Good Neighbor Podcast: Orange County

A Therapist Explains Why You Don’t Need To Be Broken To Benefit From Therapy

• Rachel Fyffe & Dr. Shelly Zavala

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What if therapy wasn’t a last resort but your best tool for ongoing growth? We sit down with Dr. Shelly Zavala—psychotherapist, author, and mountain hiker—to explore how interpersonal neurobiology turns counseling into a practical, science-based path to stronger relationships, better self-regulation, and sustainable change. Dr. Shelly explains how our brains and bodies co-create reactions, why partners often collide at the level of biochemistry, and how simple, practiced awareness can shift patterns that felt stuck for years.

Dr. Shelly’s journey from chef and operations manager to seasoned clinician is a story of reinvention, proving that it’s never too late to rewire your life. She shares why her Newport Beach practice has thrived on word of mouth for decades and why she treats therapy like personal training for the mind: you don’t stop at the finish line—you set new goals. We dig into the emerging role of ketamine-assisted psychotherapy at microdoses, focusing on safety, integration, and the neuroscience behind quieting the brain’s alarm systems so deeper, more authentic work can happen in session.

Beyond the office, Dr. Shelly brings lessons from the trail. Coaching people up mountains, she teaches how to push through the mental dip that shows up halfway to the summit—and halfway to any meaningful change. Her upcoming writing blends hiking, psychology, and real-world tools that help you prepare, pace yourself, and keep going when your mind wants to turn back. Throughout the conversation, she emphasizes collaboration: you are the expert on you; she’s there to map the route, hold the rope, and celebrate each step.

If you’re curious about interpersonal neurobiology, individual and couples therapy, ketamine microdosing in therapy, or the mindset that gets you from stuck to summit, you’ll find practical insights and fresh motivation here. 

Visit:  https://www.drzavala.com/

Subscribe, share this episode with a friend who loves science-backed growth, and leave a review to help more listeners discover the show.

SPEAKER_01:

This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, a place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Rachel Five.

SPEAKER_02:

Well, welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast. Now, are you looking for a psychotherapist that specializes in interpersonal neurobiology as well as individual and couples therapy? Well, you know, this resource is closer than you think. Today I have the pleasure of introducing your good neighbor, Dr. Shelly Zavala, with Positive Living, Dr. Shelly Zavala. Dr. Shelley, how are you doing today?

SPEAKER_00:

I'm doing great, thank you. And thank you for having me here today.

SPEAKER_02:

Well, gosh, we are really excited to learn about you and your practice. So tell us about your practice.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, it's quite interesting because I'm obviously a psychotherapist in Newport Beach, and uh also have my doctorate in psychology. Um and being a therapist, it's interesting because people think that you come to therapy because something's broken or something's wrong. And what's interesting of working with interpersonal neurobiology, it's really about a growth model, right? How to take control of understanding your body and the brain and the biochemistry. And as couples were always reacting from each other's biochemistry. Um, and even as individuals, we're acting off everybody else's biochemistry. So when you can understand that and learn that, um, it really can empower your life in ways that you could never imagine. So it's it's been around for about 30 years now, but it's coming more mainstream. Uh, but I've been practicing this for about 30 years.

SPEAKER_02:

Wonderful. Well, how did you get into this practice and this business really?

SPEAKER_00:

Well, that's a very interesting story, and it goes way back because I I didn't grow up thinking I was going to be a therapist, but um, I think it was my calling because when I was a little kid in school, I always remember this little girl running out of the classroom crying because the teacher told her off and I ran after her. Um, and the teacher told me if I keep running after her, I'm in trouble too. And I kept running after her. Um, I was more worried about her than getting into trouble, and so I always had this connection uh to wanting to understand people and obviously being helpful to people. And I didn't start out that way. I was actually a chef when I left school and uh owned a restaurant, and then when I moved to the States, I was an operations manager and I loved working with people. I actually just had this knack of doing very well, but did not like the politics and the other side of being in the corporate world. So I went back to school in my 30s, my mid to late 30s, and uh did my master's and then did my doctorate. And here I am now in uh Newport, and I've had a very successful practice here for about 25 years.

SPEAKER_03:

Wonderful. Well, what do you think are maybe some myths or misconceptions in your industry?

SPEAKER_00:

You know, one of the biggest ones I think is that you have to be broken or in crisis. And I, you know, one of my clients put it really well. He he came in and he was actually in a bit of a crisis, and we got to sort of the end of crisis, and I said, Oh, well, you're doing really well now, you know, what would you like to do? And he looks at me and he gives me this sort of like, how dare I ask that he's finished therapy? He says, Well, I don't finish uh personal training physically when I get to my goals. We just set new goals. I'm like, okay, right? So people think that it's just when things are not going well, but actually I look at it more as that idea of we get to know ourselves better and we get to become more of who we are, right? And it's yes, we're here obviously for things when they don't go well, but it's also great to figure out more about the things that we don't know about ourselves or the things that we don't understand about ourselves, and to be better in the world is to really know each other and know ourselves, and you do that by by exploring.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, yeah, I love that. So, um, you know, now we know marketing is really the heart of every business. So, how are you finding new patients and stuff like that?

