Wes Parks

I have always been drawn to understanding others’ behaviors. Or, more to the point, I have always been curious about why people do the things they do, even when they are unhealthy, ill-advised, or otherwise counter intuitive. That was my initial interest in psychology, fostered by observations on the playground, in church, at parties, in the workplace…anywhere people gather, behaviors happen that left me trying to understand what I was seeing, making sense of the “why.” What drives us to live our lives they way we do, even when we know we want something better? Once the why becomes clear, making the transition from unhealthy to healthy completes the cycle I find so interesting. I did not start out with a large gay clientele and I didn’t want to be known as “the gay therapist.” I was focused on general clinical issues and a few LGBTQIA+ clients found me. Then a few more, and a few more after that. Before I knew it I was developing a rewarding niche practice. Since then, I have worked with diverse issues affecting our community that include navigating the coming out process, sexual identity and sexual expression, gender identity and gender expression, navigating the gender transition process, relationship struggles, family issues, sexual concerns, mood issues, anxiety problems, and stress management. Understanding that LGBTQIA+ clients frequently struggle to incorporate their identities into the mainstream culture, identity exploration and formation has become a large part of my work. I have worked with diverse problems such as depression, anxiety, psychosis, stress management, anger management, relationship problems, sexual trauma, Autism, ADHD, PTSD, and personality disorders. I have specialized training in neuropsychological assessment, including complicated diagnoses and treatment recommendations. Additionally, I have experience working in the forensic arena in terms of psychological assessment, court-ordered counseling, sentencing/mitigation investigations, and trial consulting. Before opening my own practice in 2015, I was fortunate to work with two other private practices where truly individualized care was the standard and we settled for nothing less than excellence. Creative and collaborate problem solving has always been part of my approach to therapy and assessment. ___________________________________________________________________ PLEASE NOTE: Monarch lists all clinicians as offering Free Consultations. We do not offer free consultations. Unfortunately, a limitation of this system is that we cannot delete that option even when it is incorrect. Requests for free consultations are deleted without response.