My name is Krystal H. Parrish, PhD, and I believe in liberation from suffering. As an alternative health care provider and therapist (i.e., life coach), I believe that if we have the opportunity (or privilege) to self-reflect, and critically engage with ourselves and our lives, we can break free of old patterns and cycles of suffering. At the same time, in my work with clients, I have learned that in order to address the needs of an individual person, a couple, or even a family, we must also address systems.
There are many systems at play in people’s lives, so it is important to acknowledge how some systems (i.e., ideologies and institutions) cause harm—particularly to those who come from marginalized backgrounds (e.g., low-income communities, people of color, LGBTQ+, neurodivergent, etc.). As a black biracial queer woman, I do not believe in using therapy as a tool to assimilate marginalized people into abusive or harmful systems. For this reason, I operate my business through an anti-capitalist framework, and my approach in working with clients is through a liberation psychology lens.
Traditional psychotherapy requires diagnostic labels in order to treat people. These diagnoses allow practitioners to receive payment from insurance companies. Based on these diagnoses, insurance companies determine which therapeutic interventions are allowed and how many sessions are covered. This system also requires diagnoses to become permanently documented in one’s health record. While this is a valid way of conducting therapy, not all clients want their mental health history documented in this way.
Besides, not all people respond to traditional therapeutic interventions, and even fewer are able to experience true and meaningful change in the number of sessions covered by insurance companies. What’s more, these diagnoses can oversimplify people’s suffering and can negatively impact the way they view themselves. Real experiences of stress, trauma, and suffering can be carved into categories of “disorder,” but these categories and labels do not define who people are. You are so much more than your suffering.
Traditional psychotherapy is also focused on reducing symptoms. If you are feeling down, how do you turn your mood around? Again, while this is helpful, I am less interested in reducing symptoms and more interested in exploring the root causes of suffering with my clients. How are you sleeping and resting? How are you feeling in your body? How is your nervous system? What are your significant relationships like? Do you feel that you have purpose? Do you feel at peace?
In my work with clients, I share tools that help people listen to and address the needs of their own physical bodies. On a mental and emotional level, I also help clients identify the values, principles, and beliefs that support them as they navigate the ups and downs of life. Throughout our work together, I also support clients to explore and deepen practices that provide them with deep feelings of peace and remind them of their own sacred presence. Together we contemplate the meaning of our existence, spiritual beliefs or non-beliefs, and critically examine the effects of trauma, stress, and suffering on our bodies, our minds, and our spirit.
Much of my work is influenced by traditional psychotherapy – in that I apply many of the evidence-based principles that I acquired in my academic and professional training. However, my work is also rooted in my own lived experience, as well as various indigenous tools rooted in indigenous science and alternative health modalities. As a therapist, I believe in radical genuineness—showing up as my full authentic self. With discernment, and with consent, I do not shy away from sharing my own personal healing journey and trauma recovery. Please note that I offer my services as an alternative health care provider (or life coach) without licensure, outside of the traditional psychotherapy-insurance paradigm. I don’t believe in insurance—I believe in mutual aid. I invite you to review my qualifications and professional experience here (CV-Resume).
by Krystal Heaven Parrish, Ph.D.