FEATURED AUDIO FILE: To listen to Dr. Parker Wilson's public talk, offered in Denver, CO, on the topic of What Is Happiness - A Buddhist Psychological Perspective (31 minutes), please click here. 
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Below are comments from past patients of Dr. Parker Wilson. The only changes made to the words have been to remove any identifying characteristics about the person. 
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"When I came to therapy I was very depressed, anxious, and angry. I was in a bad marriage, and my son had killed himself the year before. I was considering the same. I was so anxious about my grief that I shut off my family and friends, I even stopped going outside. I didn't want anything to remind me of my son, I just didn't want to feel it. Now I see that I cut myself off from life, isolated myself away, and that's when the depression got very deep. Dr. Wilson sat with me, for many hours. He listened compassionately, and he gave a damn. Over the months, he helped me slowly accept the loss of my son, and all the memories and emotions that go with such an acceptance. I had never really connected with his death before, not in a deep way. I was so busy trying to avoid it that acceptance had never gotten into my heart. Dr. Wilson helped me do that. He helped me find some meaning out of the loss of my boy... The way I was going, Dr. Wilson may have actually saved my life... These days I attend a support group for mothers who've lost children, and that experience has been more rewarding than I could have imagined. " 

- Katie, Parker, CO.   
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"I am a drunk and a drug addict, I've been in recovery for... years now. I came to therapy after my mother died suddenly. I was so frustrated with grief and sadness, all I did was go to work and go home, on and on. I was SO mad at God, I just couldn't stand Him anymore! I didn't really realize that I had stopped going to meetings, stopped calling my sponsor... I had stopped doing all the things I needed to do to remain clean and sober. Dr. Wilson pushed me to look at that reality. He told me that I had already made the decision to drink again, the only other question I was kicking around was 'when.' He helped me see that more clearly. In fact, he insisted I see it, because for me this is about life and death. He helped me back into my own recovery, he helped me reconcile myself with my God, and showed me that whether I live or die is a choice I make in every passing moment."
 
- Rob, Denver, CO   

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"I am only [a teenager], but I kinda knew I was in trouble. My mom made me go to therapy. When I met Parker he scared me and I didn't want to come back. I never met anyone who asked questions and listened like he does. It was like he wanted to know who I was, and I couldn't handle that back then... I was using drugs and cutting myself allot... I was also sneaking around and having sex with different boys at school. It was the only way I knew to feel good anymore, and stop my pain and stress. Parker asked me to go to a scary place with him - inside my mind. He wanted me to really connect to my feelings of fear, pain and anxiety. All the stuff I was trying so hard to get away from. I REALLY didn't want to do that, I tried to stop therapy, but my Mom wouldn't let me. Believe it or not, I thanked her for that the other day :-D  Working with Parker helped me see that my pain was not as bad as I made it out to be. I mean, I'd made it worse by trying to numb it out all the time. Like it was my trying to get away from my feelings, that's what was making things hurt so badly. I started to see it. I learned to stay with my feelings, I learned that when I do they go away just as fast as they came, and I learned to work with my feelings in session and by meditating (at least sometimes :-)... I haven't cut for over a year now, my grades have improved, I don't need my meds anymore, I stopped partying (at least so hard), I'm trying to go to college next year, and my Mom and me are getting along allot better these days..."

- Sally, Denver, CO    

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"When we came to couple's counseling, we had three small kids, had been married for [many years], and we were on the verge of divorce. My husband had cheated on me several times, I was overwhelmed and resentful as hell, and the marriage overall was bitter and barely functioning. Dr. Wilson asked us if we wanted to remain married or not. We both hesitantly said yes. He told us that there was 'a great deal on the line here,' and that our children's happiness would in part depend upon our decision. He asked us to commit to ten weeks, in sessions twice a week, if we were serious about salvaging our marriage. We made that commitment. Dr. Wilson was tough on us. He interrupted our usual patterns of communication during the sessions, and he modeled new ones. He showed us how extreme our language was (we used the words 'always,' 'never,' 'right,' and 'wrong' a great deal), and how this extreme language created a tone and a context for the whole relationship. Dr. Wilson pushed us to create a new way of communicating together. He gave us intimacy and communication homework, and he asked us to cultivate mindfulness together in meditation each day... I am very happy to report that through this process, my husband and I re-discovered each other and we remembered why we had gotten married in the first place - because we loved each other. Dr. Wilson gave us the tools, and showed us a way to accept and forgive each other. Things can still be rough at times, but the marriage is happier and richer than ever before, and we are both better parents."

Sue, Greenwood Village, CO 

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"I was sexually abused by my step-father as a boy. This abuse lasted for years. By the time I was 38, I was depressed, drinking and using drugs, and my personal life was a disaster zone. I had been married twice, had two kids I never saw, I was a womanizer, a porn addict, and the only thing I seemed to do really well was make money. I could only have sex with women (women had become more like objects to me, not human beings), and I knew nothing of intimacy, relationship, and communication. I was so angry and miserable, I wasn't sure I wanted to continue. When I started therapy, Dr. Wilson began connecting the dots between my sexual abuse in childhood and my adult habits and choices, especially around women. At first I didn't want to see these connections. They really scared the shit out of me, so I tried to go what I always do when something scares me - I ran. I told him I was quiting therapy, I skipped sessions, didn't pay his fees on time, etc. At the time, I wasn't really aware of why I was resisting so much, I was just exiting like I always had. As he says, I was on 'auto-pilot.' Seeing myself in fear and on 'auto-pilot' in response to my therapy was a moment of true realization for me. For the first time, I started to really understand how my mind works around emotions I don't like... Dr. Wilson was patient, firm, and persistent with me, insisting that if I could accept and understand the connected dots between childhood and adulthood, I could truly grieve the abuse that happened to me, and free myself to make different choices moving forward. I finally stopped resisting his help, and it took many months of therapy (and I even started meditating) before I finally started to feel better. Two years later now, I am no longer depressed, I only drink on occasion, I can't remember the last time I looked at porn, and I am dating a wonderful 'age appropriate' woman who represents the first really healthy relationship I've ever had."
 
Doug, Colorado Springs, CO

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"I am a devout Christian woman, and I was very worried about seeing Parker because he is obviously a Buddhist... I didn't know anything about Buddhism, and I didn't really want to know. I think I was afraid he would 'talk me out of' my faith,' or something, and why should I pay someone to do that? I was quite depressed about my mother's recent death, and I was very angry at God about that... Dr. Wilson was very skillful. He helped me more deeply experience the grief of losing my mother, and he connected my grief (her death) to a sense of acceptance and commitment so that I could honor her by making my own life more meaningful. He taught me to stay present with my own thoughts and feelings, and used the tenets of my own faith to help me reconnect with the true spirit of God in my life. I have now incorporated several 'Buddhist' practices into my own life. I still choose to call it 'Contemplative Christianity,' but I realize more and more that it doesn't really matter what I call it. I am just happier now, and I feel more balanced and satisfied with life."

Janet, Denver, CO    

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To schedule a consultation appointment for yourself or a loved one, please send an email Dr. Wilson.

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