About VA Chula Vista Clinic
VA Chula Vista Clinic is an outpatient facility located in the beautiful city of Chula Vista, California. They offer primary care and specialty healthcare services like mental healthcare. They also offer various social support services integral to healthcare. This ranges from housing and financial support to help in finding VA community resources that satisfy specific needs. These encompass crisis intervention, substance misuse, psychiatric care and case management/care coordination.
Their mental health care can be a lifesaver if you’re struggling with psychiatric conditions like depression and PTSD. This also includes treatment for addictive behavior/substance misuse and co-occurring disorders. The latter is when someone simultaneously struggles with both addiction and mental issues. The facility provides confidential and personalized care that delivers the best recovery outcome. Services include consultation, clinical evaluation and group and individual therapy.
Their therapeutic intervention may involve using evidence based models to help you manage anger, stress and other negative emotions that fuel substance misuse. The goal is to build strong coping skills, prevent relapse and stay sober. The facility equips you with just the right set of tools to maintain sobriety and live a productive life. Their treatment for co-occurring conditions may incorporate psychiatric care including assessment and medication management. This is in addition to addiction therapy. They can also connect you to higher-intensity inpatient care within the VA community or outside providers if you need it.
I think telehealth or telemedicine is the most attractive aspect of their service. They support video conferencing and home telehealth services using the latest technology. This enables you to get medical checkups and follow-up treatment from home or wherever works best for you. They even provide secure store-and-forward telehealth. This lets you securely send or receive health information to and from the facilities. Accessing care this way isn’t just convenient but saves money.
You can potentially receive transportation assistance to and from your in person appointment as well. The facility accepts Medicaid, Medicare and TRICARE. Various commercial insurance providers are also acceptable. You can also take advantage of the VA financial hardship assistance to pay for your treatment. That’s if you’re uninsured and facing financial difficulties. Another thing I like about this facility is that you can qualify for care even without enrolling in VA health care. They offer same day help and support walk-ins for urgent medical issues.
Payment Options
- Financial aid
- Military insurance
- Free
- Private insurance
- Per session
- 90 day cost: $1,316
- Self-pay options
- Medicaid
- Military Insurance
Levels of Care
Outpatient
Outpatient Programs (OP) are for those seeking mental rehab or drug rehab, but who also stay at home every night. The main difference between outpatient treatment (OP) and intensive outpatient treatment (IOP) lies in the amount of hours the patient spends at the facility. Most of the time an outpatient program is designed for someone who has completed an inpatient stay and is looking to continue their growth in recovery. Outpatient is not meant to be the starting point, it is commonly referred to as aftercare.
Aftercare Support
Completing a drug or alcohol rehab program shouldn't spell the end of substance abuse treatment. Aftercare involves making a sustainable plan for recovery, including ongoing support. This can include sober living arrangements like halfway houses, career counseling, and setting a patient up with community programs like Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) or Narcotics Anonymous (NA).
12-Step
12-step programs are addiction recovery models based on Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). A number of substance abuse programs (including some drug and alcohol rehab centers) use the 12 steps as a basis for treatment. Beginning steps involve admitting powerlessness over the addiction and creating a spiritual basis for recovery. Middle steps including making direct amends to those who've been hurt by the addiction, and the final step is to assist others in addiction recovery in the same way. 12-Step offshoots including Narcotics Anonymous (NA), Cocaine Anonymous (CA), Dual Recovery Anonymous (DRA), Sex and Love Addicts Anonymous (SLAA) and Gamblers Anonymous (GA).
Programs
Adult program
Elderly program
HIV/AIDS program
LGBTQ program
Military program
Program for men
Program for women
Young adult program
Settings & Amenities
- Residential setting
- Private setting
- Metropolitan area
Treatment
Dual Diagnosis
Many of those suffering from addiction also suffer from mental or emotional illnesses like schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression, or anxiety disorders. Rehab and other substance abuse facilities treating those with a dual diagnosis or co-occurring disorder administer psychiatric treatment to address the person's mental health issue in addition to drug and alcohol rehabilitation.
