Lisa Parker, LICSW (she/her), is a Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker in Rhode Island with more than 35 years of experience supporting adolescents, teens, college students, adults, couples, families, and seniors. She holds a Master’s in Elementary and Special Education from Boston College and a Master’s in Social Welfare from UCLA. From 2018 to 2023, she served as a Fellow Advisor to the Yale University Childhood-Trauma Learning Collaborative, further deepening her expertise in trauma-informed care.

Lisa works with individuals and families navigating ADHD, trauma and PTSD, anxiety, depression, parenting challenges, divorce, couples concerns, life transitions, stress, burnout, and LGBTQ+–related issues. She has a strong commitment to supporting people who have experienced misunderstanding, discrimination, or marginalization, including members of the LGBTQ+ community, immigrants, individuals impacted by poverty, and BIPOC clients.

Her approach is collaborative, direct, and insight-oriented. Drawing from CBT, DBT, ACT, and solution-focused therapy, Lisa partners with clients to clarify why they are seeking therapy now and to establish meaningful, outcome-driven goals. She believes that while distressing symptoms are real and painful, empowerment comes from helping clients recognize their own role in creating change. By increasing personal responsibility, she helps increase confidence and long-term growth.

Clients often describe Lisa as warm, empathetic, and refreshingly direct. She keeps sessions focused on each client’s desired outcomes, frequently assigns practical homework to extend the work between meetings, and uses metaphors to make complex emotional concepts easier to understand. Her style blends encouragement with accountability — often with gentle humor — much like a coach who sees and believes in a client’s full potential.

Lisa’s path to social work began in education, where she recognized that many children were not “ready to learn” because of unaddressed mental health challenges. That realization shaped her mission: to help people reclaim their power and become “ready to live” fully and authentically. She especially enjoys working with individuals and couples who are prepared to make changes, have courageous conversations, and step away from the expectations of who they believe they “should” be in order to experience greater freedom and fulfillment.

Outside of her clinical work, Lisa enjoys hiking in the woods, crocheting, spending time at the ocean, and reading with friends.