About Crystal Broussard
PhD, LCSW, LICSW, LCSW-C | Online Therapist
You Can Bring Your Challenges Here
Your life got rearranged by something you didn't choose and you're carrying the hardest parts where nobody can see them.
Maybe you're living with a diagnosis that reshaped your days and underneath the appointments and the test results there's a fear you don't say out loud. Maybe you're the one taking care of an aging parent, watching your own life narrow down to what's possible between obligations.
Or perhaps it's your relationship, one that's strained under the weight of all of it, or the two of you are just stuck in the same fight with no idea how you got here. Whatever brought you, you've gotten good at looking fine on the outside while something much heavier sits underneath.
You can put the brave face down here
Most of the people I work with find their way back to feeling like a whole person again, not just a patient or a caregiver or one half of a struggling couple. They get a place for the fear and the grief and the anger and they leave a little steadier in the life they have.
My Journey To Becoming A Therapist
I Was The Person They Could Finally Be Honest With
I spent years sitting with people in intensive care units, on telemetry floors, and in hospice rooms, with patients and the families who loved them, during the hardest stretch any of them had ever faced. What I noticed over and over is that when everyone in the room loves each other and is trying to be strong for each other, there's often no room left for the scariest, most honest stuff: the fear, the "I'm not sure I want to keep going through this," the "I'm so tired."
There's a lot of warrior language around serious illness, a whole script about battling and staying positive that can leave people with nowhere to put what they feel. Somehow I became the person it felt safe to say those things to. I think it's because I'm a bright, warm, fairly loud human, which turns out to be exactly what makes it okay to hand me the heavy stuff. I'd sit with the patient and the family and hold whatever needed holding, no fixing, no rushing anybody toward “brave.”
What I believe, after all of it, is that it's not how many heartbeats you have, it's the quality of them. That conviction is what I bring into the room with you. You can say the thing you haven't been able to say out loud anywhere else, the fear you've been carrying by yourself, the part that doesn't sound brave or grateful. I won't flinch and I won't try to talk you out of it.
You Get Someone Who Counts It A Privilege To Be Here
When someone lets me in, they're letting down a gate they keep up with almost everyone else. People protect the thing they're most afraid of and when they decide to set it down in front of me, I know I'm standing on sacred ground. It still feels like a damn privilege every single time.
The part that keeps me doing this is
watching what happens next
The part that keeps me doing this is watching what happens next. I get to see people overcome things that have weighed on them for years, sometimes decades. I get to watch someone find their own footing again, on their own terms, and decide what a meaningful life looks like from where they're standing. I believe deeply in the power of the person sitting across from me and getting to witness them step into it is the best part of my job.
I'm A Real Person In The Room, Not A Blank Slate
I have a unique ability to:
People who know me say I'm authentic, relational, and pretty casual about it. I never wear shoes in session and there's usually tinsel in my hair. I'm not going to just sit there nodding along. I'll laugh with you, I'll probably swear, and when something is genuinely shitty I'll call it shitty instead of dressing it up.
If getting on the floor where we don't have to make eye contact helps you talk, then that's what we'll do. You won't get handed a worksheet and a verdict about what's wrong with you. We figure out together what helps and we keep what works.
My Professional Background
At a glance
Name
Crystal Broussard, PhD, LCSW, LICSW, LCSW-C
Licenses
Degrees
Sessions
Training & Certifications
Modalities
Decades of Experience
Supporting People Through Illness, Caregiving, and Life’s Hardest Transitions
I've spent twenty-three years in medical social work, in intensive care and telemetry units, in hospice, and on hospital ethics committees where families and care teams sort through the hardest decisions there are. My PhD work focused on end-of-life care and my doctoral research was funded by the American Cancer Society. Before private practice I taught at three universities and directed a master's program in social work and I still teach an end-of-life doula certificate program for clinicians who want to do this work well.
These days I see adults, couples, and families online, across all ten states where I'm licensed. In a session, I lean on what I've learned over two decades about illness, caregiving, and what people need when their life has been reorganized by their health. I bring options rather than orders and we sort out together which ones fit your life. The couples work draws primarily on the Gottman Method, with other approaches mixed in as the relationship in front of me needs them.
FAQ
Common Questions Before We Start
What does a first session with you look like?
Like all my sessions, it runs about 75 minutes. We'll get acquainted, I'll walk you through how I work and a few practice policies, and we'll start to map out what you're carrying and what you want to be different. Mostly it's a chance to feel what it's like to talk to me.
Do you meet online or in person?
Everything is online, from wherever you're comfortable, across all ten states where I'm licensed.
Do you take insurance?
I'm private pay only, so I don't bill insurance directly.
How long do people usually work with you?
It varies but a lot of clients work with me for somewhere around four to six months. Some stay longer and some come back for check-ins when they need them.
Feel Steadier In The
Life You Have
Free 15-Minute Consultation
If you want one place where you can put the brave face down and say what's actually going on, let's talk. Book a free 15-minute consultation and we'll talk through what's been weighing on you and what you'd like to feel instead.