Dr. Monica Larson was born on the south side of Chicago; she and her twin sister, Veronica, were the youngest of six children raised by her mother, who instilled a solid work ethic and taught her to believe you can make important things in your life happen through education, passion in what you believe in, and hard work Monica graduated from Wheaton Central High School in January 1987.

In 1990, she worked for the DuPage County State Attorney as a paralegal and assisted with the research and preparation of cases across the spectrum of criminal activity including violent crimes, sexual assaults, property crimes, and drug trafficking. In 1997, she went to work for Lucent Technologies as a project manager. In 2002 she joined United Technologies as a sales representative, and from 2005 to 2011 shewas a Senior Specialist for the Chevron Corporation, managing compliance tracking, coordinating site safety inspections, and designing and administering a nationwide database. She also volunteered weekends and nights with the Antioch Police Department from 2007 to 2011.

While working full time for Chevron, Monica earned an associate’s degree in criminal justice from the University of Phoenix. In 2010, she earned a bachelor’s degree Summa Cum Laude in Criminal Justice with an emphasis on Crime Scene Investigation from Kaplan University. In June of 2013, while interning at Pasadena Recovery, she earned a master’s degree in forensic psychology from Argosy University and earned a PsyD in Clinical Psychology from the Chicago School of Professional Psychology accelerated program schedule, accredited by the American Psychological Association Los Angeles Campus.

Monica practiced sex offender treatment from 2014 -2015 with Orange Psychological Services, via a contract with the State of California. She then went on to practice victims of crime and traditional client treatment from 2015 to 2019, with Ekerette Essien PhD.