Ellen L. Crossman grew up in Central Illinois. She came to Tennessee via Texas with her service in the Air National Guard. Middle Tennessee has been her home since 1995. She graduated from Middle Tennessee State University with her B.S. in Psychology and later with a M.Ed. in Counseling. She is dual licensed in Tennessee as both a School Counselor and a Professional Counselor.

Dr. Crossman pursued her Ph.D. at Trevecca Nazarene University in Nashville, TN which inspired her desire to integrate faith in learning. During that time, she created the counseling program for a Tennessee nonprofit, The Doors of Hope, which assists women as they reenter the community from incarceration or homelessness. She continues to maintain a clinical practice in Murfreesboro, TN.

She has served as an adjunct faculty at both Trevecca and MTSU. Prior to joining the faculty at CSU in 2024, she was teaching full-time at Tennessee Tech University. Her professional service includes serving on the Board of the Tennessee Licensed Professional Counselor Association for many years. Dr. Crossman is the current President-Elect.

Dr. Crossman’s passion is to foster healing from trauma for individuals and families, and to empower counseling students to do the same while learning to prevent personal and professional burnout. These are her current areas of interest for research.