Rachel Merson, Psy.D. is the Clinical Director of the Child and Adolescent Fear and Anxiety Treatment Program at the Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders. Dr. Merson oversees all of the clinical activities conducted at Child CARD and is actively involved in providing supervision and training to Child CARD graduate students and trainees. Dr. Merson also provides individual therapy, facilitates parent training groups, and conducts neuropsychological evaluations. In addition, she is the Director of Child CARD’s Selective Mutism Program, and oversees Brave Bunch, an intensive treatment program for young children with Selective Mutism. Moreover, Dr. Merson is a member of the Selective Mutism Association’s (SMA) Board of Directors and currently holds the position of President-Elect. She often provides trainings for schools and other community groups on Selective Mutism and child anxiety.

Dr. Merson completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Virginia where she majored in Psychology and graduated with High Distinction. She went on to earn her Masters and Doctoral degrees in Clinical Psychology from the Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology (GSAPP) at Rutgers University. Dr. Merson completed a one-year, APA-approved internship at Franciscan Hospital for Children in Boston, Massachusetts, where she provided school-based mental health services, outpatient individual, group, and family therapy, and psychological and neuropsychological evaluations.

Dr. Merson enjoys reading, spending time outside, going to the beach, cooking (and eating!), and chasing after her two young sons.

Publications

Holly, L.E., Fenley, A., Kritikos, T., Merson, R., Abidin, R.R, & Langer, D.A. (2019). Evidence base update for parenting stress measures in clinical samples. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 48(5), 685-705. INVITED ARTICLE for the Evidence Based Assessments Updates series.

Reid, G., Mian, N., Grils, A., Reid, A., Merson, R., & Langer, D. (2017). Using research- informed pedagogical practices to maximize learning in youth cognitive behavioral therapy. Evidenced Based Practice in Child and Adolescent Mental Health, 4, 1-14.

Chu, B.C., Merson, R.A., Zandberg, L.J., & Areizaga, M. (2012). Calibrating for comorbidity: Clinical decision-making in youth depression and anxiety. Cognitive and Behavioral Practice, 19, 5-