About Dr. Fayth Parks

I remember my great-aunt Clara battled my childhood measles with hot cups of tea made from sassafras root or gave me relief from common cold symptoms with a tablespoon of homemade syrup made from hot liquid poured over rock-candy and fresh lemon rind. As I grew older, stories with themes of hope and redemption were also handed out. They were always told with humor, wit, wisdom and care to guide me through life’s challenges. These stories transformed me from sufferer to survivor, despite my circumstances.

I’m a psychologist, a writer and a teacher, who is an expert on healing traditions. I teach at the university level and have published academic articles, essays, and book chapters on this topic as well as given numerous invited lectures, presentations, and workshops.

From the wisdom traditions of my family’s South Carolina roots to the powerful chants I heard filling the air of a meditation chamber in a Tibetan nunnery in Lhasa on the Tibetan Plateau in Asia, I explore the world’s healing traditions. Traditions are not only beliefs and practices to mend physical bodies, but to build resilience using medicinal arts and oral tradition. I believe healing traditions can enlighten our modern quest to find pathways to greater well-being. I was honored to be selected the 2009 David B. Larson Fellow in Health and Spirituality at The John W. Kluge Center of the Library of Congress.

I received my PhD in Counseling Psychology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where I won the Inter-American Society of Psychology (SIP) Research Award for my dissertation study on African American healing traditions. Beginning with beliefs and practices my grandmother and family and community elders taught me, I recognize that healing traditions can foster positive virtues such as courage, humanity, transcendence, and wisdom.

Calm and insightful, I’m a passionate teacher who loves telling great stories where cultural traditions bring age-old wisdom to our modern search for well-being. Listen to a podcast, enroll in a healing pathways online course, attend a live workshop or professional development training event.

You can follow me on Twitter @FaythParks and LindkedIn