Bridges to Recovery

From alternatives to psychiatric hospitalization to life enrichment and enhancement

With locations in Brentwood, Pacific Palisades, and Santa Monica California, Bridges to Recovery specializes in the treatment of mental health issues such as depression, anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), bipolar disorder, treatment of trauma based disorders (such as PTSD and Dissociative Identity Disorder), and personality disorders.

Bridges to Recovery offers a series of programs committed to help those suffering from psychological problems as well as those simply wanting to enrich and enhance their lives. Our Residential program is licensed by the State of California, and specializes in the treatment of complex psychological issues. As such, we provide an alternative to psychiatric hospitalization (which can be traumatizing on it's own for some). At Bridges to Recovery, we aim to provide a long term solution in which the patient does not discharge from our program without a carefully constructed "road map" for a more productive and healthy life. In addition, our Independent Living/Intensive Outpatient Program, Transitional Living Program and Outpatient Services offer a unique and comprehensive range of continuing care, as well as life enhancement skills. While many programs (i.e. dual diagnosis, chemical dependency, 12-step) profess to treat trauma and other psychological issues, they are not fully licensed and staffed to address these kinds of problems. Our highly qualified, dedicated and experienced clinical staff are unmatched in the residential treatment industry. Our primary individual therapists in our residential facility are all licensed and psychoanalytically trained doctoral level clinicians with 15-25 years of clinical experience.

Treatment Philosophy

Bridges to Recovery is psychological treatment program consisting of three levels of Residential Treatment (primary supervised residential, independent living/intensive outpatient, and transitional living) as well as an Outpatient Program and Comprehensive Assessment Clinic. Our primary residential psychological facility is located in the Pacific Palisades area of Los Angeles. No other facility treats those diagnosed with psychological and psychiatric disorders in a private setting of this nature. This small psychiatric residential community has a greater staff to patient ratio than any other treatment facility of this kind. Bridges to Recovery’s residential programs have staff available twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. We utilize a cutting edge clinical approach within a safe and secure residential environment. This allows adults seeking help with depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, personality disorders, phobias, mood disorders, chronic pain, fibromyalgia, and psychological trauma a safe place to understand the underlying reasons for their difficulties and utilize the tools necessary to live with their psychological issues. Many times medical issues such as chronic pain and fibromyalgia occur with psychological trauma.

When Bridges to Recovery receives a call for help, we understand how hard it was to make that call. We understand that many people needlessly endure unnecessary emotional pain for extended periods of time before making a commitment to heal. Our facility is designed to treat individuals in crisis, whether the person is highly stressed or overworked and spinning out of control, or depressed and anxious and wants to take the time to heal.

Bridges to Recovery provides cutting-edge therapeutic approaches as well as expertise derived from the latest in research. Many of our doctors have trained and are affiliated with the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA). They work from the most up-to-date and effective psychological theories and methodologies available. Our treatment approaches include individual psychotherapy, EMDR, somatic experiencing, dialectic behavior therapy (DBT), equine therapy, music therapy, art therapy, yoga, physical fitness, nutritional counseling, vocational/educational counseling, and others.

Medication Management Philosophy

Many times treating a psychiatric issue involves medication including the possibility of switching medications or getting off medication altogether. Bridges to Recovery will assess the patient from a clinical, holistic, and medical approach to determine not only the best way to treat the identified problem while staying with us but to guide the patient and their loved ones on a specific, effective, and agreed upon plan to implement when leaving our community.

While we are licensed to monitor medications prescribed by our board certified psychiatrists, our philosophy is to prescribe as little as possible to provide some symptom relief when needed, as over-medicating (which is commonplace in today's medical culture) tends to mask psychological symptoms and actually inhibit the process of healing. We believe that our focus on providing state-of-the-art psychotherapy services, as well as a synergistic holistic approach to treatment, will empower the person to learn to provide their own sense of containment and eventual wholeness.