Leanne Parker, Ph. D.
Licensed Psychologist
Leanne Parker is a Licensed Psychologist in the state of Idaho. She provides individual therapy for adults of all ages, ethnic and religious backgrounds and sexual orientations, as well as couples therapy. She provides LGBT+ affirming psychotherapy.
Leanne began her academic journey on the East Coast, where she grew up, completing a Bachelor’s degree in both Psychology and Biology at the College of William and Mary in Virginia. Working for a short time, it became clear that additional education was needed to more deeply impact the individuals with whom she was working. She returned to the College of William and Mary, earning a Master’s degree in Counseling. Beginning in graduate school and continuing afterward, she focused on helping those who often encountered multiple traumas, including work to prevent homelessness in Norfolk and Virginia Beach, Virginia, and running a battered women’s shelter in a rural area of western Virginia.
The pull of deeper learning and adventure led her to pursue a doctoral degree in Clinical Psychology, which she completed at the University of Montana, Missoula, in 1997. This included a yearlong Psychology Internship with the University of Washington Medical School in Seattle, with rotations that included outpatient psychotherapy, neuropsychology, and the rehabilitation unit. After graduation, Leanne worked for the community mental health system in Montana, including offices in Great Falls, and Ronan, on the Flathead Indian Reservation. An opportunity to teach in Alaska became available, and she pursued her love of education, now on the other side of the desk, in Fairbanks, Alaska where she also worked as a full-time custody investigator. Thus, she packed a few bags, loaded 2 cats and a terrified sister in her Saturn car, and drove the Alaska-Canada highway in January of 1999.
The love of the Pacific Northwest was never far away, though, and when a faculty position opened at Lewis-Clark State College, she knew it was time to return and put down roots. Since 2000 (except for 3 years she followed a midlife dream, later becoming happy to return to the LC Valley), she has taught clinical classes at LCSC and maintained a small consulting and private practice.
Mindfulness-based interventions particularly resonate in Leanne’s clinical work, and she has a longstanding meditation practice. With training and experience in Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, and Mindful Self-Compassion, she helps clients to realize the power and healing inherent in the present moment. Depression is often connected to the past, and anxiety to the future. The ability to return, again and again, to the present moment is one path forward in managing the depression and anxiety that often accompany our daily life. Leanne’s clinical expertise also includes work with Post-traumatic Stress Disorder, and the painful trauma that often lies at the core of our suffering. Additional training and experience include Gottman-method couples therapy, animal-assisted interventions, EMDR Levels I and II, and adapting to grief and loss.
Leanne embraces the idea that the therapeutic relationship is where healing begins. We meet each other as imperfect human beings, often tossed about in a chaotic world and culture that creates shame at every turn. The courage to cultivate a life that is personally meaningful and fulfilling requires risk and vulnerability, and Leanne is every-mindful to nurture a safe space where risk and vulnerability are gifts to be treated with the utmost care. If we are a good fit, therapeutically, the conditions for growth will serve as the catalyst for change.