Dr. Shannon Curry, PsyD, MSCP
Dr. Shannon Curry is a clinical and forensic psychologist, licensed in Arizona, California, Hawaii, and New York, and holding interjurisdictional practice authority in 43 additional states and jurisdictions under the Association of State and Provincial Psychology Boards’ (ASPPB) PSYPACT commission. She owns the Curry Psychology Group, a leading multi-specialty counseling center in Orange County, CA, and has 20 years of experience conducting research, therapy, and psychological evaluations pertaining to trauma, violence, and relationships.
Dr. Curry has 20 years of experience providing therapy and assessment services across military, forensic, and community settings.
As Director of the Curry Psychology Group, Dr. Curry helps military and civilian clients transform their relationships, overcome grief and trauma, and achieve overall life improvement. She is committed to social justice work, and serves on the advisory board for the University of California Center for Unconventional Security Affairs (CUSA); engaging in research and programming to address global issues of poverty, warfare, violence, and sustainability. Her own research on culturally-responsive trauma therapy in international communities has received awards from the American Psychological Association and Psychology Beyond Borders.
Dr. Curry regularly serves as a psychologist expert and independent forensic evaluator for state courts, law enforcement agencies, the U.S. military, and private attorneys. She enjoys utilizing her psychological expertise to provide clear, articulate, and well-researched opinions in both civil and criminal matters. Dr. Curry is a certified forensic examiner for the Hawaii Department of Courts and Corrections and a registered psychological evaluator for California courts and law enforcement agencies.
CREDENTIALS
Dr. Curry earned her Master’s and Doctorate degrees in Clinical Psychology at Pepperdine University. She also holds a postdoctoral Master of Science degree in Clinical Psychopharmacology (MSCP) from Alliant University, making her one of a handful of psychologists nationwide with eligibility for prescriptive authority in military jurisdictions.
She completed her doctoral internship in psychology at Tripler Army Medical Center, an American Psychological Association (APA)–Accredited training site, where she was one of only two civilian interns admitted to the otherwise all-military cohort. Under the purview of the Department of Defense, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, and the National Center for PTSD, Dr. Curry received intensive and unparalleled training in combat psychology, trauma, and the assessment and treatment of PTSD.
Dr. Curry furthered her specialization in trauma and forensic psychology with a two-year post-doctoral residency at Hawaii State Hospital. While there, she served as Co-Chair of the Hospital’s Board for Trauma-Informed Care and led the hospital’s transition to a trauma-informed, reduced-restraint model of care.
ADDITIONAL SPECIALTY AREAS
Dr. Curry also specializes in the Gottman Method of Couples Therapy, a highly effective and practical approach to relationship improvement. She has completed all three levels of Gottman training and is a Workshop Leader/Educator for both the Gottman “Seven Principles of Making Relationships Work” and “Bringing Baby Home” programs.
Dr. Curry also holds a unique specialization in animal-assisted therapy, having previously served on the boards of Hawaii State Hospital’s Animal Assisted Therapy Program and the Hawaii Canine Assistance Network (HI-CAN) service dog organization. In her latter role, Dr. Curry led a program for Wounded Warriors wherein they assisted with the training of future service dogs. Today, Dr. Curry is a certified therapy dog handler through the National Alliance of Therapy Dogs. She regularly lectures on the mental health benefits of animal-assisted therapy and the distinguishing requirements between service dogs, therapy dogs, and emotional support animals. Dr. Curry’s first dog, Gunnar, was a trained and certified therapy dog with the National Alliance of Therapy Dogs, and greeter for the original Curry Psychology Group offices. Today, Dr. Curry’s malamute, Maia, follows in Gunnar’s footsteps and is available for cuddles in the Newport Beach office.
FAQs
Who is Dr. Shannon Curry?
Dr. Shannon Curry is a clinical and forensic psychologist licensed in Arizona, California, Hawaii, and New York, and she holds interjurisdictional practice authority in 43 additional states and jurisdictions through the PSYPACT commission of the Association of State and Provincial Psychology Boards (ASPPB). Dr. Curry owns Curry Psychology Group, a leading multispecialty mental health center in Newport Beach, California. She serves on boards at the University of California and the California Psychological Association, and she is a visiting researcher at the University of California, Irvine. Dr. Curry is an expert in psychological trauma, interpersonal violence, human behavior, and relationships, and her work spans direct clinical care, scientific research, and high-profile forensic psychological evaluations. Dr. Curry is regularly retained as an expert witness by state and federal courts, the United States military, and private law firms representing both plaintiffs and defendants. Dr. Curry gained international recognition for her expert testimony in the 2022 defamation trial of Johnny Depp v. Amber Heard, where she presented the findings of her court-ordered independent psychological examination of defendant, Amber Heard. Dr. Curry’s detailed testimony was televised in full and remains publicly available.
What are Dr. Curry's degrees?
Dr. Curry holds a doctorate in clinical psychology from Pepperdine University (PsyD), two master’s degrees, and a bachelor’s degree, representing twelve years of university education in total.
