Ep 60 Rebuilding Self-Trust After High-Control Faith with Merrill Wood

Welcome back, dear listener. Today, I have the absolute pleasure of sitting down with someone whose work aligns so powerfully with the heart of this podcast.

Merrill Wood is a licensed therapist and co-founder of the executive coaching group Monday Wellness, who helps leaders and teams cultivate healthy workplace cultures by transforming traditional hierarchies of power into ecosystems of relational support. She’s known for her ability to navigate difficult conversations with gentleness and to set boundaries with both warmth and clarity—skills that are so crucial, not just in leadership, but in every area of life.

But today, we’re going beyond workplace dynamics and into something deeply personal: how to trust yourself after being part of a high-control faith community. Merrill has her own lived experience in this realm, and in our conversation, she shares the insights, tools, and lessons that helped her rebuild self-trust — and that now inform the work she does with her clients.

If you’ve ever struggled to reclaim your inner voice after being in a rigid system—whether it’s a faith community, a workplace, or even a family dynamic—you’re going to want to stick around for this one. Merrill brings so much wisdom and compassion to this topic, and I can’t wait for you to hear her perspective.

So, let’s dive in. Here’s my conversation with Merrill Wood.

You can find Merrill at:
Website: https://www.mondaywellness.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_mondaywellness_/

And you can find me at:
Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@anna_holtzman⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
Email: [e-mail]
Website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.annaholtzman.com⁠