A fresh approach to Mental Health and Wellness in Orange County

Historically, people who live with both addiction and mental illness have had a hard time getting treatment. Access to treatment for mental illness is often complicated by having a substance abuse disorder, and vice versa.

 

A new approach at the Laguna Hills clinic

 

At Kaiser Permanente, our Mental Health and Wellness services at the Laguna Hills Behavioral Health Clinic have expanded in a pilot program built on an integrated approach. This method makes it easier for patients who live with both a mental illness and an addiction to get the treatment they need.

 

At the Laguna Hills location, a unified team of clinicians will consider both mental health and substance abuse needs when treating patients. This model will provide treatment for multiple conditions at once, regardless of severity.

 

And when patients don’t have to go back and forth between different treatment programs, they’re much less likely to get lost, confused, or excluded from care. To Kaiser Permanente, that means everything.

 

“Our unique integrated system encourages collaboration between mental health and addiction medicine, as both are inextricably connected,” says Erin Espinoza, Service Line Administrator for Clinical Support and Behavioral Health. “We hope to spread this model to other Kaiser Permanente facilities.”

 

 

TOPICSbehavioral healthemotional healthmental healthsubstance abuse