Helping Families Cope and Find Joy

Cassi McCants, Psy.D., believes in the power of helping families build structures that lead to better futures. As a psychology fellow at Children’s National during the last year, she split her time between our Early Childhood Behavioral Health Program at our Takoma Theatre location and our neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).

At Takoma, she provided therapy to help children process trauma and overcome behavioral challenges, such as angry outbursts or cooperation related to daily tasks, sometimes over a span of 30 weeks. She focused on teaching skills that become building blocks and problem-solving tools kids will use throughout their lives.

She also helps parents advocate for their children at school, working directly with teachers to help them better understand a student’s needs. “Families are often relieved that their child’s behavior has improved,” says Dr. McCants, “The best part for me is seeing positive changes in the family’s relationships.”

In the NICU, she provided immediate support to new mothers who screened as high risk for perinatal mood and anxiety disorders, particularly postpartum depression. Not long ago, she worked with a mom whose newborn coded, or nearly died, 4 times in 5 days. “I helped her manage her feelings and stress enough so that she could go home for a shower and return in the right mindset,” Dr. McCants says. She also helped another mother who delivered prematurely during a 2-day work trip to our region. Her baby needed care in our NICU for four months, creating significant geographic barriers to the mother’s support network.

Dr. McCants is now a full-time psychologist, spending part of her time working in our Developing Brain Institute. There, she performs ongoing developmental assessments of babies who had abnormal scans in utero. “It’s about helping parents do their best during stressful times, enabling families to discover joy in their children and getting the earliest start to ensuring a child can be successful as a whole,” she says.