Our Clinical Approach
Recovery doesn’t just take place on a conceptual basis. You must also learn to land in your body again, feel your emotions, and heal from the inside out. Recognizing the indisputable connection between body and mind, our highly credentialed staff uses an integrative approach to treatment. We draw on traditional, evidence-based therapies like cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) as well as experiential approaches like yoga, psychodrama, and expressive art therapy.
Your specific treatment plan will be individualized to your most pressing clinical needs as well as your preferences, goals, and life experiences.
The core ideals that drive our clinical approach:
- Safety
Many of our clients have a limited perception of what safety means to them. Clients with a trauma history tend to experience skewed forms of trust. It is our goal to re-establish the development of safety in various ways throughout treatment at South Coast.
- Individuality
No two clients are alike, which is why your participation is needed and your suggestions are encouraged so that we can build out a truly life-changing treatment plan together.
- Education
As clinicians, our learning process is never-ending. We value staying informed with new findings and approaches that could impact our knowledge, helping us to treat you more effectively. Our clinical team is highly motivated to stay current in our therapeutic communities.
- Collaboration
We take a collaborative approach, because there is no one that knows you better than you know yourself. Your input matters, and it will help us learn more about you and provide the best treatment possible to you
- Community
Not only our clinicians can provide therapeutic experiences, which is why we highly value the community-based system we provide. In addition to your therapist, you will be sharing a home with your peers. Like a built-in network, your peers are there to recover but also provide the opportunity of experiencing recovery together. We can say you are not alone, but this way— we are showing you that you never have to be. Connection is key in recovery, and our community proves it.
We apply our distinctive clinical philosophy in treatment during all levels of care that we offer here at South Coast. In leading the way for true recovery to happen, we wish for all of our clients to trust in sobriety, having done the work to build a strong foundational knowledge of themselves, connection to a community, and acknowledgment of any future obstacles to wellness and how to counteract them.
South Coast offers a full continuum of care that includes sub-acute detox services, residential treatment, partial hospitalization, and intensive outpatient. We are a culturally sensitive, evidence-based treatment center that blends traditional and holistic approaches to address the physical, emotional, and spiritual wounds of addiction.
Our Clinical Approach
Our programming at South Coast can take on different therapeutic intentions. We view the recovery process from a perspective of our care organized into three pillars. Our therapeutic intentions shift as client’s reach another ‘pillar’ of the recovery process.
Our three pillars of the recovery process, include:
Stablization
Through a series of psychiatric and medical assessments, we learn about each client before devising a treatment plan tailored to him or her.
Building
During this stage, we lay the foundation for recovery by working with the client through a series of treatment methods and therapy types that address the motives behind his or her substance abuse.
Maintenance
With continued support and clinical guidance, clients learn how to balance recovery with life, work, social relationships, and recreation.
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Medication Management for
Co-Occurring Disorders
Dual Diagnosis Treatment
Dual diagnosis treatment services build healthy habits for our clients through full-service psychiatric care alongside substance use disorder treatment, for a sustainable recovery.
Psychiatric Care
Our psychiatrists, medical doctors, and clinicians collaborate to provide psychiatric support to ensure the appropriate treatment of any co-occurring disorders.
Medication Management
Our team will prescribe medication for co-occurring disorders, when necessary, in combinations with counseling & behavioral therapies for mental wellness.

Our Clinical Philosophy
South Coast Behavioral Health takes an integrative holistic approach to your healing, meaning we provide recovery to your mind, body, and spirit. We use traditional and comprehensive treatment methods to accomplish this. South Coast Behavioral Health is a trauma-focused clinical environment that aims to treat the underlying motivators to the behavior of substance abuse.
At South Coast, our primary therapeutic objectives are as follows:
- Deliver therapeutic styles catered to understanding the client’s mind.
- Re-establish the client’s development of safety.
- Understand the impact of the client’s trauma on day-to-day life.
- Re-connect the client with family, loved ones, and other people.
We treat the condition of your mind by first assessing you for any disorders that may be co-occurring with your substance abuse. By treating mental conditions simultaneously with your alcohol or substance use disorder, you will be able to find true healing without the confusion of continued symptoms from either disorder. Our dual diagnosis treatment allows for clarity of the mind and helps you feel better, faster. Some symptoms from mental health disorders can appear similar to symptoms experienced as a result of substance use disorders, therefore, it is always our first step to assess and evaluate your symptoms to trace it back to the true condition. From this starting point, we employ a variety of behavioral therapy methods in addition to psychiatric sessions and medication management for your co-occurring disorder(s).
We place a high value on the condition of our client’s mental health because it gives us a greater understanding of the behavior of substance abuse. Without focusing on our client’s mental health, we cannot understand the motivations behind their drug or alcohol abuse. Our primary objective in the clinical work we do at South Coast is to establish the ‘why’— why our clients began using drugs or alcohol. This ‘why’ is most important, and takes precedence over understanding the reason our clients continued to use substances despite the negative consequences it brought. Most often, individuals struggling with addiction initially start using drugs or alcohol as a coping mechanism. Why they need to cope is what we need to treat. These underlying reasons that motivate drug or alcohol abuse, if left untreated, can trigger a relapse or other maladaptive coping mechanisms to form.
We treat the condition of your body by providing medical treatment around the clock, in the form of doctors and nurses that specialize in addiction medicine. Our goal in your medical treatment is to efficiently detox your system from any and all substances, returning your body back to equilibrium. We prioritize your health, needs, underlying conditions, and your best interest during this process.
We treat the condition of your spirit in offering a myriad of experiential therapies and providing opportunities to connect with yourself and others in an authentic way.
We view our treatment at South Coast as a pivoting point for individuals who would like to maintain long-term sobriety. Addiction recovery is an ongoing process, it is our job to provide the safe space and lay the path that you will continue down the road in long-term sobriety.
We give you access to clinicians with no exceptions, because when we say we are by your side— we mean it. Your clinical needs will be met 24/7. We understand what you’re going through during early and extended recovery, which is why we are attentive to your needs and expressed concerns from the moment you become a client. We believe in the power of healing through a strong connection with your therapist. Our hope is for each therapy session to provide insight and a renewed sense of ambition. Our expectation is that you remain open, honest, and willing to make the changes that support the treatment plan we will devise together.
Trauma-informed Care
Seeking Safety
Seeking Safety addresses the connection between addiction and trauma. It draws on 25 treatment topics with themes around interpersonal, cognitive, and behavioral issues. Seeking Safety emphasizes addiction and trauma education, grounding tools, and coping skills. The curriculum can help you reduce trauma and addiction symptoms and feel safer in emotions, behaviors, thoughts, and relationships. Our trauma-informed care extends throughout the entirety of our treatment programs in addition to our targeted therapy offerings for trauma.
Holistic and Wellness Services
To support whole-person healing, we offer a range of holistic approaches to complement our traditional therapies.
Some alternative treatments we offer include:
"This place truly saved my life. I'll be forever grateful for the opportunity to get and stay sober here... Everyone was great. This experience definitely paved the way for a real future for me and for my son. Thank you."
J.C. South Coast Alumna