Kindness, Curiosity, Compassion, LLC
Leah Parisian, LCSW
Certified Body Trust® Provider
She/Her/Hers
I am a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in Florida and Tennessee, and a Certified Body Trust® Provider.
While I love this adventure ride we call life, living brings challenges at every turn. With that, I believe our disappointments, triumphs, oppressions, loves, losses, privileges, injustices, and letdowns give us each a unique story, and that within our stories can be our paths to healing. I believe that you are the expert in your life and that your lived experiences are valid and essential for our work together. I consider it an honor to witness your story, assist you with your goals, and to accompany you in your unique process in therapy.
My practice focus is on helping in the healing process of eating disorders, disordered eating, body oppression of all forms, and the often accompanying depression, anxiety, and grief. Foundational to my work are the principles of Health At Every Size (HAES®), Harm Reduction, and social justice. Click here to learn more about Body Trust®, HAES®, and my practice philosophy.
I look forward to connecting with you and invite you to contact me.
Post-Graduate Certifications
Certified Body Trust® Provider (The Center for Body Trust, Portland, Oregon)
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Certificate (Florida Atlantic University)
Selected Post-Graduate Continuing Education Trainings
2023 - 2024 - Eating Disorder Harm Reduction Course by Nalgona Positivity Pride
2023: Renfrew Center's Eating Disorders and Post Partum - Staying Connected to Self and Recovery; Renfrew Center's Orthorexia in a World of Wellness Fads - How to Help Client's Who Suffer; FEDUP Conference NYC
2022: Renfrew Center Foundation Conference - Feminist Perspectives and Beyond; Body Peace: Eating Disorders in an Unequal World - Stepping Into the Future of Care; Nalgona Positivity Pride: How to be Harm Reduction and Person Centered When Clients Want Weight Loss
2019: Center for Optimal Living: Integrative Harm Reduction Psychotherapy Training; SunServe LGBTQI Transgender Proficiency Training: Expanding the Binary
2018: The Center For Body Trust: Promoting Body Trust in Clinical Practice; Alliance for Eating Disorders Awareness: The Blend of Acceptance & Commitment Therapy and Dialectical Behavioral Therapy in the Treatment of Eating Disorders; Be Nourished Promoting Body Trust in Your Work; Trauma Focused CBT; International Association of Eating Disorder Professionals (IAEDP) Conference Highlights (Making Sense of the Complex Eating Disorder: A Multifaceted Conversation with Founding Leaders in the Treatment of Eating Disorders; Body Positive Cornell: Community Based Participatory Research to Reduce Disordered Eating in University Settings; Weaving the Threads of Body and Mind: Combining CBT, DBT, IFS, EMDR, Somatic Experiencing, Sensorimotor Psychotherapy and Yoga for Embodied Recovery; Weight Stigma in Eating Disorder Treatment Settings: A Discussion on Identification & Reduction; Sunserve: Navigating Sex & Sobriety
2017: Alliance for Eating Disorders Awareness: The Use of Creative Techniques to Challenge Clients' Fear of Change; The Renfrew Center Foundation Conference - Feminist Relational Perspectives and Beyond: Integrating Science, Creativity, and Clinical Wisdom [in the treatment of eating disorders]; Post-graduate MSW, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Certificate
Education & Experience
MSW, Florida Atlantic University
BBA with a concentration in Finance, Florida Atlantic University
I received my MSW and post-graduate Cognitive Behavioral Therapy certificate course at FAU, and completed certification as a Body Trust® Provider from The Center for Body Trust in Portland, Oregon. My graduate studies internships were clinically focused in treating problematic substance use, disordered eating, and cooccurring mental health diagnoses.
From 2017 to 2020, I served in multiple clinical capacities at Wayside House, Inc. in Delray Beach, Florida, first as a Therapist, and later as Assistant Clinical Director/Therapist/Quality Assurance. Wayside House, Inc. is a non-profit that serves women seeking treatment for problematic substance use and co-occurring mental health concerns. In addition to my work at Wayside and private practice, in the fall of 2020, I taught Mindfulness in Social Work Practice, a graduate level course at FAU (the course focus was on the neurobiology of mindfulness and applying mindfulness techniques in clinical practice). I have been in private practice since October of 2019.