Dr. Chang earned her B.A. in psychology and women’s studies from Washington University in St. Louis, MO before pursuing her graduate studies in clinical psychology at Indiana State University. She completed her psychology internship at UCSD School of Medicine/Veteran’s Administration Medical Center in 1994, specializing in alcohol and drug treatment. She was then appointed to the faculty of the California School of Professional Psychology (CSPP), where she taught assessment, psychopathology, multi-cultural competence, and feminist psychotherapy until 2001.
In addition to these experiences, she has conducted clinical research in the area of resilience since 1990, focusing on individuals’ abilities to overcome negative events in their lives. She has a strength-based, multi-culturally sensitive, competency model of treatment that recognizes individual strengths in order to build upon them and develop new skills.
Over the past 25 years in San Diego, Dr. Chang has worked in many different settings: academia, veterans’ hospital, private hospital, public criminal rehabilitation, non-profit community health, and forensics. She has a broad base of experience in treating depression, anxiety, substance abuse, Post-Traumatic Stress, grief/loss, ethnic identity issues, and women’s issues.