General Info

Shannon Lerach was born and raised in San Diego, California, and graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of San Diego with Majors in Interdisciplinary Humanities and Philosophy, and a Minor in Psychology. She then received her Masters and Doctorate in Clinical Psychology graduating Magna Cum Laude from the California School of Professional Psychology and became a Licensed Clinical Psychologist. Shannon has spent her professional career working for a variety of county, non-profit and charitable organizations, including Kearny Mesa Juvenile Hall, Juvenile Forensic Services, The Chadwick Center for Children and Families at Rady’s Children’s Hospital, and the Fred Finch Youth Center. Her professional career has focused on serving the underserved and disenfranchised, and she has specialized in working with children and adolescents and their families who have experienced abuse and trauma. Most recently, Shannon spent a year dedicating her time and energy working in Liberia, a war-torn country that is still recovering from a 14-year civil war that ended in 2003, providing trauma-focused therapy to women who had experienced sexual violence, children, and former child soldiers and ex-combatants. In 2012, Shannon returned to her hometown of Solana Beach to live and open up a private practice, where she works as a trauma-specialist working with children, adolescents, adults and families utilizing therapeutic approaches including Child-Centered Play Therapy, Attachment-based therapies, family-systems theory, Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDRIA Certified), Mindfulness and parental coaching. Shannon will officially receive her Registered Play Therapist Certification in December 2014 through the University of California, San Diego.