Shaun Higley is a Registered Associate Marriage and Family Therapist under the supervision of Kim Sorrell, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (license #85392). He has been with Focus since 2020. Shuan is routinely embedded with the SDPD Wellness unit, available for crisis intervention and scheduled therapy sessions.

Shaun’s primary specialization and experience is in individual trauma focused approaches to include helping clients manage trauma, anxiety, depression, grief/loss, and substance use. Shaun’s therapeutic modality incorporates a combination of interventions to include Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Motivational Interviewing as well as Mindfulness Based techniques. Additionally, he is certified in suicide prevention.

Prior experience with providing individual and group services to homeless military veterans at Veteran’s Village San Diego (VVSD). This experience revolved around helping clients work through trauma related issues such as combat, childhood and sexual trauma, crisis intervention as well as substance use interventions. At VVSD, Shaun facilitated group therapy sessions to include Substance Use, Anger Management, life skills development and Art Therapy. Shaun also spent time providing clinical services to children and adolescents who had been removed from care-givers homes by Child Welfare Services at New Alternatives–Polinsky Children’s Center San Diego.

Prior to becoming a therapist, Shaun served 9 years active duty/1 year reserve in the United States Air Force working in Force Support Services and in Security Forces both with deployed experience. In February of 2020, Shaun earned his Master of Arts degree in Counseling Psychology specializing in Marriage and Family Therapy from National University.

Additional training and experience include Emergency Responder and Public Safety, Individuals inCrisis and Group Crisis Intervention and Trauma Professional Certified. Significant experience withconducting Critical Incident Stress Management defusing/debriefings with multiple local firstresponder agencies.