with respect to my time, commitments, and responsibilities, while also holding me accountable for a strong work ethic in the lab.”

Additional reviews from past mentees can be found here.

CURRENT AND PAST MENTEES

Current

  • None

Past

  • McKenna Treece (2019–2020). Masters student in Counseling at University of Missouri Kansas City. 
  • Sydney Rapp (2018–2020). Undergraduate at the University of Missouri with anticipated graduation of December 2020.
  • Natalie Gatten (2018–2020). Undergraduate at the University of Missouri.
  • Dafne Huacuz (2019–2020). Masters student in Industrial Organizational Psychology at Texas A&M University. 
  • Adam Arand (2019–2020). Undergraduate at the University of Missouri.
  • Chelsea Basore (2020–2020). Bachelor’s degree in Business from the University of Missouri. Planning to pursue graduate studies in Industrial/Organizational psychology. 
  • Stella Peters (2018–2020). Undergraduate at the University of Missouri. Anticipated graduation May 2021 with bachelor’s degrees in Psychology and English. 
  • Tsoi Tran (2019). Undergraduate at the University of Missouri.
  • Jordan Petronella (2019). Undergraduate at the University of Missouri.
  • Jennifer Gray (2018). Bachelor’s degree from the University of Missouri. Beginning Masters of Social Work program at the University of Missouri Kansas City in Fall 2020. 
  • Jack Waddell (2017–2018). Clinical Psychology PhD student at Arizona State University.
  • Ariel (Shifter) Zhu (2014–2015). Masters in Health Services Administration from the University of Kansas Medical Center currently working as an Administrative Fellow at Children’s Hospital, Colorado.
  • Taylor Green (2014). Last known position was at Fulton State Hospital in Fulton, MO as a Forensic Rehabilitation Specialist.
  • Alicia Dunajcik (2014). Pursuing a Masters of Public Health in Epidemiology.
  • Yifang Zeng (2014). Current position unknown.