Meet Us
Chelsea Parker, LCPC
Founder of Love is Key
She/Her
Bilingual (English/Spanish)
Hello, I'm Chelsea, and my pronouns are she/her/hers. I am a white cisgender woman therapist and the founder of Love is Key Counseling. My practice is dedicated to promoting well-being and justice through collaborative work with clients, families, and fellow therapists. Recognizing that we cannot navigate life alone, my intent is to co-create the therapy space. Together, we can acknowledge the external forces that shape and impact us, while celebrating your familial and cultural strengths that you bring into therapy.
I work with children aged 11 and older, adolescents, young adults, adults, and their families or trusted individuals. As a member of the LGBTQ+ community, I particularly enjoy working with individuals who share these identities. With over 15 years of experience as a former restaurant worker, I bring insights into the challenges faced within these environments.
Love as a practice continues to evolve, but centers in my grandfather’s work with Love following WWII. Through my ancestry, I carry his wisdom and teachings of what love means for self, community, and the world, as well as the responsibility to dismantle our inherent legacy of white supremacy.
For me, healing is a process of discovering what love looks like in a world that perpetuates race, division, and looking the other way. It encompasses elements of love from my ancestors, chosen community, mentors, and the earth. In the words of bell hooks in All About Love: New Visions, “There can be no love without justice”. Additionally, I was raised in the Southwest with a love of nature, which was and continues to be a place for grounding and connection.
My Background
I have accumulated 10 years of experience in mental health across diverse settings. I am a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor in both IL and AZ and am a proud member of the Immigration, Critical Race and Cultural Equity Lab (IC-Race). I have received specialized training in Latinx Mental Health, as well as with working with Spanish speaking families and immigrants.
Beyond my professional training, I have worked in multiple community mental health agencies where I assisted children, adolescents, and families in coping with trauma, navigating broken systems, and managing daily life challenges. Working closely with immigrant children for several years provided me with insight into the strengths and resilience individuals develop in response to extreme stress, trauma, poverty, and violence, as well as the impact that dysfunctional systems have on mental health, safety, and well-being. These experiences have helped me adapt therapeutic approaches to meet clients where they are and to leverage their strengths and interests.
My Approach
My therapeutic approach is grounded in racial consciousness, strengths-based principles, feminism, trauma-informed care, and systemic awareness. Simply put, my aim is to understand you deeply—to explore the experiences you bring with you, who and what shapes your beliefs, and the messages you've received. From there, we expand outward to identify numerous external factors (such as racism, white supremacy, and systemic oppression) that contribute to or cause mental health challenges like depression, anxiety, and trauma. Within this process, we work to highlight the ways in which love lives with you and what love for self, community and the world looks like in realistic practice.
My Areas of Expertise
Racism and Racial Justice
Anxiety and Depression
ADHD
Racial and Other Identities
LGBTQ+
Kink and Diverse Relationships
Women’s Issues
Spanish Speaking Therapy
Immigration Challenges
Supervision and Training
Populations I Work With
Children (age 11+)
Adolescents
Young adults
Adults
LGBTQ+
Kink and Relationally Diverse clients
Restaurant Industry Professionals
Therapists/Social Workers
Helping Professionals: Nurses, Teachers, Speech Pathologists, etc.