Dr. Curry began her higher education at Georgetown University on a pre-medicine track, majoring in human biology. After her first year she transferred to the University of California, Irvine to study psychology, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Social Behavior, awarded magna cum laude. She then spent two years at Pepperdine University earning a Master of Arts in psychology, followed by four more years at Pepperdine earning her doctorate in clinical psychology, in a program accredited by the American Psychological Association. Dr. Curry then completed two additional years of post-doctoral coursework in the biological, chemical, and medical sciences to earn the Master of Science in Clinical Psychopharmacology (MSCP) from Alliant University. Approximately 500 psychologists nationwide hold this credential, which is the advanced educational requirement for psychologists to prescribe medication in select jurisdictions that allow it. Her complete list of awarded degrees is:
- Doctor of Psychology (PsyD), clinical psychology, Pepperdine University
- Master of Science (MSCP), clinical psychopharmacology, Alliant University, completed post-doctorally
- Master of Arts, psychology, Pepperdine University
- Bachelor of Arts, psychology and social behavior, University of California, Irvine, awarded magna cum laude
Where did Dr. Curry complete her clinical training?
Dr. Curry completed a highly competitive, APA-accredited doctoral internship at Tripler Army Medical Center, where she was one of two civilians admitted to a cohort traditionally reserved for active-duty military officers. The internship also included a weekly externship at the Waianae Coast Comprehensive Health Center, a rural community clinic on Oahu, where she provided assessment and counseling services.
Dr. Curry then completed a two-year post-doctoral forensic residency at Hawaii State Hospital, the State of Hawaii’s only public psychiatric hospital, where nearly all patients are admitted by order of the courts. There she co-chaired the hospital’s trauma-informed care initiative and secured a grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) that funded a hospital-wide shift to a trauma-informed model of care.
Dr. Curry completed three years of clinical training in counseling and forensic psychology as a doctoral student, before her internship and residency. Her year-long rotations were at Metropolitan State Hospital, a forensic psychiatric facility for people with severe mental illness who are involved in the justice system; the Orange County Sheriff’s Department juvenile diversion program; and Pepperdine University’s Community Counseling Center.
What research has Dr. Curry published?
Dr. Curry conducted her doctoral research in Ayacucho, Peru, to assess the effectiveness of a written expression exercise for reducing psychological trauma among a population that had been heavily affected by twenty years of political violence during the Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path) insurgency. The purpose of Dr. Curry’s research was to advance the accessibility of mental health care by identifying effective alternatives to talk therapy that may be more culturally responsive and realistic for the daily lives of much of the world’s population. Dr. Curry’s study won the American Psychological Association’s Diversity Dissertation Award and a Psychology Beyond Borders Mission Research Award, and the dissertation can be read in full through Pepperdine University’s Digital Commons.
Dr. Curry’s publications and conference presentations include:
- “Shifting perspectives: Culturally responsive interventions with Latino substance abusers,” co-authored, in the Journal of Ethnicity in Substance Abuse
- “Machismo,” co-authored, in The Encyclopedia of Counseling
- Gender-moderated effects of expressive writing on traumatic stress, presented at the annual convention of the Western Psychological Association
What humanitarian and community work has Dr. Curry done?
Dr. Curry’s humanitarian and community work runs from medical missions in the Peruvian Andes to service dog programs for wounded service members and young people in custody, and it continues today through her advisory board seats at the University of California and the care her practice provides without charge to active duty service members and survivors of trafficking and mass violence.
Dr. Curry’s volunteer service began with the Peruvian American Medical Society (PAMS), which she traveled with on medical missions to Ayacucho, Peru, providing psychological services. On one such trip a nurse asked her to sit with a teenage boy who had been severely burned. He had just been told that the reconstructive surgeries he had come for could not be done in the short time the team would be there. Dr. Curry went home to California and found a hospital that could do them, and Shriners Hospitals for Children in Los Angeles agreed to treat him at no cost. Then the harder part began, because she had to find him again. All she had was a photograph and the knowledge that he had come to the mission with a nurse from a remote village in the Andes above Ayacucho. When she learned that the United States Air Force was planning a mission to that region, she wrote to the email address listed on its main webpage. A response came within hours, and her message had already been forwarded up the chain of command to the mission commander in Ayacucho. Two days later they found the boy. Within weeks he had a visa, and he and his nurse flew to California, where he stayed with Dr. Curry for nine months while he received medical care before returning home to his family.
Dr. Curry’s work in Hawaii centered on service dogs. She served on the board of the Hawaii Canine Assistance Network (HI-CAN), led an animal-assisted therapy program for the Warrior Transition Battalion in which service members recovering from service-related injuries trained future service dogs, and brought that same training to the Hawaii Youth Correctional Facility, where she co-directed a rehabilitation program for young people in custody. She is a certified therapy dog handler through the National Alliance of Therapy Dogs, and she and her dog, Gunnar, worked as a therapy dog team at Hawaii State Hospital and at Curry Psychology Group.
Dr. Curry has held advisory board seats at the University of California for the past fifteen years, working with an interdisciplinary team of academics, scientists, government officials, and medical providers on poverty, violence, human exploitation, disease, and environmental sustainability through research, community programs, and legislative advocacy. Through her work with the University of California Frontline Research to End Exploitation (FREE) lab, she works with community organizations to assess and enhance the effectiveness of evidence-based services for survivors of sex trafficking, under-resourced communities, and incarcerated populations.
Dr. Curry built Curry Psychology Group with a commitment to serving military personnel and their families, trauma survivors, and other vulnerable populations. The practice accepts TRICARE military insurance and no other plan, which keeps doctoral-level therapy within reach of active-duty service members, veterans, and their families. Through partnerships with nonprofit trauma response and human rights organizations, Dr. Curry and her clinicians also provide care without charge to women who have survived sex trafficking, survivors of the Las Vegas mass shooting, and refugees from Afghanistan.