Parker Morris Psychotherapy, LMHC

When I started my career, I worked in LGBTQ services, helping my community navigate their sexual health and wellbeing. Through my work, I was shocked by the lack of affirming, sex-positive mental health services. Folks often shared with me their difficulties in finding therapists who understood their relationships, validated their struggles, or even understood their identity or pronouns. Personally, I experienced similar barriers in navigating trans healthcare, particularly when accessing clearance letters for medical transition. Knowing the difficulties folks like me faced in mental health care, I decided to fill the gaps I saw. I pursued a dual master’s degree in counseling for mental health and wellness and LGBT health, education, and social services. My clinical training was focused on working with LGBTQ clients navigating kink, non-monogamy, gender, sexuality, and family dynamics as well as mental health concerns of depression, anxiety, coping skills, and behavioral issues. As a therapist, I strive to support clients with whatever they bring to the table from a lens that prioritizes humanity, connection, and individual autonomy.

Clients should know that I believe therapy should be accessible to everyone; you won’t find me using ivory tower jargon or gatekeeping language in sessions. Instead, I use humor and genuine connection with my clients to achieve the therapeutic work. I have a friendly, casual demeanor in session while also staying focused and present with you. I believe a client’s connection to their therapist mirrors their connections to folks in their everyday lives, making the therapeutic relationship a safe space for sharing needs, exploring vulnerability, navigating conflict, and setting boundaries. Sessions with me prioritize the real-life application of the skills you want to see outside of session.

One of my core values that guides my practice in therapy is a non-hierarchical, collaborative partnership; I believe my clients are the experts in their own experiences, bringing valuable insights, unique skills, perspectives, and opinions to therapy. While I am a person trained to help my clients utilize the tool of therapy, clients are the experts of their lives. I allow my clients to direct how they want to spend sessions and what they want to work on. I always trust my clients to know what is best for them and do not assume myself to be more capable of directing their lives than they are.