About Merry
Merry McKinnon is a California licensed marriage and family therapist with 33 years of professional experience. She focuses on helping people who struggle with anxiety, depression, stress, low self-esteem, grief, and attention differences.
Background and approach
Her work often centers on practical, day-to-day challenges that make life feel harder than it should. Many clients first notice problems like disorganization, isolation, or work and school setbacks before naming ADHD or learning differences.
Merry often supports people navigating ADHD, high-functioning Autism Spectrum traits (formerly called Asperger Syndrome), Non-verbal Learning Disorder, and auditory processing challenges. She also helps with social anxiety, seasonal mood changes, and young adult concerns.
Her approach centers on the therapy relationship and uses a behavioral-cognitive perspective. She aims to build trust, then help people recognize their strengths and try small changes that shift routines and thinking.
Sessions tend to be straightforward and focused on practical next steps. Merry emphasizes that it is never too late to find abilities and skills that have been overlooked.
She works with clients to reduce habits that get in the way and to move toward clearer goals. Her style balances encouragement with direct skills practice.
Clients who appreciate a relational, problem-solving approach may find her helpful. She offers sessions in English and works with adults seeking help for life direction, mood, attention, or social concerns.
Practical approaches for online care and attention challenges
Her work draws on behavioral-cognitive methods that look at thoughts, habits, and daily routines. This approach helps people spot unhelpful thinking and try small, repeatable changes that improve mood, focus, and motivation. It is often used for anxiety, depression, and attention differences.She also focuses on relational change, which means therapy begins by building trust and understanding how a person's patterns affect relationships and daily life. That helps guide which practical skills to try next, from organizing strategies to communication habits that reduce isolation.
Finding the right approach is a collaborative process. The therapist will work with each person to identify goals, test what helps, and adjust methods over time. Clients influence the focus and pace so work fits their needs and preferences.
Online sessions are offered by video calls, phone, live chat, or text-based messaging to provide flexibility. Video is useful for deeper conversations and exercises, phone is a good option when bandwidth is limited, and chat or text works well for quick check-ins or brief planning between sessions. These options make it easier to fit therapy into work, school, or busy family schedules and let clients choose the format that fits their routine.
Frequently asked questions
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Specialties and expertise
Top specialties
Also works with
- ADHD
- Autism and Asperger Syndrome
- Communication problems
- Depression
- Guilt and shame
- Intellectual disability
- Isolation / loneliness
- Life purpose
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Young adult issues
- Experience
- 33 years
- Licensed
- California
- Languages
- English