Best Mental Health Treatment in Irvine, California
Alter Behavioral Health, located in Irvine, California, provides mental health treatment. The diagnosis process is meticulous and detail-oriented, as we know it’s important to treat all symptoms of mental health issues. It’s a mental health residential facility that treats patients with dual-diagnosis conditions. With a holistic view, we look at patients’ physical, psychological, social, and educational needs for care. During mental health treatment in Irvine, each plan is personalized and tailored for each patient.
Alter Behavioral Health is a top mental health treatment facility in Irvine. The facility is residential and offers inpatient treatments for various mental health disorders. Our facility is a judgment-free zone and is on a mission to destigmatize mental health treatment. We specialize in treating primary mental health and co-occurring disorders and offer autism-informed care. Keep reading to learn more about the mental health disorders we treat.
Depression Treatment In Irvine
Depression is under a mood disorder umbrella. Someone gets diagnosed with depression because they have constant feelings of sadness and loss of interest in things they used to enjoy. Although there are many different types of depression, the most common type in the United States is major depression. Another type of depression is bipolar disorder, which gives someone intense mood swings from being energized and irrational to depressed. Postpartum depression is another type of depression that happens after women give birth, and they have a huge hormonal shift, making them depressed and less connected to the baby. At Alter Behavioral Health, we treat depression with three different treatments, depending on the patient and their needs, which are:
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Cognitive behavioral therapy focuses on treating depression by looking at the thought patterns and expectations that someone has with it. The treatment encourages people to look at their circumstances differently, creating a more realistic thinking pattern.
Interpersonal Therapy
Interpersonal therapy focuses on people’s relationships. It’s not a long-term solution but can help with short-term treatment.
Medication
The main type of medication that people with depression take are antidepressants, which target depression from the brain chemistry perspective. From the clinical point of view, depression is all about neurological imbalances. The medication gives patients the help they need and gives them a normal neurotransmitter function.
Anxiety Disorder & How We Treat It
Anxiety is when someone gets persistent worry and fear about daily situations. Everyone gets anxiety to some extent, but it becomes an issue when anxiety is out of control, and it is difficult for someone to function normally in real life.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Cognitive behavioral therapy is one of the treatment techniques experts use to treat anxiety in a mentally unstable person. One concept that happens during cognitive behavioral therapy is identifying and challenging negative thought patterns.
Medication
Sometimes anxiety is purely a neurological imbalance. Alter Behavioral Health implements any anxiolytic drugs that can help their patients with anxiety with minimal side effects and risks.
Autism Co-Occurring Disorders Treatment In Irvine
Someone with autism usually shows signs of strong attention to detail; bright lights or sounds can be too overwhelming for them, difficulty with fine motor skills and difficulty socializing. People with autism can also suffer from all different types of mental health disorders, just like people who don’t have autism. Not only do people with autism suffer from other co-occurring mental health disorders, but there are also some common physical medical conditions they have too. People diagnosed with autism can be diagnosed with the following physical medical conditions: difficulty staying asleep, gastrointestinal problems, epilepsy, and being able to eat properly. Some of the treatment options for autism co-occurring disorders are:
Self-Management, Psychotherapy, and Medication
The self-management, psychotherapy, and medication treatment plan focuses on giving patients with autism coping mechanisms when they’re feeling triggered. When someone with autism is feeling a sensory overload from light or sound, it’s important to have them focus on something else to calm them down. There’s no specific medication to treat autism, but some patients with autism do need medication for anxiety or other co-occurring mental health disorders.
Social Connection
There’s a gap in social connections for people with autism. They usually struggle with socializing and having meaningful conversations, so it’s harder for them to form a social connection with someone. People with autism must have social connections with others as everyone needs the support of friends and people to hang out with.
Education and Employment
People with autism can go to school and work. There’s more openness now for employing people with autism. They are in job fields that are perfect for their impressive abilities that are made up for their weaker skills. There was a study done, and they found that people with autism outperform those with detail-oriented, repetitive work.
Bipolar Disorder Treatment In Irvine
Bipolar disorder is when there are two emotional extremes, which are depressive episodes and mania. Depressive episodes are considered the lows, and mania is the highs. Depressive episodes are more than being sad; it’s lacking motivation and an inability to find joy in anything.
Depressive episodes can last days or longer and disrupt normal activities like going to work or brushing your teeth. Mania is characterized as excitement and making horrible decisions or making risky behavior. If mania prolongs for too long, it can become life-threatening. There are a few ways to treat bipolar disorder, which are:
Bipolar Medications
Medication that helps treat bipolar disorder is mood-stabilizing. Antidepressants are the most common medications but can be ineffective and dangerous during manic episodes. Alter Behavioral Health helps patients find the best medication regimen and routine for them.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Cognitive behavioral therapy looks at the thought patterns and behavior that are enabling mental illness. CBT can’t completely treat bipolar disorder on its own, but it can help with regulating patients’ emotions and controlling their thought patterns which can lead to manic and depressive episodes.
