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Meridith Alline Merchant, PhD.
Licensed Psychologist | California #PSY17776
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Trying to make sense of what you were taught while something new is bubbling up inside? Ready to bravely BE your whole self, inside and out, not just perform it? ​
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I’m here to walk with you into that new chapter. If you’re ready, let’s gooooo!
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Over the years, I’ve learned to live more authentically, and I want that for everyone I work with. I blend professional training with mind-body-energy practices, yoga, and a multicultural lens to help you become the thermostat of your life, not just the thermometer reacting to what’s around you. In our sessions, we slow things down so you can respond with choice, strengthen your communication, regulate your nervous system, and name your non-negotiables. Together, pulling in intergenerational insight, we’ll carry forward what serves you and release what doesn’t—with grace and intention.
​With more than 30 years of experience, I’ve guided people through identity shifts, career pivots, grief, and relationship transitions. My background spans the bittersweet joys and “character building moments,” a.k.a. traumas related to maternal and infant health, expertise in reproductive health, leadership development, workplace navigation, and conflict resolution across corporate, nonprofit, and academic spaces. I am a mentor, speaker, and wisdom keeper, committed to challenging harmful systems and creating spaces where we can thrive.
I earned my psychology degrees at UCLA (emphasis in developmental disabilities) and the California School of Professional Psychology in Los Angeles, focusing on multicultural and community approaches. My work has included leadership roles, consultation, speaking, and training in schools and universities, mental health and social service institutions, and public and private organizations. I advocate for underserved people and communities, including Black parents, children, families, LGBTQ+, justice impacted, high achieving, differently abled, and neurodiverse folks.
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I am Dr. MAM, a proud Black woman raised in Los Angeles, rooted in Chicago (thanks to the many summers spent there in my childhood with extended family), with a deep respect for humanity. People call me Mother Earth and Sunshine. Breath, nature, music, laughter, and hugs are my medicine. As an only child, I learned early how to listen deeply—to what is spoken and unspoken. Rooted and grounded in my parents’ activism and a lifetime of holding the most intimate details of people’s lives, I show up intuitively, present, and open to the messages our senses offer.
We are always giving birth to something— a new habit, idea, baby, expanded sensory experience or pleasure, relationship, rearranged room, a way of being. Every moment is a chance to keep what works, let go of what doesn’t, and move toward joy. I look forward to witnessing your brilliance and optimal connections with others, as you align the physical, emotional, sensual, and spiritual parts of you, and—when needed—disrupt systems that rob you of balance. You already hold what you need to reclaim and sustain a version of yourself that makes your soul dance. I would be honored to serve as your doula on that journey.