Chai Cortez

Chai Cortez is a Clinical Mental Health Counseling graduate student at the University of Western States, where she is pursuing her master’s degree with an emphasis in sport and performance psychology. Born and raised on Maui, Hawaiʻi, Chai has a strong connection to her local community and is passionate about supporting individuals from diverse backgrounds and walks of life.

Before entering the counseling field, Chai competed as a Division I collegiate soccer player at the University of Oregon and later played professionally in the NWSL with the San Diego Wave. Her experiences as an athlete, coach, and educator helped shape her understanding of the pressures people can face surrounding identity, expectations, performance, relationships, burnout, and major life transitions.

While Chai has a special interest in working with athletes and the mental health challenges that can accompany sports and performance, her passion for counseling extends far beyond athletics. She enjoys supporting adolescents, young adults, and individuals navigating anxiety, stress, self-esteem, identity development, relationships, life transitions, and other personal challenges. She believes counseling should be a space where people from all backgrounds feel heard, supported, and comfortable being themselves.

As a counselor-in-training, Chai takes a compassionate, strengths-based, and client-centered approach, recognizing that every person’s story and experiences are unique. Through her work at Piha Wellness & Healing, she hopes to continue growing as a clinician while helping clients recognize their strengths, develop meaningful coping skills, and move toward lives that feel authentic and fulfilling.

Ultimately, Chai hopes to continue serving the people and communities of Hawaiʻi while helping make conversations about mental health feel more approachable, culturally responsive, and accessible.