Licensed Professional Counselor, PhD, LPC, NCC | Integrated Counseling

I started my practice with a simple but radical idea: To create a space for people who were being targeted by society, a space where it was okay to be stressed out. “Community serving community” has always been the foundation of everything we do.

I did my master’s clinical training on a burn intensive care unit. That experience taught me what it meant to walk alongside people in deep physical and emotional pain, and to recognize that even good medical intervention can be stressful. I entered the doctoral program at UW–Madison as an atypical candidate: My bachelor’s was from UW–Parkside, but I had something important that mattered: Experience in the real, human side of health care.

To the best of my knowledge, I was the first openly trans individual to graduate from any of UW’s four doctoral psychology programs. That came with challenges. There was even a Title IX event, and Susan Crawford—yes, that Susan Crawford—was my lawyer. But all of it shaped the kind of psychologist I wanted to become: Someone who understands how layered and complicated accessing care can be, especially for trans and queer folks.

Now, my clinic focuses on offering high-quality, affirming care to those who have historically been denied it. We specialize in readiness evaluations for gender-affirming surgery, providing both the clinical scaffolding and the humanity that the system too often strips away. We’ve also expanded into ADHD assessments for adults, because so many queer and trans people struggle to access testing.

Our team is growing, too. One of our clinicians, Dr. Rachel Dyer, specializes in reproductive health and abortion-related psychological wellness. Dr. Dyer provides individual counseling both in-person and via telehealth. Together, we ran our first abortion aftercare support group this summer. We are offering queer-centered mental health care around reproductive health, something that nobody else is doing.

I’m based in Madison and Milwaukee, with plans to expand to the Fox Valley soon. If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that healing isn’t just individual, it’s collective. And if I have the training and the privilege to offer that healing, then I have a responsibility to do it.

Dr. Elaina Meier, Licensed Professional Counselor, PhD, LPC, NCC
Dr. Rich Merrion, DC, Chiropractor
UnityPoint Health–Meriter, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry

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