Jaclyn Chung
MA, Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist based in San Diego, CA
I believe healing relationships with others starts with healing the relationship with yourself.
Hi, I’m Jaclyn (she/her), and I believe healing happens in the context of loving, trustworthy, and accepting relationships. I know this because that’s what it took for me. In my early therapy, I discovered that I had become disconnected from my true self. I repeated the same relationship patterns over and over again. I used coping mechanisms that protected me but also kept me stuck. I carried shame, self-doubt, and a deep sense of not feeling like “enough.” I looked outside myself for stability and reassurance, never realizing that my nervous system didn’t know how to feel safe inside my own body.
Learning about attachment and later experiencing body-based, attachment repair therapies gave me a completely different way of understanding my struggles. Instead of seeing my patterns as “bad habits” or personal failures, I began to understand them as my nervous system’s best attempt to keep me safe. Through warm, consistent attunement from several of my therapists — and through approaches like the Adult Attachment Repair Model — I experienced what we call corrective emotional experiences: moments of being met, understood, regulated, and cared for in ways my younger self never had.
This work helped me come back to myself. Slowly, my body began to soften. My relationships felt more grounded. I could stay present with my emotions rather than shutting down, clinging, or abandoning myself. I learned how to offer myself the compassion, steadiness, and protection I had long sought from others. Much of my healing happened — and still happens — through approaches that work directly with the nervous system, the body, and the deeper attachment patterns wired into us early in life.
Healing is possible for you too.
Together, we’ll explore your relationship with yourself and with others. We’ll bring gentle awareness to the patterns your body learned to survive, and help your nervous system experience what safety, connection, and self-trust actually feel like. We’ll work to rewrite old narratives of who you are, discover what you truly need and want, and support you in creating relationships that feel nourishing instead of depleting.
You’ll learn how to stay present with yourself — not only in life’s calm moments, but also during stress, conflict, and pain. Ultimately, our work is about helping you feel more at home in your body, more grounded in your truth, and more capable of the relationships and life you’re longing for.
I am trained in a variety of modalities, including EMDR, but my primary therapeutic lens is the Adult Attachment Repair Model (AARM). This approach integrates attachment theory, nervous-system regulation, and body-based healing — and it deeply informs the way I support clients in restoring safety, connection, and self-trust.
I hold a Bachelor of Arts in English and Communication from Florida State University and a Master of Arts in Marriage and Family Therapy from Bethel University. I’m involved in both local and statewide therapist communities including CAMFT, and I also provide clinical supervision to trainees. I am currently collecting hours toward becoming an AAMFT Approved Supervisor.
I am a young breast cancer survivor and a mom to toddler boy/girl twins — both experiences that have shaped my understanding of resilience, vulnerability, and the healing power of connection. I enjoy spending time with my husband and our dog, preferably in nature. I value the mind–body–emotional–spiritual connection and invest deeply in my relationships. Outside of the therapy room, I love skiing, hiking, traveling, yoga, pilates, dance, and personal writing. Creative expression and meaningful friendships are central to my life.
Looking ahead, I feel increasingly drawn to community-based healing — spaces where people can reconnect with themselves, one another, and the land. I’m especially interested in work that honors ancestral wisdom, nature-based practices, and the deeper layers of connection that support belonging and transformation. My hope is to continue seeking experiences, training, and teachings that align with this path.
I affirm, celebrate, and advocate for neurodiversity and LGBTQIA identities. I fully support clients who are transitioning. I am committed to providing care that is anti-racist, anti-ableist, and culturally sensitive by staying educated, informed, and responsive to evolving standards of care.