Meet Dr. Shaun-Adrián Chofla, M.A, Ed.D. 

Selecting a therapist is one of the most important steps you take on your mental health therapy journey or that of your child and family. If we were to work together, your reading this bio would be the start of our relationship.

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I don’t know you, but I can understand the questions you may have about me right now. It is my hope that I will answer a few of them by sharing my background, why I became a therapist, and how I approach my work.

 

I experienced various forms of adversity as a child, and it is for this reason that I studied child development as an undergraduate and graduate student. I wanted to understand my own development, so I could help children. My education first led me to serve children and families in early learning roles, such as early intervention and behavior consultancy. I worked in partnership with families as well as teachers and other professionals to support children and their families.

 

I learned a lot in those varied roles working with children and families which led me to becoming a professor of child development, where my intended focus was to teach others about what I had learned. My desire to teach at the college level was what led to my completing a doctoral degree in education. And soon, over my twenty-year college teaching career, I learned that one of my roles was as a source of support for those with children in their lives. My students were parents (biological and adoptive), family members, and teachers and other professionals serving children. And with more and more families coming to me with histories of trauma, whose children encountered trauma, their questions were often about what to do and how to help. In many cases, those private meetings outside of class evolved into what felt like therapy. I was not a trained therapist, but I was empathetic and knew how to create a supportive space where others felt comfortable sharing. After a wildfire in my area affected my community, I realized I needed more specific training to serve as a resource for families with children and families struggling with mental health issues, so I pursued a graduate degree in marriage and family therapy with a dual focus on professional clinical counseling.  

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I hope that my story has resonated with you and that I have gained some of your trust as a potential client.