Family Psychoeducation
Family psychoeducation educates the patient and family members on understanding bipolar disorder and destigmatizing it. This will provide more supportive, productive relationships for everyone involved.
Trauma and PTSD Treatment In Irvine
Trauma is directly associated with “intrusive thoughts” and a thought or feeling that can appear suddenly. It usually happens because of a trigger, and you can’t get past it. One of the types of trauma is PTSD, which is post-traumatic stress disorder, which arises from a traumatic event. Other types of trauma are surviving a natural disaster, being there during a terrorist attack, being sexually assaulted, having an experience of bullying, experience of being in war or combat, being abused physically, sexually, emotionally, or verbally, and having grief and losing someone. You usually relive traumatic experiences via flashbacks, usually in the form of a nightmare. Some signs and symptoms of PTSD and trauma are intrusion, avoidance, cognitive changes, and behavior and mood swings. The most effective treatments for trauma and PTSD are the following:
Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
Cognitive behavioral therapy works well for treating PTSD and trauma by identifying thinking patterns and false beliefs. Some of the approaches CBT uses for symptoms of PTSD are the following:
- Cognitive processing therapy is a technique that changes the patient’s negative feelings and beliefs tied to their trauma.
- Another technique is prolonged exposure therapy, where you describe your trauma-trigger symptoms in detail.
- Stress inoculation therapy includes the aspect of being exposed to lower levels of stress and practicing coping skills in therapy, which can prepare you for higher levels of stress.
- Group therapy gives patients an environment where they can hear stories from other group members who have similar experiences with traumatic events.
- Family therapy is only useful with PTSD patients when there’s direct distress in family relationships that was caused by the trauma.
Medication
Medication can sometimes help with alleviating some of the post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms. Usually, antidepressants, also known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), are taken for people diagnosed with PTSD and trauma. This type of medication works to increase levels of serotonin in your brain.
Attention Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) Treatment In Irvine
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is plain and simply a deficiency in neurotransmitters that powers the brain’s reward system. An ADHD brain usually is deficient in norepinephrine. This is one neurotransmitter that plays a vital role in helping people concentrate and find value in activities. When having a shortage of these neurotransmitters, people diagnosed with ADHD must work a lot harder to get the same result as people without ADHD. Some of the symptoms you get when you have ADHD are having trouble prioritizing and organizing, appreciating long-term consequences, being restless, having a low tolerance for frustration, being impulsive, and having anxiety. If you don’t get treated after getting an ADHD diagnosis, it can become destructive outcome-wise. A study showed that ADHD directly correlates with an increase in having a smoking habit and getting in a car accident without getting treated.
Pharmacotherapy
Since ADHD is a neurological problem, pharmaceutical treatment is appropriate when moving forward for treatment. Stimulant medications are usually prescribed to people with ADHD. People with ADHD must take the correct dosage, as too much or too little can affect how it interacts with their ADHD symptoms.
Psychotherapy Treatment Irvine Clinic
Psychotherapy is a necessary part of ADHD treatment. Treatment for ADHD works best with medication and psychotherapy. Even though medication will treat the neurotransmitter deficiency, it won’t cure a habit cycle of negative self-talk. Talking to a professional about your ADHD can only benefit you for the challenges you face in the world. They can recommend some coping mechanisms or ways to get around things that are difficult for you as someone with ADHD.
Schizophrenia Treatment In Irvine
Schizophrenia is when someone has an altered view of reality. This can show up as audio or visual hallucinations. It’s best to start treating schizophrenia right away when first diagnosed. Some of the ways to treat schizophrenia are the following:
Medication
The most common type of medication used to treat people with schizophrenia is antipsychotic drugs. While there are side effects, the mental health professionals at Alter Behavioral Health will work with you to figure out the best action plan for the most effective medication for you. The other option for medication for schizophrenia is a long-term injectable treatment. The treatments go on for longer periods, but it’s not a treatment plan for everyone having schizophrenia symptoms.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Cognitive behavioral therapy is another treatment option that should be considered with medication. Medication can help patients with schizophrenia to only lower their symptoms. CBT working with medication can make treatment for schizophrenia patients much more effective. It will make them understand more about mental health illness and can help reduce symptoms by making the condition more manageable.
Psychoeducation and Group Psychoeducation
Psychoeducation and group psychoeducation is the understanding of schizophrenia for the person with the condition and their loved ones. One of the most important components of this treatment is destigmatizing and getting rid of the fears that the person diagnosed with schizophrenia poses any danger to anyone, including themselves. Getting a clear understanding of what triggers the psychotic episodes and ways to identify the early warning signs that come before the psychotic break.
