Co-Occurring Care in Woodland Hills

What This Treatment Is

Co-occurring care means treating a mental health condition and a substance use disorder in the same patient at the same time. It is common: SAMHSA data shows roughly half of adults with a serious mental illness also meet criteria for a substance use disorder in a given year. Treating one while ignoring the other doesn’t work; the untreated condition drives relapse on the other side.

Our Specialty-Led Model

We use a specialty-led model — distinct primary tracks for mental health and substance use, each led by clinicians with real depth in that specialty, with coordinated cross-team review of shared decisions. When someone presents with depression and alcohol use disorder, the psychiatric track leads on the depression side and the substance use track leads on the AUD side. They meet on a defined cadence to align the plan. Neither side is subordinated to the other.

Why This Approach

Some programs advertise ‘blended’ or ‘integrated’ care where one clinician manages everything. That works for some patients, but often means one specialty gets deep expertise and the other gets what remains of the clinician’s attention. Our approach ensures both specialties operate at full clinical depth. The cost is more coordination overhead. The benefit is that neither condition gets shortchanged, and evidence-based treatments for each are used at full fidelity.

Elevated Healing’s Specialty-Led Approach

Our Woodland Hills program is staffed by board-certified psychiatric providers on the mental health side and clinicians with addiction medicine expertise on the substance use side. Therapists are credentialed in evidence-based modalities that map to each track — CBT and CPT for depression and PTSD, EMDR and Accelerated Resolution Therapy for trauma, motivational enhancement and CBT-SUD for substance use.

Coordination happens through:

• Shared clinical record accessible to both tracks.
• Scheduled cross-team case conferences on a defined cadence.
• Medication decisions reviewed by both tracks when medications on one side could affect the other.
• Unified aftercare plan that maps both tracks to a coordinated long-term structure.
• Same intake, one point of contact for you — coordination happens behind the scenes.

Access at Our Woodland Hills Campus

Our campus is at 21250 Califa St, Ste 114, Woodland Hills, CA 91367, in the West San Fernando Valley. Access is straightforward:

• From the 101 (Ventura Freeway) — exit at De Soto Avenue or Winnetka Avenue and drive a short distance north.
• From the 118 (Ronald Reagan Freeway) — take Winnetka or De Soto south into the West Valley.
• Nearby communities — Warner Center, Winnetka, West Hills, Canoga Park, Tarzana, and Encino are all a short drive.
• Telehealth — after your initial in-person assessment, most follow-up psychiatric visits can be done by video for California residents.

Parking and check-in details are provided at intake. If accessibility accommodations are needed, tell our admissions team when you call.

Program Levels That Deliver This Care

This service is delivered inside the level of care that matches your clinical need at intake. Level of care can shift over time as treatment progresses.

Insurance, Cost, and Getting Started

Most commercial insurance plans cover co-occurring care under mental health and substance use disorder benefits, which are subject to federal parity requirements under the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act. Parity means insurers cannot impose stricter limits on behavioral health services than they apply to physical health services — a real legal protection worth knowing you have when you call.

The first step is a conversation with our admissions team. This call is free, confidential, and carries no obligation. During it, we:

• Verify your insurance benefits within one business day.
• Confirm what’s covered, what your copay or coinsurance will be, and whether prior authorization applies.
• Start any required prior authorization on your behalf so you’re not stuck on hold with your insurer.
• Schedule a clinical evaluation — usually within a few business days of your first call, sooner when the situation is time-sensitive.

If insurance doesn’t cover the service or your plan design doesn’t fit, self-pay options can be discussed. There is no charge to have this conversation. Reach us at (747) 888-3000 or use our insurance verification form.

What Progress Looks Like

Recovery through co-occurring care is not a straight line, and durable clinical outcomes rarely happen in weeks. Realistic timelines matter here more than optimistic promises. Most patients notice measurable improvement in the first month of consistent treatment — reduced cravings, more stable mood, better sleep, easier engagement with therapy. Substantive behavioral change typically takes root over three to six months.

Progress is reviewed at every clinical visit. We measure it in specifics: frequency of the target behavior, functional recovery in work and relationships, sleep quality, and — where medications are involved — how well the pharmacology is holding cravings and side effects. When something isn’t working, we adjust. That might mean a dose change, a therapy focus shift, or a step up or down in level of care. The plan follows the patient’s clinical picture, not the other way around.

Setbacks are treated as clinical data, not moral failure. If a relapse or symptom flare happens, the team’s job is to understand what led to it and refine the plan. Patients are not discharged for a relapse. Long-term recovery is often what happens after the acute treatment phase ends, and we plan for that from the first visit — through aftercare planning, coordinated hand-offs, and telehealth follow-up available across California.

Confidentiality and HIPAA Protections

Treatment records at Elevated Healing are protected under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and, for substance use records specifically, under 42 CFR Part 2 — a federal regulation providing additional protection for substance use disorder treatment information. That means treatment status and clinical details are not disclosed to family members, employers, or third parties without your written authorization, except in narrowly defined legal circumstances (imminent harm, court order).

Practical protections include HIPAA-compliant scheduling and communication systems, secure insurance verification channels, and billing structured to minimize what appears on statements. Patients with heightened confidentiality concerns can request specific accommodations at intake — arrival timing, check-in flow, telehealth-first scheduling — and our admissions team will confirm what’s available.

Frequently Asked Questions