Erica Merrill PhD., LCMHC, NCC

Counseling provides a safe environment to challenge what's no longer working and engage in growth enhancing experiences. I hope to help you create a plan for your future by developing your awareness, self-knowledge, and skills for the journey. I believe that healthy individuals make healthy families, and in turn, together we make a healthy community. I believe in engaging clients through a wellness paradigm and tend to shy away from pathology. I prefer to relate to clients through the lens of compassion, curiosity, and respect. While diagnosis can lend an excellent foundation to better understand a variety of human conditions, it's important to recognize that labels do not define us. I primarily use theories that encourage relationship between counselor and client, increase personal awareness and use of mindfulness strategies. ACT, SFBT, and CBT are common theoretical foundations, but I also incorporate existentialism, meaning making, and work from a lens of social justice.

My work is based on helping people develop a working definition of wellness through a multifaceted lens, incorporating personal development, confronting fears, identifying strengths, and increasing capacity for problem solving and meaning making in life. Often, the human experience leaves us feeling burnt out, disconnected, and looking for meaning. Seeking therapy is the first step in building the skills necessary to thrive. I believe a foundation of compassion, respect, and human connection are the catalyst for clients toward self-discovery. Practicing since 2013, I am interested in the intersections of mental health, sexual health, spirituality and life balance both personally and professionally. I began Elevated Wellness Counseling (EWC) to better address the needs of individuals, families, and communities through challenging stigma surrounding mental health, providing sexual information and support, and engaging in compassionate communication.