"Shelly", as Dr. Middleton is known by to her friends and family, is a Sacramento native and an Alliant University alumni herself. Dr. Middleton recieved her PsyD in Marital and Family Therapy from Alliant and has been teaching here as an adjunct Professor since she graduated. She also currently works as the department Supervisor and therapist at Northern Valley Indian Health.

Dr. Middleton has experience working in various settings including private practice, community-based mental health, group homes, schools, and specializes in working with couples, women's issues, family-of-origin issues, first-generation/bi-cultural issues, boundaries, trauma, and codependency. Her preferred modalities include CBT, EMDR, Object-Relations, and Internal Family Systems.

Outside of the world of teaching and counseling, Dr. Middleton likes to spend her time with her husband and her big family. Dr. Middleton is very much into fitness and spends much of her time running, lifting weights, and boxing. She also enjoys playing the drums, watching reality TV and Marvel movies, going out with her girlfriends, and traveling.