Merle Maynard, MFT-LP

Merle (they/them) is an Associate Marriage and Family Therapist with passion and commitment to serve adolescents, adults, and partners throughout New York State. Merle works with a variety of people and seeks to make therapy a psychologically safe space, especially for people who have historically been left out of therapeutic healing due to systemic forces, such as neurodivergent, gender and sexually diverse, consensually non-monogamous, individuals and partners, etc. Further, as a psychotherapist, Merle brings an intersectional lens to their practice and seeks to challenge systemic oppression and oppressive power structures. While acknowledging their own points of privilege will guarantee they will occasionally fall short of this.

Merle works with clients to collaborate on goals which may include but are not limited to developing further insight and awareness, harnessing self compassion, navigating relationship dynamics and interpersonal boundaries, managing mental health symptoms, improving communication, self advocacy and adjusting coping mechanisms.

“Coping mechanisms are an important part of life. We develop coping mechanisms to manage stress, anxieties, traumas, as they are self protective. Most of us have probably found ourselves immersed in a coping mechanism that is no longer serving us, and struggle to navigate our way past. Our inner child who learned it was safer to push away our emotions than share them, now unable to communicate our needs and wants clearly with our partner(s). Our inner critic who learned to berate ourselves because failure wasn’t an option and our teachers didn’t have the tools of self-compassion, now unable to sit in our own kindness with dizzying thoughts that keep us up at night. Aiding clients with tools to navigate these choppy waters and the inevitable mixed emotions associated with them, for me, is a privilege and honor.”

Merle holds a Masters in Counseling Psychology from The Wright Institute and a Bachelors in Communication and Social Change and Political Economy from The Evergreen State College. Merle previously worked in a group practice in Northern New York as well as King Middle School in Berkeley, CA. Contact her today.

Outside of work, Merle enjoys artistic pursuits, bicycling, dancing while cooking, reading, cheezy reality TV, organizing for social justice, and snuggling with their dogs, Douglas Fur and Sequoia.