Merrill Wood

Taking care of your child's well-being and mental health is my passion. I grew up in Wichita Falls and after high school moved to Austin and graduated from The University of Texas with a bachelors of science in nursing. I lived and worked in Austin for about 10 years. During this time, I met my husband, Adam, and worked as a pediatric oncology nurse at Dell Children’s Hospital.

I obtained my masters of science in nursing as a primary care pediatric nurse practitioner in 2010. After graduation my husband and I decided to move back to Wichita Falls. I worked as a pediatric nurse practitioner at the Clinics of North Texas for over 10 years. During this time, I discovered my passion for helping children and teens who were struggling with life’s challenges.

Throughout my own personal journey and working with many children and teens dealing with anxiety and depression, I decided I wanted to provide more in depth mental health care for children and teens. I wanted to ensure I was providing evidence-based high quality mental health care. In 2019, I obtained my pediatric mental health specialist certification in 2019 and went on to pursue my doctorate in nursing.

Throughout my doctorate program, I also trained with the Beck Institute to become a Certified Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Clinician. I graduated with my doctorate in nursing and finished my CBT training in 2022. I want to ensure Wichita Falls and the surrounding area had access to cognitive behavioral therapy and treat both aspects of mental health care.

Outside of work, I am a wife to Adam (an amazing middle school math teacher), a mom to two amazing boys, and love my dogs. I enjoy spending time with my family, being outdoors, taking walks, and going to the lake.