You can find help at Axis Integrated Mental Health in their Aurora clinic led by Dr. Kartiki Churi (MBA, FAPA, MD Psychiatry). Axis is a top-rated mental health clinic with four locations (Denver, Boulder, Westminster, and DTC) and is the trusted referral partner for integrative psychiatry for PCPs, Psychiatrists, and Providers.
Traditional medication management can fall short when it treats symptoms without addressing the daily habits, thought patterns, and support systems that keep those symptoms in place. Someone searching for a “psychiatric assessment near me” or “medication management for depression” is often not just looking for a diagnosis. They are looking for a provider who treats the whole picture.
Samrawit Mersha, PMHNP-BC, MPH, built her practice around that gap. As a board certified psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner with independent practice authority in Colorado, she can evaluate, diagnose, and manage a patient’s full course of psychiatric care herself, and she uses that authority to build something more complete than a refill visit.
Her Unique Approach
Samrawit’s visits combine comprehensive psychiatric evaluation, careful psychopharmacology, brief psychotherapy, and psychoeducation. Rather than treating medication as the whole plan, she treats it as one part of a plan that also includes practical, research-backed habits patients can control between appointments.
The unique standout: behavioral activation as a core tool, not an afterthought.
Samrawit is direct about a belief that surprised even her early in her career: behavioral activation for depression works, and it works well. The idea sounds almost too simple. Do more things, even when you do not feel like doing them.
But the evidence behind it is strong, and Samrawit builds it into real, doable steps for patients: a specific sleep target, a concrete plan for movement, and one clear way to stay socially connected each week.
She also works with patients on perspective, on the tendency to treat a hard moment as permanent or defining when most experiences are actually fluid. Stepping back from that tendency, she has found, reduces emotional reactivity and unnecessary worry more than most patients expect.
Who Benefits Most
Samrawit works with children, adolescents, and adults facing mood disorders, anxiety, PTSD, and bipolar disorders. She is especially well suited to patients who want both medication support and a therapeutic component in the same visit, rather than splitting that work across two separate providers.
She also partners closely with families, schools, therapists, and primary care providers, which makes her a strong fit for families managing a new diagnosis together. Because she is bilingual, she is able to serve a broader range of Colorado families searching for accessible, drug-free depression treatment and anxiety treatment options.
Samrawit’s Journey Into Psychiatry
Samrawit was originally drawn to psychology, intrigued by what shapes human behavior. She ultimately chose psychiatry because it let her go further than understanding and diagnosing. It let her actively treat, using medication alongside other tools.
That decision led her to a Master of Public Health from Grand Canyon University, earned summa cum laude in 2017, and years of outpatient and high acuity psychiatric nursing experience before she completed her Master of Science in Nursing, Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner track, at Regis University in 2023, graduating summa cum laude and receiving the Academic Excellence Award.
Along the way, Samrawit has done her own work on flexibility. By her own account, she has a natural preference for structure, predictability, and efficiency, and she has spent years building her tolerance for ambiguity instead, reminding herself that people operate differently and that not everything is within anyone’s control.
That personal growth shows up directly in her clinical style: patient, adaptable, and unwilling to force a single framework onto every person who walks through the door. She is guided by three values in particular: kindness, integrity, and excellence, and she measures her own success less by finished goals today and more by whether her work leaves people a little better off than she found them.
What to Expect
A first visit with Samrawit starts with a comprehensive psychiatric evaluation covering history, current symptoms, and goals for treatment. From there, she builds a plan that may include medication, brief psychotherapy, psychoeducation, or a combination of all three, tailored to what the patient actually needs rather than a one-size-fits-all track.
Follow-up visits are scheduled based on clinical need, and if a patient’s needs grow beyond medication and therapy alone, Samrawit can refer within Axis to alternative depression treatments like Deep TMS or Spravato. Axis works with most major insurance plans, and new patients are typically seen within seven days.
Next Steps
If you are ready for psychiatric care that treats the whole picture, Samrawit is accepting new patients now across Axis’s Colorado locations and via telehealth statewide. You can Book online, or call or text 720-400-7025.
If you want to ask more questions before booking an in-take, our co-founder, Liesl Perez, has a few slots open on her calendar this week. This is a free, no obligation call to understand your options before taking any decisions.
Book Your Free Benefits Consult
Frequently Asked Questions
What conditions does Samrawit treat?
Samrawit treats mood disorders, anxiety disorders, trauma related conditions, and bipolar spectrum disorders in children, adolescents, and adults.
Does Samrawit only prescribe medication, or does she also provide therapy?
Her visits combine medication management with brief psychotherapy and psychoeducation, so patients get both symptom relief and practical coping tools.
Is Samrawit accepting new patients?
Yes. New patients are typically seen within seven days across Axis’s Colorado locations and via telehealth.
Does Samrawit see patients through telehealth?
Yes. She sees patients both in person across Axis’s Colorado clinics and through telehealth statewide.
What insurance does Samrawit accept?
Axis works with most major insurance plans. You can check your specific coverage at axismh.com/check-my-coverage/ before scheduling.
