About Dr. Shoshana Shea

SPECIALTIES

Dr. Shoshana Shea is a licensed clinical psychologist who works collaboratively with her clients to help them engage with the wisdom from within to move with purpose and meaning in their lives. She sees a wide range of clients from diverse backgrounds, age ranges, and with various clinical issues. Her focus is on helping people create more life balance, facilitate self-growth, and enhance self-esteem. She has over 20 years of combined experience at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), the Veteran’s Administration hospital, in research, and in private practice. She specializes in treating stress, anxiety, depression, weight, eating , body image, grief, trauma, high functioning autism, and substance use disorders, and in helping people through challenges related to relationship, academic, work, parenting, and life transitions.

THERAPEUTIC APPROACH

Dr. Shea’s main therapeutic approach is based on mindfulness and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT - pronounced “act” as one word).  ACT is based on helping individuals to engage with the wisdom they have inside to move in a deeply meaningful direction in their lives. They do this through carefully chosen committed actions that serve their values, rather than actions that are governed by avoidance of their pain and suffering. She also uses cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), motivational interviewing (MI), and other modalities when clinically indicated.

CLINICAL BACKGROUND, TRAINING, AND PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT

While at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), first as a postdoctoral fellow and then as an Assistant Clinical Professor in the UCSD Department of Psychiatry, she ran the intensive outpatient groups in the Veteran’s Administration (VA) Alcohol and Drug Treatment Program and supervised San Diego State University (SDSU)/UCSD Joint Doctoral Program students in Clinical Psychology. While at the VA, she developed a mindfulness-based treatment program (based on principles of ACT) to provide state of the art treatment to individuals with addictions. Her course is still being used today and has brought a great deal of relief and healing to many veterans.

Her training and experience have included work in the VA San Diego Healthcare System's Anxiety and Mood Disorders Clinic, the Family Mental Health Program, the Substance Abuse Mental Illness Program (“The dual diagnosis program”), and SDSU's Center for Eating and Weight Disorders and Psychology Clinics. She also served as Chair for the Women’s Committee for the San Diego Psychological Association (SDPA) and organized a symposium on infertility and a symposium on post-traumatic stress disorder for the SDPA conferences.

EDUCATION AND RESEARCH

After receiving her B.A. in Psychology from UCSD, her research focused on risk and protective factors related to alcohol involvement and alcohol use disorders in various cultural groups. She continued this work in graduate school and went on to complete her Ph.D. from the SDSU/UCSD Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology.  She has multiple publications and has received numerous awards, including pre- and post-doctoral awards for outstanding research from the Research Society on Alcoholism and a National Research Service Award (grant) from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism to complete her doctoral dissertation. Her education and research background have very much informed her clinical work, and she makes every effort to remain up to date to provide state of the art treatment.