Licensed to practice in California and accepts 42 insurances. Specializes in Anxiety, Depression, Women's Issues and 6 more.

Holly Merrill

(she/her)

LMFT, 10 years of experience
Warm
Authentic
Solution oriented
VirtualAvailable

About me

As a California Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT), I specialize in helping adults navigate anxiety, depression, and the emotional challenges that can make everyday life feel overwhelming. I believe therapy is a collaborative process where you can feel heard, understood, and supported while developing the tools to create meaningful change. My approach is warm, compassionate, and individualized, I work with clients to help them understand the thoughts, emotions, behaviors, and relationship patterns that may be contributing to their struggles. Together, we identify practical strategies to manage symptoms, strengthen coping skills, and developing healthier ways of responding to life's challenges.

Get to know me

In our first session together, here's what you can expect

Starting therapy can feel a little unfamiliar, especially when meeting someone new and sharing personal parts of your life. My goal is to make your first session feel comfortable, welcoming, and safe. Our first session is an opportunity for us to get to know one another, and begin building a comfortable, trusting relationship. We'll introduce ourselves, talk about what brought you to therapy, and explore what you've been experiencing, and how it has been impacting your life. We'll also take time to talk about what you hope to gain from therapy and establish goals for treatment together. These goals will serve as a guide for our work, while allowing room for them to evolve as you make progress and/or your needs change. You don't need to prepare the "right" things to say or have everything figured out, before our first session. I bring a calm, steady presence to our work together, and I want you to feel you can show up exactly as you are. If you're ready to start feeling more like yourself again, I'd be honored to support you along the way.

The biggest strengths that I bring into our sessions

As an LMFT, I approach therapy through a family systems lens, recognizing that our relationships, family experiences, and learned patterns shape how we respond to stress, conflict, and emotions. Together we can explore how these influences may be affecting your life today, helping you gain insight, heal old wounds, and create healthier ways of relating to yourself and others.

The clients I'm best positioned to serve

I utilize evidence-based approaches to help clients manage anxiety, depression, and other life stressors. These approaches focus on building insight into thought patterns, developing emotion regulation skills, and practicing effective coping strategies. Whether you're feeling overwhelmed by daily stress, struggling with low mood or worry, or working through challenges in communication and connection to others, these approaches can support in providing relief. I am best positioned to serve clients who are open to learning the benefits of therapy and are committed and ready to make meaningful changes in their lives. While ambivalence about beginning therapy is normal, progress is most prevalent when committing to attending scheduled sessions. This allows us to work together to support you in managing or overcoming the symptoms you are experiencing.

Specialties

Top specialties

Anxiety

Depression

Other specialties

Grief

Self Esteem

Identifies as

Serves ages

Licensed in

Location

Virtual

My treatment methods

Cognitive Behavioral (CBT)

I utilize Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) in therapy to help clients struggling with anxiety and/or depression learn to identify and challenge unhelpful thoughts. I have utilized CBT in various clinical settings in both group and individual therapy sessions.

Dialectical Behavior (DBT)

I utilize Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) to help clients learn mindfulness, distress tolerance skills, effective interpersonal skills, and emotion regulation. I have experience utilizing DBT as a treatment modality in group and individual therapy sessions, in various clinical settings.

, 53 ratings

11 ratings with written reviews

August 8, 2026

I enjoyed our first appointment and also felt a positive connection. I felt I can open up to her and that’s important to me. Looking forward to more sessions.

Verified client, age 45-54
Review shared after session 1 with Holly

April 10, 2026

This was a super productive session. I liked how well you broke things down for me by looking at my worries as productive vs non productive. Reminding myself the non productive worries are not serving me.

Verified client, age 25-34
Review shared after session 5 with Holly

March 19, 2026

Really great listener, very engaging in conversation to let me know she's actually processing what I'm saying and ready to give feedback when necessary. Provides solutions and affirmations when needed. Overall, a FANTASTIC therapist. I feel like I can talk to her about anything :)

Verified client, age 25-34
Review shared after session 5 with Holly