Dr Cassie Lavell

Cassie (she/her) is a clinical psychologist and co-director at CAO. She completed her Masters of Clinical Psychology at Griffith University in 2015 and her PhD in Clinical Psychology at Macquarie University in 2024. During her studies, she completed and published research in the areas of OCD and body dysmorphic disorder (BDD).

Cassie is passionate about providing evidence-based treatments for people with anxiety disorders, OCD, BDD, body-focused repetitive behaviours (BFRBs) and tic disorders. She works from a neurodiversity-affirming perspective to support neurodivergent young people with co-occurring anxiety, OCD and related concerns.

Cassie is experienced in providing intensive cognitive-behavioural treatments (CBT) for OCD and anxiety in young people. She has a special interest in treating BDD, and her PhD researched risk factors and treatment approaches for BDD in adolescents.

She is trained in various CBT interventions, including exposure with response prevention (ERP) and inference-based cognitive behavioural therapy (I-CBT) for treating OCD.

Cassie shows enthusiasm and commitment towards her clients and their families. She is skilled at supporting her clients to develop self-compassion while challenging their fears. She aims to help young people become “the boss” of their anxiety so that they can get more enjoyment from life.