Today we’d like to introduce you to Crystal Joseph.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
Absolutely. My story is both intentional and unexpected. I didn’t begin PsycYourMind with a business plan on my desk—I began with a belief that therapy should reflect culture, community, and humanity. In 2015, I acquired the “poor man’s” copyright of the logo, which I sketched at 3am. Today, PsycYourMind is federally trademarked. In 2016, I received my approval for clinical licensure to practice counseling. When I started my private practice, I was juggling the disappointment of getting a good [local] government job and the curiosity of what entrepreneurship could look like. This feeling was compounded by the weight of my clients’ stories, the responsibilities of business ownership, and the invisible pressures that come with being a Black woman in America.
In my first book, PoundCake & Private Practice: 5 Things I Learned During My First Year (2018), I talk about those early lessons that shaped me. One of the most important was understanding that the therapist hat and the business hat both have to be worn at the same time. I couldn’t just provide care—I had to also figure out leases, paperwork, finances, and branding. Another lesson was that boundaries are non-negotiable, which I’m discussing further in the upcoming third book. Protecting my energy meant I could continue showing up fully for clients navigating cancer, burnout, anxiety, and life’s transitions.
There were moments of doubt, of course. In the second book, PoundCake & Private Practice: 5 Things I Learned During the Pandemic (2022), I wrote about how I had to learn the difference between being busy and being effective. That lesson helped me scale. I also learned to build community over competition — bringing in interns, collaborating with other clinicians, and creating pathways for the next generation of therapists.
Almost ten years later, as I reconfigure the practice, PsycYourMind is more than a private practice. It’s a place where therapy meets culture, where millennial and Gen-X Black professionals, entrepreneurs, and families know they can be fully seen. It’s also a training ground for future therapists and a platform for me to advocate nationally on mental health issues.
So, how did I get here? By refusing to separate the personal from the professional. By holding on to those first-year lessons. And by trusting that “leaving you feeling better at minute 60, than minute one” is not just a tagline — it’s a necessity.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Definitely not smooth—and honestly, I don’t think entrepreneurship can be. In PoundCake & Private Practice: 5 Things I Learned During the Pandemic, I try to unearth this sentiment. Smooth is a myth; the work is in learning how to breathe through the bumps. The pandemic was the clearest example of that for me.
One of the biggest struggles was balancing client needs with my own humanity. At one point, I was holding space for people who were grieving, unemployed, or caring for sick family members—all while navigating my own fears and responsibilities. That season forced me to re-learn boundaries and redefine what sustainable care looked like.
Another struggle was uncertainty with business flow. Referrals began to verge on inconsistent toward the fall of 2023, insurance rules kept shifting, and there were nights I wondered if my practice could survive. But in those same pages, I talk about how resilience doesn’t always look like thriving — sometimes it looks like resting, regrouping, and trying again tomorrow.
Finally, I faced the weight of representation. Being a Black woman therapist and business owner meant people expected me to show up flawlessly, even in a pandemic. In reality, what helped me endure was leaning into transparency: letting my interns, my colleagues, and my clients know that growth and imperfection coexist.
So no—the road hasn’t been smooth. But those struggles shaped a practice that is pliable, more compassionate, and more deeply rooted in community than I ever imagined when I started.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
PsycYourMind was born out of both necessity and conviction. As a licensed psychotherapist, supervisor, and advocate, I wanted to create a space that wasn’t just about “therapy as usual,” but about therapy for the culture. We specialize in supporting Black millennials, Gen X, and entrepreneurs navigating everything from anxiety and burnout to the grief of cancer diagnoses and systemic stressors that don’t disappear once you leave the therapy room.
What sets us apart is our multi-layered mission. Yes, we provide direct therapy—individual, couples, family, and group. But PsycYourMind, is also a teaching practice, training the next generation of counselors, many of whom come from diverse backgrounds or are career changers stepping into this field later in life. I’m proud that we’ve been a recognized internship site since 2017, and that our interns leave with not just hours but actual readiness for clinical practice.
Brand-wise, I’m most proud of our authenticity. We don’t water down mental health to make it palatable; we translate it so that people feel seen and heard in their whole humanity. Whether that means pulling from music, art, or cultural references, or naming the realities of systemic barriers—our work resonates because it is unapologetically real.
I also want readers to know that PsycYourMind operates with both heart and sustainability. We shifted to private pay in 2024 to preserve the integrity of the services we provide. That decision allows us to advocate fiercely for clients and clinicians without insurance companies dictating the care people deserve.
At our core, PsycYourMind is about legacy and impact. At almost ten years in, we’ve touched hundreds of lives, trained dozens of clinicians, and expanded the conversation about what healing looks like for communities too often overlooked. That’s what makes us different. We don’t just practice therapy, we live it forward.
Is there anyone you’d like to thank or give credit to?
I don’t believe you build anything of substance alone. Every step of PsycYourMind’s journey has been held up by people who poured into me and the vision. If I name names I’d get in trouble as I don’t want to leave anyone out, so I’ll go high level.
My clients—past and present and those no longer with us—trusted me with their stories, and that trust sharpened my clinical voice and made me a better therapist.
My interns and residents challenged me to stay fresh, to teach what I know but also to evolve. The fact that so many of them are now licensed, running their own practices, and creating community work of their own is proof that supervision is legacy work.
I also give credit to my peers and colleagues who’ve cheered me on when I questioned myself, and to my spiritual and professional mentors who reminded me that it’s okay to run a business with both strategy and heart.
My husband and my family—who may not understand the clinical jargon—but made space for me to keep going when the weight of building got heavy.
PsycYourMind is not just me; it’s the collective energy of clients, students, colleagues, and community. They kept me accountable, they kept me humble, and they kept me moving forward.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.psycyourmind.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thereal_psycyourmind/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/psycyourmindandpoundcake/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@psycyourmind
