Leigh Billeaud is a licensed professional counselor at Lafayette Psychotherapy Group. She spent the first decade of her career on active duty with the U.S. Navy and Central Intelligence Agency. After deploying in and out of the Middle East and North Africa, including a 2007 tour in Fallujah, Iraq, Leigh found her true north not far from where she was born in Acadiana.
Billeaud works with adult clients and specializes in processing trauma through the lens of moral injury, grief and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reintegration. She is passionate about working with fellow combat veterans and also serves as the Clinical Director for Acadiana Veteran Alliance’s HEAL program.
She and her husband live on a small farm in Sunset where she strives for grace under fire while parenting Henley, 4, and Archer, 1. Her survival strategy now comprises a functional fitness gym, regular hot yoga and bear hugs.
Since having your two children, what you learned about yourself while becoming a mother?
I sometimes find that being a wife and mother of two little ones is more challenging than the work I did for the CIA.
At the end of the day, it’s more rewarding because there’s a lot more human connection. Parenting and being a leader to these two little humans is a daily grind that has humbled me.
What tips do you have for people on juggling motherhood and balancing it with a career?
I have pretty strong boundaries when it comes to work-life balance. I feel very lucky at this point in my own emotional development or maturity that I’m able to know what my values are and to be OK with not chasing after the next promotion or more money at the expense of the things that are important to me right now.
But that took a long time to get to. I would not have had the same answer 10 years ago, certainly not 20 years ago.
It’s ironic that the CIA’s logo is the compass rose. Outside of my work there, my hobbies were orienteering and trail running. It seems like I ran all over the globe bringing me further and further from my own moral compass. In the end, I came home and found myself again. I’m not religious, but I do have a strong moral compass.
What was the transition like from the CIA to a licensed professional counselor?
I’m a combat veteran, both with the U.S. Navy and with the CIA. As a result of some of those deployments, I experienced some trauma and was exposed to wonderful therapists in the D.C. area who provided a safe space for me to heal and gain some self-awareness about who I am, how I handle situations and how I process things.
When I eventually resigned and moved back to Lafayette, there wasn’t any spy work in Louisiana!
I saw a great therapist in Lafayette, and he encouraged me to take a look at the things that I was interested in when I was young. I’ve always been interested in psychology, and I was so grateful to those people who made me feel valued and helped me through those difficult times.
That’s what led me to become a licensed professional counselor.
What is your specialty area?
I work with adult clients with a focus on trauma. I specialize in processing trauma through the lens of moral injury, grief and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reintegration. Moral injury is when someone may have a particular set of beliefs about the way the world or people are supposed to function and then they go through experiences where those core beliefs are violated. I work with clients on how to process that.
What is something that people get wrong about therapy?
I think for veterans in particular, or people who’ve had combat-related trauma, I would want the message to be: Stop re-traumatizing yourself.
In the veteran community, there’s a lot of stigma around mental health. People don’t want to reach out for help.
I do think it’s a shame that a lot of people don’t reach out for help in certain lines of work because they feel like their careers are going to suffer consequences for reaching out for help.
The purpose of therapy is to provide a safe, non-judgmental space for you to reach goals with the support of a therapist.
What solutions are you working toward as a therapist?
I work with the nonprofit Acadiana Veterans Alliance as the clinical director for the HEAL program. I screen veterans and refer them for the SGB treatment if it’s appropriate. For the most part, folks are appropriate candidates, but beyond that, it’s much more effective in conjunction with therapy.
So I’m creating a network of therapists around the state, essentially a referral list of LCCs and therapists who are familiar with and want to work with veterans. I help with accessibility, figure out what insurance is accepted and what therapists are in each area. We are even getting calls from out of state at this point. It’s something I take pride in in my work.
For people who are willing to be vulnerable in that space, it can be life changing.
What’s the most rewarding part of what you do?
I love people — and I say that as an introvert.
I truly enjoy one-on-one conversations with people. When someone shares something with me that has been burdening them, and I’m able to react in a neutral way that makes them feel like there’s nothing to be ashamed of, it’s like I’m giving them the gift of authenticity and connection. It’s so meaningful to me.
Is there anything else you want the community to know?
Final thoughts: It’s important for people to understand that everybody’s got a struggle. That connection, when we’re willing to be vulnerable with other people, studies have shown at the end of the day that human connection is what brings people health, joy and happiness.
I encourage people to be willing to be vulnerable with their loved ones.
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