Dr. Chelsea Smith is part of the Early Life Child Psychology and Education Center Team in Valencia, California.  Dr. Smith has always had a passion for helping others. That passion, along with her natural curiosity regarding human thought and behavior, led her to the field of psychology.  She earned a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from California Lutheran University in 2011 in Thousand Oaks, California.  In 2012, she enrolled in the California School of Forensic Studies in Los Angeles, California, where she earned her Master’s in Clinical Forensic Psychology in 2014, and her Doctorate degree in Clinical Forensic Psychology in 2017.

In between degrees, Dr. Smith worked with children on the autism spectrum in the home and school.  She also completed her first practicum at a continuation high school in Alhambra, California where she gained additional experience working with adolescent students.  Her second practicum was in a drug rehabilitation facility where she provided individual and group counseling to those experiencing drug addiction and co-occurring mental disorders. Dr. Smith completed her pre-doctoral internship at the Pasadena Rehabilitation Institute where she was able to gain extensive experience administering, scoring, and interpreting neuropsychological batteries, as well as delivering behavioral medicine interventions to a chronic pain population.  Dr. Smith believes that we can obtain important clinical information through the use of psychological testing in order to make the most informed decisions regarding treatment.  As a parent, it is important to Dr. Smith that she provides the families she meets with the same compassion and understanding she would expect for her own family. Her experience working with children and their families, and administering psychological tests drew her to Early Life, and she is proud to be a part of such an outstanding team of professionals.