Rachel G. Parks
MA, LMHC
Therapist. AuDHDer. Candy Freak.
Hi, I’m Rachel. I help women of all backgrounds and neurotypes realize their full potential through my practical therapeutic sensibility. I am neurodivergent as well as a chronic illness sufferer and I know what it's like to navigate the world with ailments that are invisible to others. Counseling was not my first career (or even my second), but as I grew to accept my strengths and limitations instead of trying to fit in, I finally found where I belong.
I found out I was neurodivergent in my 40s through determination to help a client of mine figure out why she was struggling so much and not responding to treatment or medication. It had never occurred to me before that I could fit into this category despite identifying as a highly sensitive person and having a lot of my own unexplained struggles. The more I dug into the current research and attended trainings to help my client, it became obvious, and once I saw it I couldn't unsee it (as often is the case). Now it has become second nature for me to be looking for and assessing for what some call "neurocomplexity."
By now you’ve seen all of the letters that come after my name. Those are hard-won, but not the most important piece of our potential journey together. I have over a decade of experience in mental health and am always striving to learn and grow, and recently became a certified neurodivergent affirming therapist through Cascadia training. My true passion is seeing my clients start to live by their own rules and expectations . And maybe dismantling the patriarchy while we’re at it.
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I received my bachelor’s degree in journalism from Seattle University and a master’s degree in clinical psychology from the Washington School of Professional Psychology. My work and training with organizations like Planned Parenthood and the Northwest Alliance for Psychoanalytic Study have fundamentally informed my practice, as has my clinical experience working with university counseling centers, in-patient therapy for disordered eating, and community mental health facilities. I am constantly seeking out new skills and have most recently completed training in nature based therapy and neurodivergent affirming assessments.
A proud Seattleite, my writing has appeared in publications like The Stranger and Seattle Metropolitan Magazine. As a child, I was nicknamed "The Candy Queen" for my discerning opinions about sweets (like for instance that Dweebs were way better than Nerds) and I eventually had my own monthly dessert column in a magazine! My special interests are: candy (duh), the subtle nuances of sparkly taupe eyeshadow shades, and reading smutty thrillers. When I'm not working you can find me at water aerobics, taking a dance class, or catching up on reality tv with my husband and pups, Jefferson and Franklin.
Let's Work Together
Love is the will to extend oneself for the purpose of nurturing one's own or another's spiritual growth.
M. Scott Peck
Self-esteem is the ability to see yourself as a flawed individual and still hold yourself in high regard.
Esther Perel
Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate.
Carl Jung
