Meet Stephanie Broadnax Broussard

Today we’d like to introduce you to Stephanie Broadnax Broussard.

Stephanie, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
For as long as I can remember, I have had a love for helping others. As a young girl, I would advocate and support people who were in need. I experienced and overcame several major life transitions and watched my mother, who is also a social worker, overcome adversity while supporting and protecting children. I spent a vast majority of my time growing up at the bedside of the sick and helping those in need; serving in some capacity. I also noticed early on that people would talk to me and share things with me, even unsolicited at times. I had no idea that those experiences would be the framework that helped to cultivate my desire to be present and help those walk through what can appear as the most difficult season in their lives. I help people navigate through the most difficult life transitions. I love serving all kinds of people. I support trauma victims, individuals trying to find their way, those fighting to overcome depression and anxiety, teenagers, those on a grief journey, etc.

But, I would like to share how I found a special piece in my purpose puzzle as an Advanced Certified Hospice Palliative Care Social Worker and now Licensed Clinical Social Worker who provides therapy services as a private practitioner. My love for end of life care came unexpectedly. As a medical social worker I often had to have difficult conversations with patients and their families about choosing the right level of care. About five years ago, a colleague shared with me how natural I was at having the tough conversations, but also being supportive. I had experience in hospice and just made the correlation. I thought all social workers were good at it. I was grateful but also dismissed her compliments. Then, shortly after, I was attending a training on advanced care planning and the light bulb went off. I was listening to other clinicians guide us through exploring end of life choices for our patients and I knew that was what I wanted to do. I knew I wanted to give hope in what appeared to be a hopeless situation and help people understand that quality living could be possible in the face of dying. I found my space, my niche, and my career and life has changed for the better.

Great, 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?
I would love to say it has, but that wouldn’t even be optimism, that would be a lie. There are a few key pieces that came together perfectly: joining an amazing team to help develop a Palliative Care Program for an Independent Physicians Association (my employer), connecting with LaToya of LCS, and being named to the Board of Directors of Care and Prepare to name a few.

As I have worked towards developing private practice and creating a lane that I haven’t seen before, I have reached some resistance.

One of the major challenges I have encountered is the lack of understanding. There is such a misunderstanding in our communities that when you say you want to talk about End of Life, most people reject it because we act like death isn’t a part of living. So in many of the settings where I would like to educate, people reject my message without even attempting to hear it.

They completely ignore that the goal is to live well, and that means ensuring that even if you are dying you still live a quality life, and that can’t happen if conversations never happen and we don’t equip ourselves and our families with the tools necessary.

The 2nd challenge is that there isn’t a model to follow. Most Licensed Clinical Social Workers who provide clinical interventions and therapy related to end of life provide those within a medical model, as I do from 9-5. With that, a major challenge is funding. Community education and providing the therapy services I am able to do, but working on a payment model that doesn’t conflict with the hospice benefit or other services, has proven to be very difficult. To date, it’s continuing to evolve and I am certain it will work itself out.

I am Stephanie BB and LCS Counseling and Consulting Agency – what should we know? What do you do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
I am my business. I am StephanieBB. I am a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Therapist, A Motivational Speaker, and an Educator.

This past year I have been working to take the education and support that Palliative Care provides outside of the confines of medical settings. Sometimes we need more support than what our physician can give us in explaining our circumstances, helping us emotionally process and plan to move forward. Illness impacts the entire family, and many services only provide support to the patient. I wanted to bring everything that I loved about the Social Work role in an interdisciplinary team, add a Clinical Therapeutic component, and place it in a private practice setting where it could be accessible for those interested.

I am passionate about helping people navigate the complexities of life.

Earlier this year, I joined LCS Counseling and Consulting Agency with the goal of expanding my reach and it has been an amazing experience. Working with other skilled clinicians who are committed to helping empower others has been enlightening and inspiring.

I have also made it my mission to help educate others about the importance of Advance Care Planning and changing the narrative about End of Life. Care and Prepare, a Non-Profit organization, has been an amazing outlet and vehicle for creating opportunities to continue this work.

I also have a Youtube and Instagram (@IamStephanieBB) that I use as virtual vehicles for my message of Living Full.

What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
I would have to say I have two. The proudest professional moment to date had to be stepping out in faith to start Private Practice, not certain if I would get any clients or if anyone would be interested in my services. I have been completely full since the week I began seeing clients. Literally felt like God was saying… “I told you so!” LOL

The 2nd moment was my team (at my current full-time employer) being Selected to share our current model for Palliative Care for the Center to Advance Palliative Care. It has been an amazing journey to see that all the effort and desire to make an impact was acknowledged on a national level.

Contact Info:

• Address: 1751 River Run, Suite 2oo Fort Worth, TX 76107
• Website: IamStephanieBB.com
• Phone: 682.220.9890
• Email: stephaniebbroussard@gmail.com
• Instagram: @IamStephanieBB
• Twitter: @iamStephanieBB
• Other: www.lcscac.com

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