SPEAKER_00:

Oh wow, I have been so fortunate, I have never had to market. No, ever. I still opened my door here about 25 years ago. Within six months, I was full, and I've I've been full ever since. So it's all been word of mouth. Um, I always I I I really do have a passion. I think people feel that. Um, I'm also learning all the time, like right now. This is this is gonna be interesting. I've actually been studying and hoping to incorporate my practice, but I've just started studying uh ketamine um with psychotherapy. This is like microdosing, and it's very new, but the studies around it are so phenomenal. I've just so I joined up and I'm now doing a certification in it. Um, this isn't like a psychedelic experience, this is like a minute, like mini dose, microdosing, and you use it during therapy, and it allows the brain when we talk about the neuroscience to really quiet that crazy part that has got all these stories and allows us to really connect to more of who we are underneath and really bring that out. So I've always just sort of had something to offer clients that they really enjoy and like, so it's all word of mouth.

SPEAKER_02:

Now, have you ever thought of doing your own podcast?

SPEAKER_00:

You know, I have, actually, funny enough. Um, that's where I'm a little behind the times because I wouldn't know where to start because I'm writing a book right now. I've actually got a couple of books going, so that that takes up time. I'm learning all um, you know, a lot about this catamine, and it's as I said, fascinating. And then the in the middle of all that, I'm a big hiker and camper. So I do a lot of uh like yesterday, I was up in the mountains in the San Gabriels. Um, so one of my books is actually I spent a year uh taking most weekends, long weekends, and going camping by myself and hiking with my camper and my dog. And uh I can tell you I had a lot of uh learnings uh that I put into a book of what not to do in life, and they all came from hiking mountains and sometimes succeeding and sometimes not. So life is pretty busy, but I have I would love to reach more of an audience because I think I have something good to say to you know to help people.

SPEAKER_02:

Absolutely, absolutely. So I was just gonna ask you what you like to do for fun, but you just touched upon it. Any any more expansion on that? Obviously, you love to hike, but anything else that you'd like to say to that?

SPEAKER_00:

You know, I think we all have to find um that thing. Like my friend's a painter, and that's her thing that really brings us alive and that we learn about ourselves selves through, right? When I climb a mountain or hike up a mountain, uh halfway through it, I'm like, well, what was I thinking? But by the time I get to the top, it's like, wow, this is amazing. And a lot of times we're afraid to do that pushing through phase, right? Um, and I think that's sort of a lot of what I help people do is push that through that. But when we talk about what I like to do, I actually coach people to hike up mountains. Um, because it's uh coming a lot of it is mental, especially when you get into the altitude, is getting that uh place of like I can do this even though my body's telling me go down, right? And then the other part is my writing. So now I bring my love of psychology and my love of hiking and camping together into uh the same thing. So I'm either doing I'm working, I'm hiking, or I'm writing. So I love that.

SPEAKER_02:

Well, Dr. Shelley, you know, please tell our listeners one thing they should remember about positive living.

SPEAKER_00:

I think that don't look at therapists, not just positive living. I guess I I work this way, not all therapists work this way, but therapists aren't just about listening to you, they're about engaging you where you are, and you're the expert in you, and I'm the expert at me. And we're here to create a game plan, like you know, a thousand-piece puzzle, and I'm helping you to do that. And you having someone a cheerleader, we know this from studies, is when you have a person beside you, makes all the difference. Like I've had to have a few MRIs, I can't do it by myself. But if I have someone holding my hand, someone I know, I can do it. And I think that's just the same period for anything when we're going through something we want to do better at or learn from or grow, having that therapist beside you can make all the difference. And I I've seen that through many of my clients that were like paralyzed in life, and just by sort of holding their hand through it, it's just amazing. And it's not like therapy how we used to think of it, right? Of someone just sitting there and going, aha, right, or telling you what to do. No, you're collaborative.

SPEAKER_02:

I love that. So, how can our listeners learn more about Positive Living, Dr. Shelly Zavala?

SPEAKER_00:

Okay, um, I do have a website, probably hasn't been updated recently, but it's there. Um, and that's under drzavala uh.com. Um, you can also feel free to reach out to me. I've always answer questions. I love to uh hear from people. You can even email me at drzavala at mac, that's mac.com. Uh she, you know, anything about the neurobiology or the ketamine treatments, or just if they we want to refer to a different therapist. I'm always I still had this philosophy when I got into this field. I'm not here just to help my clients, I'm here to make the world better. And that sounds very idealistic, and yes, I am very idealistic. But if I can help people, I'm the person who's gonna help someone at the side of the road. Yes, yeah, I love that. Um, and that's just what I'm here for.

SPEAKER_02:

So wonderful. Well, Dr. Shelley, I just I really appreciate you being on the show, and I wish you and your practice really all the best moving forward.

SPEAKER_00:

Thank you. I appreciate that. It's been a pleasure uh talking with you.

unknown:

Awesome.

SPEAKER_01:

Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to gnporgecounty.com. That's gmp orangecounty.com or call 714 941862.