Cassidy Martin ’25MSW is a clinical social worker for the R.O.O.T.S. program, an initiative of the Gardner Athol Area Mental Health Association (GAAMHA) that supports adolescents and young adults facing challenges related to mental health and substance use.
Located at Evergreen Grove, a 115-acre therapeutic farm and livestock rescue program in Gardner, Massachusetts, the program integrates animal care activities, equine-assisted therapy, and nature and arts projects.
Martin works one-on-one with clients ages 12 to 24 who are seeking therapy. She has a particular interest in working with kids who are neurodiverse or part of the LGBTQ+ community.
Across these varied therapeutic plans, she explains, the goal is “to help my clients find their inner strength and the resources that are available to them.”
Choosing the Simmons MSW Program
In 2022, Martin graduated from Angelo State University in West Texas, where she received a BS in psychology with a minor in education. She came to Simmons for its rich history as the first clinical social work program in the country.
“I appreciated its longstanding reputation,” she says. Interested in becoming a therapist for children and teens, she liked that Simmons required more internship hours than other programs. Another strength of its rigorous curriculum, she notes, was the in-class simulations with actors.
“I was drawn to the program’s unique aspects,” she says. “I felt like I would graduate very prepared.”
Preparing for Social Work Career at Simmons
After recently moving across the country, Martin discovered a welcoming learning environment at Simmons.
“There was a strong sense of camaraderie,” she explains. “We were all there to share and question what was important and impactful.”
In her placements and current role, she gained critical knowledge and skills from specialized courses on understanding suicide, attachment and neurobiology, play therapy, and crisis intervention for children and adolescents.
For her first internship, Martin worked at King Open School, an elementary school in Cambridge, where she counseled students and collaborated on social-emotional learning lessons and a school-wide project on kindness. Her second internship was at Family Resource Associates, a private agency that provides therapy and other mental health services to individuals and families.
Throughout the program, Martin observed that professors encouraged students “to learn through listening and to be open to growth and change.” She now applies this self-reflective outlook to her practice.
Making an Impact
“We can get caught up in the go-go-go of society, and that can affect how kids are feeling,” Martin says.
“Helping them to feel heard and seen and understood is a meaningful impact of this work,” she says. “My clients often just need that extra support to reassure them that they are good in this world.”