Borderline Personality Treatment in Irvine
A borderline personality disorder is when it’s hard for you to regulate your emotions, leading to mood swings, impulsiveness, and stress. People diagnosed with borderline personality disorder are at a higher risk of harming themselves or possibly participating in suicidal behavior. People with borderline personality disorder usually have mood swings that only last a few hours. Some of the common symptoms of borderline personality disorder are a fear of abandonment in relationships, a pattern of intense and unstable relationships, impulsive behaviors, self-harming behavior, suicidal thoughts, mood swings, inappropriate feelings of anger, feelings of dissociation, and viewing things in extremes.
Therapeutic Interventions
Therapy is one of the treatment options for people who are diagnosed with borderline personality disorder. One of the approaches for treatment is cognitive-behavioral therapy, which helps you understand thinking patterns you have that lead to specific feelings and behaviors. Part of the treatment process for people with borderline personality disorder is your therapist teaching you how to regulate your emotions.
Medication
There are no specific medications yet that help with borderline personality disorder; however, there are medications to treat specific symptoms of borderline personality disorder. Some medicines can help lessen symptoms of depression and anxiety, but it’s not a cure for BPD.
Family Therapy
Family therapy is important for the family and loved ones of the patient with borderline personality disorder. The patient’s family must understand and support them through the ups and downs of treating borderline personality disorder.
Dissociative Identity Disorder Treatment in Irvine
Dissociative identity disorder is when a person has more than two or more distinct identities, also known as personalities. This mental health disorder usually results from a history of childhood trauma. It is usually directly a result of physical, sexual, or emotional abuse. They learn to integrate complex info and experience they can’t process into distinct personalities, which helps them cope by compartmentalizing the traumatic experience. Sexual and physical abuse that happens while someone goes through the development period of their life disrupts their growth of a single identity. Dissociative identity disorder has a few different treatment options, which are:
Inpatient
Inpatient treatment is when the patient can stay in the facility for several days or weeks. It all depends on the severity of the patient’s mental health disorder. This type of treatment is a more intense 24/7 care that patients with dissociative identity disorder sometimes need.
Outpatient
Outpatient treatment is less intense but can last longer due to not living in the facility and getting 24/7 care. This type of treatment can last up to months or years, depending on how intense the mental health disorder is and how long it is necessary to manage the patient with dissociative identity disorder. It’s a huge benefit to continue to attend treatment throughout your life if you suffer from dissociative identity disorder.
Psychotherapy
Psychotherapy is usually cognitive behavioral therapy, dialectical behavioral therapy, and eye movement desensitization and reprocessing approaches. This type of treatment integrates the patient’s separate personalities and characteristics when recognizing and remembering the trauma that caused them to form.
Medications
The common medications for dissociative identity disorder are antidepressants, antipsychotics, and anti-anxiety medicine. These aren’t a cure for dissociative identity disorder, and it’s treatments for the accompanying symptoms of DID.
Autism Diagnosis & Treatment in Irvine
People diagnosed with being on the autism spectrum experience the world differently. They aren’t always verbal or come with a plethora of learning disabilities. Autism can look different, with varying symptoms in different people. Some of the ways we treat autism are:
Whole Person Diagnosis
Alter Behavioral Health approaches autism treatment by looking at all factors that go into it and other co-occurring mental health disorders. This is taken into consideration when going through an assessment of what treatment plans and care will be necessary to manage symptoms of autism.
Psychoeducation
Psychoeducation is an important factor in autism treatment. Talking about anything that bothers you is the best way to get a professional’s point of view on the situation and how to handle it in the real world. The best way to overcome the issues that come with autism is to talk it out and get some healthy coping mechanisms or solutions that might be better to cope with an uncomfortable situation.
Community & Autism Inclusive Spaces
It’s important for people diagnosed with autism to interact with others with autism. It also is an important social skill to socialize with others who don’t have autism but are in autism-inclusive spaces. Social anxiety is one of the most common co-occurring mental health disorders people with anxiety suffer from, so it’s necessary to continue to socialize with others and find a community of support for them.
Why Choose Alter Behavioral Health for Irvine Residents?
Alter Behavioral Health works with you on your mental health treatment journey in Irvine. There’s no judgment when receiving treatment and the length it takes to get where you need to be to function daily. Each staff member is dedicated to making the treatment transition for each patient seamless and making them feel comfortable with the process. We give each patient a personalized treatment plan and guide them through the next treatment steps. We give our patients an in-depth assessment to fully understand what needs to be met and what treatment is most appropriate for their mental health disorders. Start your next steps to getting the help you need for your mental well-being and call Alter Behavioral Health at 866-647-2716.
