Jonathan Merker began his career in counseling as a volunteer peer counselor in 2010 for LGBTQ individuals with terminal illnesses. This experience ignited and shaped his passion for helping others in his community. He graduated from The Seattle School in 2013 with a Master of Arts in Counseling Psychology. Jonathan is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor in New York,

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Jonathan’s counseling style is rooted in relationally analytic psychodynamic psychotherapy, which means that he uses the present moment and the relationship between counselor & client as the avenue for personal transformation. This style of counseling is useful generally for issues around relationships, families, identity, sexuality, grief, trauma, and depression. Jonathan studied under a sexual abuse expert in graduate school and has been working with trauma and abuse survivors throughout his career. Jonathan discovered that there are particular considerations for gay men who experience childhood sexual abuse and religious abuse, since the intersection of developmental homophobia and childhood sexual activation creates a particular stress response. Working with this stress response greatly reduces the symptoms that trauma can cause in our adult lives, and Jonathan takes great joy in seeing how his clients lives become more stable, fulfilling, and authentic. 

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In 2025 Jonathan guest lectured at NYU Grossman School of Medicine teaching medical students intricacies of trauma-informed care.

 

 In addition to private practice, Jonathan has worked as a trauma and bereavement counselor for the families of organ donors and as a supervisor at a suicide prevention hotline. Jonathan is an avid yoga and qigong practitioner and enjoys incorporating somatic work in psychotherapy. 

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NY Licensed Mental Health Counselor: 011143

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