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Who Is Lee Parent 
In many ways, I’m just an ordinary guy. I put on my pants one leg at a time just like everybody else. In many other ways I am unique, as we all are in our own special way. So what sets me apart from other people? Factors such as gender, race, nationality, religious beliefs, and primary roles in life among other things serve as a means of establishing one’s personal identity. Probably our life experiences and how we have responded with our own ways of coping and adjusting to the constant changes in our life tend to make us the person we are. While I have, on rare occasions, encountered people who seem to have breezed through life without major stresses in their life, I have had my ups and downs just like the majority of people in the world.
Major changes in life are often brought about by an event or series of events that create a crisis in one’s life. These events can be joyous occasions or disastrous and can have the effect of disrupting life’s adjustments. There is usually some sense of loss with all of the accompanying emotions that a loss entails. Emotions such as anger, grief, guilt,depression and anxiety to name a few can overwhelm and immobilize us, making decision-making difficult, and often leading a person to “grab at straws” so to speak in an effort to cope. Although temporary, in this state of crisis, adjustments are broken down and one’s normal means of coping with stress may be inadequate or unavailable. In this situation people need all the information and support they can get, and given that, they make new adjustments and get on with their life.
My point in discussing change is that any change, no matter how devastating, is accompanied by an opportunity to improve one’s adjustments and experience personal growth in their life. I have spent the greater part of my adult life as a licensed clinical social worker. Typically, people have a difficult time making needed changes in their life until they are forced to do so. It has been somewhat of a passion with me to enable people in crisis to recognize their opportunity for positive change in their life and to support them in their process of readjustment.
I have spent the greater part of my adult life as a clinical social worker, working primarily in mental health and medical settings. I have worked in mental health clinics and hospitals, child guidance programs, teaching hospitals, home health and hospice agencies, family planning clinics and engaged in private practice through which I served as consultant to nursing homes and hospitals among many other activities. In my professional live I have worked with individuals, families and groups, in program development and psycho-social rehabilitation activities, and have been a guest lecturer at colleges and universities. My special interests include helping people in crisis situations, resolving problems in interpersonal relationships, and enabling people who have been abused to nurture and heal their inner child.
Lee Parent, LCSW
