Co-Occurring Care Through Separate Primary Treatment Tracks

What Co-Occurring Care Means at Elevated Healing

Co-occurring conditions are common. A person may be living with major depression alongside alcohol use disorder, PTSD alongside opioid use disorder, or an anxiety disorder alongside stimulant use. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration reports millions of U.S. adults meet criteria for both in any given year.

What patients often experience with fragmented systems is unclear direction. Two providers give conflicting recommendations. A single provider treats both without the depth either condition demands. Progress stalls, and it looks like the patient is the problem when the treatment structure is.

Our answer to that is structural, not slogan-based. Care runs through distinct primary tracks with a lead clinician for each, and the tracks coordinate on shared records and joint reviews. This is not a rebranded blended model. It is a real change in who leads what and how the teams talk.

How the Tracks Work in Practice

At intake, a psychiatric provider and a substance use clinician both evaluate the person. Together they identify which condition is currently driving the most acute impairment or risk. That determines the primary track. The person is not asked to choose. The clinicians decide together based on the presentation.

From that point forward:

• A licensed clinician in the primary specialty is the treatment lead.
• The other track has its own specialty lead who coordinates on a defined cadence — typically weekly team meetings for higher levels of care.
• Medication decisions, therapy focus, and progress reviews are aligned across the two teams.
• The patient has one care plan that names both leads and how they communicate.

The result is depth without fragmentation. Neither condition is treated as a footnote to the other. When priorities shift — for example, when a person’s substance use stabilizes and unresolved trauma comes forward — the primary track can shift, too. That is a clinical decision, not a bureaucratic one.

Evidence Base for Coordinated, Specialty-Led Care

Research on treating co-occurring conditions has consistently found that uncoordinated care underperforms coordinated care. Guidance published by the National Institute of Mental Health and the American Psychiatric Association emphasizes that both conditions must be addressed to produce durable outcomes.

Our Clinician Team

Co-occurring care at Elevated Healing is delivered by a team that includes board-certified psychiatric providers, licensed therapists credentialed in evidence-based modalities, and substance use specialists with clinical experience treating opioid, alcohol, stimulant, and cannabis use disorders. Our Medical Director, Warren Taff, MD, and Clinical Director, Sebastian Vasilescu, oversee case coordination and clinical quality across tracks.

Therapies Used Across Both Tracks

Program Levels

Coordinated co-occurring care is delivered inside the level of care that matches the patient’s clinical need:

• Partial Hospitalization Program (PHP) — Full clinical day, five days per week, with team meetings that align both track leads on the same schedule.
• Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP) — Three-to-five sessions per week, allowing patients to continue work or school with substantial clinical support.
• Outpatient Program (OP) — Weekly therapy and regular psychiatric visits for step-down care or long-term maintenance.
• Telehealth Follow-Up — Video visits with the psychiatric provider, available across California.

Coordinated Care by Location

Our campus is at 21250 Califa St, Ste 114, Woodland Hills, CA 91367, in the West San Fernando Valley. We accept patients in person for higher levels of care and deliver telehealth follow-up statewide.

Frequently Asked Questions