Mental Health
Mental health rehabs focus on helping individuals recover from mental illnesses like bipolar disorder, clinical depression, anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, and more. Mental health professionals at these facilities are trained to understand and treat mental health issues, both in individual and group settings.
Clinical Services
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is a therapy modality that focuses on the relationship between one's thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. It is used to establish and allow for healthy responses to thoughts and feelings (instead of unhealthy responses, like using drugs or alcohol). CBT has been proven effective for recovering addicts of all kinds, and is used to strengthen a patient's own self-awareness and ability to self-regulate. CBT allows individuals to monitor their own emotional state, become more adept at communicating with others, and manage stress without needing to engage in substance abuse.
Experiential Therapy
Experiential therapy is a form of therapy in which clients are encouraged to surface and work through subconscious issues by engaging in real-time experiences. Experiential therapy departs from traditional talk therapy by involving the body, and having clients engage in activities, movements, and physical and emotional expression. This can involve role-play or using props (which can include other people). Experiential therapy can help people process trauma, memories, and emotion quickly, deeply, and in a lasting fashion, leading to substantial and impactful healing.
Group Therapy
Group therapy is any therapeutic work that happens in a group (not one-on-one). There are a number of different group therapy modalities, including support groups, experiential therapy, psycho-education, and more. Group therapy involves treatment as well as processing interaction between group members.
Individual Therapy
In individual therapy, a patient meets one-on-one with a trained psychologist or counselor. Therapy is a pivotal part of effective substance abuse treatment, as it often covers root causes of addiction, including challenges faced by the patient in their social, family, and work/school life.
Life Skills
Life skills trainings involve all the skills a person must have in order to function successfully in the world. These include time management, career guidance, money management, and effective communication. Truly successful addiction recovery is based on the ability to not only live substance-free, but to thrive. Life skills teaches the practical necessities of functioning in society, which sets clients up for success in life, and therefore sobriety.
Motivational Interviewing
Motivational Interviewing (MI) is a clinical approach to helping people with substance abuse issues and other conditions shift behavior in positive ways. It is more goal-oriented than traditional psychotherapy, as MI counselors directly attempt to get clients to consider making behavioral change (rather than wait for them to come to conclusions themselves). Its primary purpose is to resolve ambivalence and help clients become able to make healthy choices freely.
Nicotine Replacement Therapy
Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) is a way of getting nicotine into the bloodstream without smoking. It uses products that supply low doses of nicotine to help people stop smoking. The goal of therapy is to cut down on cravings for nicotine and ease the symptoms of nicotine withdrawal.
Nutrition Therapy
Nutrition therapy, aka medical nutrition therapy (MNT), is a way of treating physical, emotional, and medical conditions through diet. Specific dietary plans are designed by professional nutritionists or registered dietitians, and patients follow them in order to positively affect their physical and mental health.
Trauma Therapy
Trauma therapy addresses traumatic incidents from a client's past that are likely affecting their present-day experience. Trauma is often one of the primary triggers and potential causes of addiction, and can stem from child sexual abuse, domestic violence, having a parent with a mental illness, losing one or both parents at a young age, teenage or adult sexual assault, or any number of other factors. The purpose of trauma therapy is to allow a patient to process trauma and move through and past it, with the help of trained and compassionate mental health professionals.
Accreditations
Joint Commission
The Joint Commission, formerly known as JCAHO, is a nonprofit organization that accredits rehab organizations and programs. Founded in 1951, the Joint Commision's mission is to improve the quality of patient care and demonstrating the quality of patient care.
Joint Commission Accreditation: Yes
Accreditation Number: 2502
SAMHSA
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) is a branch of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Established in 1992 by congress, SAMHSA's mission is to reduce the impact of substance abuse and mental illness on American's communities.
SAMHSA Listed: Yes