Dr. Colleen Merrifield

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Dr. Merrifield is a Clinical Psychologist who specializes in anxiety, depression, and related difficulties. She is licensed to practice with both youth (13-17) and adults (18+). She is also a Staff Psychologist at St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences at McMaster University, and a Clinical Consultant for the Ontario Structured Psychotherapy (OSP) Program – West Region, a provincial program focused on increasing access to evidence-based psychotherapy for depression, anxiety, and anxiety-related conditions for Ontarians. 

Dr. Merrifield received her Ph.D. in 2014 from the University of Waterloo and completed her residency at the Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre and the University of Ottawa. She has held pervious positions at the Anxiety Treatment and Research Clinic, Mood Disorders Program, and the WSIB Mental Health Specialty Clinic at St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton. Dr. Merrifield also currently serves on the hospital’s COVID-19 Healthcare Worker Support Team providing individual and group peer support, coping, and resilience strategies to frontline healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. Merrifield teaches CBT courses at the graduate and post-graduate level and actively supervises clinical and research learners. She has published scientific papers in peer-reviewed journals, book chapters, and has helped to develop and write open-access clinical tools for use by mental health practitioners. She has presented her work at local, national, and international professional conferences.  

Dr. Merrifield offers assessment, diagnostic, and treatment services for individuals 13 years of age and older, who are struggling with a wide range of difficulties including anxiety and avoidance, low mood and depression, lack of motivation, obsessions and compulsions, sleep difficulties, trauma, work, school, and life stress, bullying, and self-esteem and assertiveness difficulties. Dr. Merrifield primarily practices from a CBT framework and has training in complementary approaches such as Cognitive Processing Therapy and mindfulness-, acceptance-, and compassion-based psychotherapies. Dr. Merrifield is committed to providing a client-centred, caring approach combined with the most up to date evidence-based treatments to meet each client’s unique needs.