Mental Health Center

Under the Department of Community Health, the Mental Health Program has been providing outpatient mental health services since 1998. All services at the Mental Health Center are free for those who are uninsured or underinsured and low income.

The Mental Health Program strives to meet the needs of our clients. Our bilingual and bicultural staff can provide culturally competent services in English, Spanish, or Farsi.

See the wide range of services and specialties offered below.

Psychotherapy Services

During psychotherapy, you will learn about your condition, moods, feelings, thoughts and behaviors. Psychotherapy teaches you how to effectively manage your life and respond to challenging situations with healthy and effective coping skills. We provide services to individuals, couples, families and groups.

Psychoeducational Services

Educational services on mental health topics including workshops, classes and presentations offered to the community. These services are free of charge and include but are not limited to the following list:

• Personality Dimensions

• Bullying

• Domestic Violence

• Mental Health Awareness

• Stress Management

• Depression

• Anxiety

• Parenting Psychoeducation

• Boundary Setting

• Emotions

• Self Esteem

• Mindfulness

• Healthy Relationships

• Healthy Coping

• Problem Solving

• Trauma Informed Care/ACES

• Vicarious Trauma/Compassion Fatigue

• Child Abuse Prevention

• Substance Abuse Prevention

• Maternal Mental Health

• Generational Trauma

• Mood Boosters for Seniors

• Teen Mental Health

Case Management Services

Case management is a collaborative process of assessment, planning, facilitation, care coordination, evaluation and advocacy with the goal of identifying resources for services to meet an individual’s and family’s comprehensive needs. This service is free of charge and may also be part of your psychotherapy treatment plan.

Critical Incident Crisis Debriefing

Crisis management utilizing the CISM protocol for individuals and groups impacted by a traumatic event. This structured process allows individuals to achieve a healthy recovery from traumatic events faster.

Professional Consultation

In-service training and mental health related consultation and support to partner agencies and community groups. This service is free of charge.

Yoga Therapy

The process of empowering individuals to progress toward improved health and well-being through the application of the teachings and practices of Yoga. Yoga Therapy has shown to improve anxiety symptoms; reduce physical pain; help with stress management; boost self-esteem; improve sleep, focus and attention, and regulate the nervous system. This service is free of charge.

Psychiatry

Psychiatry services are reserved for Mental Health Center clients who have completed the assessment and are referred by the MHC clinician.

Always delivered by highly trained professionals with a wide variety of specialties and experience, we will match you with the right therapist. Our areas of specialty include:

Cognitive and behavioral therapies addressing thought patterns and behaviors that lead to distress.

Interpersonal therapy is a brief, attachment-focused psychotherapy that centers on reliving symptoms and resolving interpersonal problems.

EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is a psychotherapy that enables people to heal from the symptoms and emotional distress that are the result of disturbing life experiences. Repeated studies show that by using EMDR, people can experience the benefits of psychotherapy that once took years to make a difference. EMDR therapy shows that the mind can in fact heal from psychological trauma much as the body recovers from physical trauma. When you cut your hand, your body works to close the wound. If a foreign object or repeated injury irritates the wound, it festers and causes pain. The brain’s information processing system naturally moves toward mental health. If the system is blocked or imbalanced by the impact of a disturbing event, the emotional wound festers and can cause intense suffering. Once the block is removed, healing resumes. Using the detailed protocols and procedures learned in EMDR training sessions, clinicians help clients activate their natural healing processes.

TF-CBT (Trauma-Focused Cognitive-Behavior Therapy) is one of the most well-supported interventions in the child trauma field. Multiple randomized, controlled clinical trials have demonstrated the efficacy of TF-CBT for children who have PTSD symptoms related to sexual abuse, and the treatment also has been applied successfully to children with PTSD symptoms resulting from other traumatic events.

Personality Dimensions is the latest evolution in presenting Personality Temperament Theory. It builds on research conducted in Canada over a period of two decades, and the foundations established by the work of Carl Jung, David Keirsey, Linda Berens, as well as a history of Temperament that spans 25 centuries. Trained staff facilitate 2-3 hour workshops to help you understand yourself and others so you can be more effective in your relationships, your work, and your life. Ideal workshops would range from 6-25 participants, ages 13 and above.

Individual and Group CISM (Critical Incident Stress Management), is an intervention protocol developed specifically for dealing with traumatic events. It is a formal, highly structured and professionally recognized process for helping those involved in a critical incident to share their experiences, vent emotions, learn about stress reactions and symptoms and given referral for further help if required. It is not psychotherapy. It is a confidential, voluntary and educative process, sometimes called ‘psychological first aid’.

