Crystal Clear

Dr. Crystal DeVorzon opens up about holistic healing and her new spa, Complete Wellness. 

By Andrea Manokian

Many people experience a pivotal moment in their lives that determines the trajectory of their identity and purpose. For me, it was when my second grade teacher advised my mother to invest in journals because she was certain that I was destined to write. For Dr. Crystal DeVorzon, it was a series of health anomalies and struggles that followed a humanitarian mission in Thailand that led her down a path of what she calls “whole-istic” healing and her newly opened spa, Complete Wellness.

Situated in a landmark building across from the Santa Barbara Courthouse, Complete Wellness shares a space with Mishay Salon & Spa. Upon walking in, the spa is palpitating with contagious feminine energy: the smell of shampoo flooding the air, women sitting opposite mirrors with foils in their hair, and the soft humming of blow dryers creating a familiar chorus. That’s when my eyes meet Crystal’s. She walks over smiling and gives me a warm welcome.

Crystal starts by giving me a tour of the salon, an all-encompassing space with multiple practitioners that offer manicures and pedicures, hair care and scalp treatments, skin-enhancing aesthetics, permanent makeup, and more. There’s a relaxation lounge that doubles as a consultation room for Crystal’s clients, especially those wondering where to start or those interested in her life and nutrition coaching services. We then go upstairs where Crystal owns a private massage room. It’s here that I learn her story—one that any woman who has navigated the trials and tribulations of countless doctor visits that have all led nowhere can relate to. To understand why Crystal is the best person to specialize in the work that she does, it’s important to understand the following story—her story, her journey, her pivotal “aha” moment.

“It was a thing in my family that we all had to go and serve—whether it was humanitarian work, mission work, or something similar—before we went to college,” says Crystal. It’s this time-honored family tradition that led her to Thailand, where she lived and served for one year. It’s also where she contracted malaria and started to experience an unexpected decline in her health. Even after returning to the States, Crystal’s health struggles persisted. “I was sick all of the time and I didn’t know why. I started having fevers, head pressure, seizures, and weight loss,” she says. Adding to her frustration was the tragic reality that nobody could figure out what was happening to her, no matter how many specialists she sought.

Years went by without any concrete answers from doctors or improvements in her health. “I was really praying—God, I need you to help me; I need some answers,” she says. Call it divine intervention or an answer to her prayers, but what happened to Crystal next was nothing short of a miracle. Living in Los Angeles at the time while pursuing modeling and acting, an unfamiliar man approached Crystal inside of a Whole Foods after sensing she was going through a rough time with her health. He then pleaded with her to make an appointment with his doctor. The doctor in question went by the name of Dr. Small, a physician with a background in quantum physics. After a thorough and comprehensive workup, he diagnosed Crystal with multiple parasites, five strains of Lyme disease, and 20 types of food allergies. He told Crystal that her kidneys were failing and that she required immediate care. 

This shock diagnosis put Crystal’s promising modeling and acting career on hold. She found a top Lyme disease treatment facility in Scottsdale, Arizona, and spent three months at this facility, where multiple tests confirmed her Lyme disease. “I went through all this treatment and it was so debilitating. They gave me some chemotherapy; I was taking 69 pills a day; I was throwing up; I went down to 90 lbs; and then they sent me home,” she says. After giving up so much to get better, even the facility in Scottsdale had failed her. It was this enervating health journey that motivated Crystal to finally take matters into her own hands. “If nothing was working then I was going to pivot and try to figure something out so that I could function,” she says.

Crystal started conducting research, and lots of it—everything she could find about Lyme disease, how it functions, how it behaves, and how it impacts the immune system. She started treating herself through her own rigorous research and, to her surprise, her Lyme disease became more manageable and tolerable. Having already been licensed in massage and other modalities, she expanded her knowledge by pursuing a PhD, sitting across from me now as a Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine. Inspired to help others going through similar health struggles, Crystal also became certified in life and health coaching. “I feel like sometimes in life we are given things that are challenging and we can use them for the greater good. You go through a lot of hardship and instead of being bitter, you become better and use those things to help others,” she says.

Today, at Complete Wellness, Crystal draws inspiration and strength from her long and strenuous health-related battle. She takes the time to really listen and approaches healing from a “whole-istic” standpoint, an approach that integrates mind, body, and spirit and is focused on finding the root cause of one’s health struggles. “I have compassion and empathy for people that are coming in and dealing with chronic illness or an ailment, and I want to send them off feeling so much better,” she says.

At her spa, Crystal heals with her hands and offers various types of massages such as deep tissue, medical massages, pregnancy massages, and more. She also offers reiki healing, craniosacral therapy, integrative health coaching for diet and lifestyle, and sessions for those struggling with acute and chronic illness. She shares a recent success story about a client who is suffering from chronic migraines and a perforated eardrum, one who is no stranger to multiple doctor visits that offer no real solutions. After just one craniosacral therapy session with Crystal, this patient found herself experiencing relief and improved hearing.

“I feel like my hands are tools, as if I’m a conduit of sorts to help people heal,” says Crystal. After experiencing a massage from Dr. DeVorzon herself, I can attest that she is gifted at what she does. I’m no stranger to massages, but during my 90-minute massage at Complete Wellness, I was so relaxed and at peace that I experienced visions of happy memories replaying in my head—the trip I took with my mother to Maui, the first time I held my sister’s baby, rummaging through my aunt’s vanity table as a child—all coming back to me during the massage and playing out like a movie. The various scents Crystal used throughout the massage, such as bergamot, jasmine, ylang ylang, and citronella, aided as natural stress relievers and mood enhancers. And Crystal somehow knew all the areas along my spine where I had knots and gently worked them with her hands, leading to improved mobility and reduced tension in my lower back and neck after my session. Upon exiting the massage room, I noticed a picture hanging on the wall, a black-and-white image of two women jumping off a boat and surrendering to the ocean below. An image so fitting for the feeling that visiting Complete Wellness evokes—a feeling of releasing your stress and hindrances and finally letting go.

Crystal is not one to downplay health concerns. She’s humble and kind, and in tune with the human body. She’s incredibly educated and understands the complex ideologies behind the treatments she offers, casually referring to the multiple quantum physics courses she’s completed in her lifetime, her published dissertation on lowering cortisol levels, and human body parts by their scientific names during our interview—an everyday conversation for Crystal, but one that often left me asking, “How do you spell that?”

As someone who has gone through what I call the fast-food-ization of modern healthcare myself and has left far too many doctor’s offices feeling disillusioned and more confused than when I walked in, Crystal’s vulnerability in sharing her story is refreshing. She understands the best way to approach healing because she’s experienced what it feels like when your ailments are minimized, excused, or even ignored. And better yet, she’s come out on the other side, determined to help others avoid the same debilitating experience. “I want to take the time to be present, and to care for my patients, and to see their progress. That makes me so happy, seeing people truly living the life that they love and feeling good in their body,” she says.