Crystal Thomas (she/her)

Hi! I’m Crystal Thomas (she/her).

As we grow and develop as humans, we often find ourselves confronted by issues from the past – issues we may have thought long-resolved. These issues can manifest in our relationship dynamics, our perceptions about ourselves, and our means of coping with our environment. My role is to join you in confronting these things so that you can integrate and learn the lessons these past experiences are meant to teach you. In our work together, you are the expert. You decide what your experiences mean and how they impact the person you are. Along the way, I will ask you questions designed to introduce new perspectives and to remind you of your strengths and abilities.

In my practice, which is still growing every day, I utilize a relational lens to examine how individuals carry their earliest experiences with them all their lives. However, I believe it is important to actively move away from a deterministic view of human development. I want to give you a safe space in which you can find and make meaning around your experiences at your own pace. I am also fundamentally a Queer therapist, and I believe that any problem can be understood by analyzing power dynamics and differentials, whether in an individual person, a family, a community, or a society.

I have found that one of my gifts is in putting into words ideas that are difficult to articulate, as well as speaking, with gentleness and love, about things that are typically considered “unspeakable.” I am here to sit with you and your darkest thoughts and feelings, and to remind you, every step of the way, that you are worthy of love and care.

In addition to looking to the past for understanding, I am interested in helping you to cope in the here-and-now. In this aspect of the work, I am inspired by strategies of 3rd wave CBT – particularly Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Dialectical Behavioral Therapy. In my personal life as well as my work, I find there is enormous power in radical acceptance. In accepting what is, we lay the groundwork for change, both on the individual level as well as the wider systemic level. In accepting the contradictions that exist in the world as well as in our own minds, we can more effectively choose a course of action to carry us toward our goals. When we let go of the way things “should be,” we are better equipped to do what we need to do to make the world what it should be.

In my career, I have gotten to know clients who take great comfort from marking their progress in therapy through concrete tasks. They present as students of their own mind, eager for homework and readings and fascinated by the science of themselves. I have also known clients who approach their therapy on a gut-level, exploring themselves through the therapeutic relationship we build together. Every client is unique, and I believe that a good therapist can meet anyone where they’re at. I look forward to getting to know you!

Things that bring me joy

Time with my spouse, friends, cats; cooking and baking, reading; road trips.

Education

Master of Arts from University of Chicago

Focus: Social Services Administration

Bachelors of Arts from Lyon College

Focus: Psychology

 Licensure

Licensed Clinical Social Worker, State of Illinois

License number: (149021723)

Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker, District of Columbia

License number: LC200001824

Payment & Insurance Accepted

Locations

Crystal welcomes and serves clients for online therapy from anywhere in Illinois and Washington, D.C. Clients from the Chicagoland area may choose in-office or online therapy and usually commute from surrounding areas such as River North, West Loop, Gold Coast, Old Town, Lincoln Park, Lake View, Rogers Park Logan Square, Pilsen, Bridgeport, Little Village, Bronzeville, South Shore, Hyde Park, Back of the Yards, Wicker Park, Bucktown and many more.