Meet Dr. Merchant
Helping you exit survival mode and begin choosing what you want from life, not just what you inherited.
I’m a Denver-based psychologist, immigrant, parent, and fellow human specializing in trauma, immigration, EMDR, and supporting BIPOC & South Asian communities. I offer online sessions across Colorado and all PsyPact-eligible states.
Maybe it’s not about “what’s wrong with me?” and more about “which part of me needs tending?”
Many of the people I work with are incredibly put together and successful on the outside (think highly accomplished attorneys, engineers, scientists, C-suite professionals, and community leaders). Internally, though, they’re walking a tightrope with only so much wiggle room…and they’ve been walking it for years.
One misstep feels costly, and slowing down at all feels risky. But because they’ve been balancing for so long, it’s hard to imagine what another path looks like or whether another way is even possible.
There is relief in understanding your reactions make sense. And there is empowerment in knowing they are not permanent.
We can help your system move differently.
My approach
Insight alone doesn't change what lives in the body. Here, we work with both.
Many of my clients come to me having already done the intellectual work. But just “knowing” about their patterns hasn't been enough to change how they feel or react in the moment. That’s because understanding lives in the mind, but our deeper responses are rooted in our bodies and nervous systems.
A healthy nervous system isn’t calm all the time—it moves in response to stress, connection, threat, and safety. Our work is about increasing flexibility: helping your system recover more quickly and widening the window where you feel steady enough to choose how you respond instead of being pulled into old reactions automatically.
From that steadiness, you get to decide what needs to change—inside you and around you.
Therapy with me is…
Context-aware
I don’t separate personal struggles from the systems people live within. Racism, patriarchy, immigration stress, intergenerational narratives, and cultural expectations shape how we move through the world and how our nervous systems adapt. Therapy here includes naming those realities directly so we can understand the full context of what you’ve been carrying.
Real and human
I show up as a real person in this work. Therapy with me includes depth and science—and also humor, honest, down-to-earth language, and the occasional F-bomb when it fits. We’re not performing therapy here; we’re doing honest work together.
Deeply engaged
I am in this work because I genuinely care for my clients. I’m fully present in every session, paying attention not only to what you say but also to what’s happening underneath it. I’m not afraid of silence when something meaningful is unfolding, and I offer thoughtful challenge when it supports your goals.
Grounded in science
I’m a bit of a geek when it comes to neurobiology, because understanding how the brain and nervous system work can bring real hope. You don't have to know (if you don’t want to) how everything works—just that it does. Change is possible, even when you're working within a system that makes it feel like it's impossible.
“
Maybe you are searching among the branches, for what only appears in the roots.
— Rumi
METHODS I USE
I recognize that many foundational psychotherapy theories were developed within narrow, white, Western cultural frameworks. I approach these models critically and intentionally—grounding them in your cultural context, identity, and lived experience rather than applying them as blanket approaches. Your family structure, cultural values, migration history, and systemic realities are not side notes to this work; they are central to understanding how you show up in the world.
-
I have practiced EMDR for over a decade and use it as a central part of my work. While EMDR is widely known for treating trauma, it is not limited to trauma alone. EMDR can also be effective for anxiety, perfectionism, relationship patterns, performance blocks, grief, phobias, and other long-standing challenges that feel difficult to shift with only talk therapy.
EMDR helps the brain reprocess experiences that continue to influence how you respond today (whether or not you consciously label them as traumatic). It allows these patterns to shift at a deeper level, reducing the emotional intensity or “charge” associated with them and increasing flexibility in how you think, feel, and respond.
-
As a certified Safe and Sound Protocol practitioner, I incorporate nervous system-focused interventions grounded in polyvagal theory. This approach supports regulation by helping the body feel safer and more settled.
SSP is a structured, listening-based intervention that uses specially filtered music to support the regulation of the autonomic nervous system. By stimulating the vagus nerve through the auditory system, SSP helps the body shift out of states of hypervigilance or shutdown and into feelings of safety and connection. For more information, click here.
-
Our earliest relationships shape how we experience safety, connection, achievement, and self-worth. This work explores how those early dynamics continue to influence your current relationships and internal patterns.
By bringing awareness to these dynamics in a thoughtful, culturally attuned, and collaborative way, we create space for new ways of understanding yourself and relating to others in ways that feel aligned and authentic to you.
-
IFS helps us understand that we all have different “parts” of ourselves—protective parts, critical parts, younger parts, or parts holding pain. Rather than trying to eliminate these pieces of yourself, we work toward understanding their roles and building a more compassionate internal relationship. This often reduces internal conflict, self-criticism, and shame while increasing your own sense of clarity and choice.
MY BACKGROUND & TRAINING
My work is rooted in culturally responsive attachment-based and psychodynamic principles, with the understanding that our early relationships shape how we relate to ourselves, others, and the world around us. I integrate neuroscience and evidence–based approaches, drawing from polyvagal theory and the science of neuroplasticity. Attention to the nervous system and the body is central to every session. I also name and challenge the broader systems—historical and current—that shape our experiences, because I recognize that healing does not (and can’t) happen outside of context.
-
Psy.D., University of Denver, Colorado
M.A., University of Mumbai, India
Licensed Psychologist, Colorado (PSY.3517)
Authorized to practice interjurisdictionally through PSYPACT
-
Eye Movement Reprocessing & Desensitization (EMDR)
Certified Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP) Practitioner
Internal Family Systems (IFS)
-
Asian American Psychological Association (AAPA)
American Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress (AAETS)
You didn’t come this far just to survive.
Now, reclaim your agency—with room to rest, feel joy, and choose the life you actually want.
Virtual sessions available in CO & across all 43 PSYPACT eligible states.