Motivational Interviewing is a method that works on facilitating and engaging intrinsic motivation within the client in order to change behavior. MI is a goal-oriented, client-centered counseling style for eliciting behavior change by helping clients to explore and resolve ambivalence.

Play Therapy is a theoretical model of psychotherapy which uses the “therapeutic powers of play to help clients prevent or resolve psychosocial difficulties and achieve optimal growth and development” (APT). Specialized therapists utilize play therapy to help children express their thoughts and feelings. Through play, therapists may help children learn more adaptive behaviors when there are emotional or social skills deficits.

CPT (Cognitive Processing Therapy) is an evidenced-based manualized treatment protocol that has been found effective for the treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other symptoms following traumatic events. It focuses on how the traumatic event is construed and coped with by a person who is trying to regain a sense of mastery and control in his or her life.

Maternal Mental Health The perinatal period is a vulnerable time for the mental health of new parents, especially mothers but not excluding fathers. We offer specialized psychotherapy services that support new mothers and fathers during the perinatal period to cope with the challenges that arise during this time. Therapeutic approaches aimed at supporting new parents include CBT, IPT, DBT and EMDR.

Art4Healing^® Method Workshops support emotional healing through art and creative expression for those living in pain, grief, fear or stress. It contains strictly guided exercises that are designed to elicit emotional responses. Art4Healing^® workshop allows participants to get in touch with inner feelings that many times words cannot express. The method specifically helps participants express their feelings in a safe way by associating a color with a feeling.

Intern Training Program

In addition to being staffed with highly trained licensed professionals, the Hoag Mental Health Center also offers an Intern Training Program. We believe strongly that it is important to provide students with the best possible training to ensure the highest quality of care to the community. We highly value the importance of exceptional training and involving students in their own learning process. Our internships are designed for students pursuing a master’s or bachelor’s degree in social work and related fields.We host a variety of interns from different schools and universities including:

• USC

• UCLA

• CSULB

• CSUF

• CSUDH

• APU

• Columbia

• SAC

• OCC

• UMass Global

• UC Berkley

• California School of Professional Psychology at Alliant International University

• Fordham University

• University of Denver

• Be the Change Yoga/AlcheMe Yoga Therapy

Master Level Students

Clinical internships are available for masters level students enrolled in an MSW Program.The following are some highlights of the MSW intern experience:

• Carry a clinical caseload of 8-10 clients (Includes all modalities and groups across the lifespan)

• Weekly individual supervision

• Weekly group supervision

• Bilingual students can participate in a Spanish speaking supervision immersion

• Opportunities for professional and clinical trainings

• Creating outreach plans to promote the Mental Health Center and Center for Healthy Living

• Unique opportunities for MSW/MPH dual degree interns

• Participation in health fairs

• Collaboration with partner agencies, the school district and other local non-profits

Bachelor Level Students

Clinical internships are available for students enrolled in a bachelors level Social Work or Human Services Program.The following are some highlights of the bachelor’s level intern experience:

• Receive weekly individual supervision

• Opportunities for professional and clinical trainings

• Conduct client intakes and performs initial assessments to collect functional, environmental, psycho-social, financial, employment, housing, educational and health information as appropriate.

• Respond to referrals for case management services from Social Work staff

• Assist clients in accessing needed community services specified in their treatment plans

• Work in a multidisciplinary team environment

• Collaboration with partner agencies, the school district and other local non-profits

Additional Internship Categories

The Center also offers a variety of other internship opportunities including:

• Internships for yoga therapy students from Be the Change Yoga/AlcheMe Yoga Therapy

• Internships for Pilates students from OCC

• Internships for translating students from SAC

For more information regarding our existing internship opportunities or discuss the possibility of a new internship and collaboration, please contact:

Sahar Naraghi-Babaei, LCSW, RPT-S Intern Training Center Coordinator by email Sahar.NaraghiBabaei@hoag.org or by phone (949) 764-1856.

Professional Training Program

The Melinda Hoag Smith Center for Healthy Living (MHSCHL) is accredited in accordance with the standards of the California Association of Marriage and Family therapist (CAMFT) Provider # 139248. The MHSCHL is accredited to provide CEU’s to LCSWs, LMFTs, LPCCs and LEPs. The MHSCHL is committed to contributing to the mission of providing a variety of continuing education opportunities geared towards the professional and personal developmental needs of its participants. The Professional development program will focus on educational excellence in instructors, courses and through its support services.

To learn more about the program, please contact: Esteban Juarez, LCSW, Esteban.juarz@hoag.org or call (949) 764-5947.