Dr. Sheila Modir

Dr. Sheila Modir is a board-certified Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychologist at Children’s Hospital of Orange County (CHOC). She received her master’s degree in Social Welfare (MSW) from UCLA and her Ph.D. in Clinical, Counseling, and School Psychology from UC Santa Barbara. She completed her doctoral internship at the UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior and her postdoctoral fellowship at CHOC. Dr. Modir has extensive experience utilizing evidence-based approaches, such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Parent Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT), and Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT), when working with children, adolescents, and young adults who experience depression, anxiety, trauma, and difficulties coping with stress. In addition to scholarly articles, Dr. Modir has written an award-winning children’s book called The Proudest Color, focused on cultural pride, emotion identification, and self-esteem. She has been interviewed on several occasions for television, radio, and podcasts about trauma and resilience, and consults on film and television productions, including for Disney and Freeform, to ensure that mental health is portrayed responsibly. She is passionate about advocacy and reducing mental health stigma and has advocated at the state and federal level for better mental health care policies, in addition to doing international work with refugees for the Red Cross. With clients, Dr. Modir works collaboratively with individuals and families as they work toward healing, growth, and cultivating resilience. Dr. Modir is also bilingual in Farsi.