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Los Angeles, Los Angeles CountyVirtual intensive outpatient program for Los Angeles
Shift runs an intensive outpatient program by video, for people who are physically in California during every session. If you live in Los Angeles you attend from wherever you are, which in this city means you are not spending two hours a day in traffic to sit in a group.
No building in Los Angeles.
There is no Shift clinic in Los Angeles, and there is not one anywhere else either. Every session happens by video. That is the design, not a limitation we are working around. In a county this size the drive is often the reason a daytime program fails in week three, and removing the drive is most of what makes five days a week survivable.
Our clinicians are licensed in California, and California telehealth rules follow the patient. You need to be physically in California during every session. Shift is certified by the California Department of Health Care Services, certification 191663AP, for outpatient treatment, intensive outpatient treatment and ambulatory withdrawal management.
What you would actually be attending.
Weekday cohorts in the morning, the afternoon and the evening. Group work, individual sessions and family sessions when they are clinically indicated. A treatment plan a licensed clinician signs, and a clinical review of whether this is still the right level of care.
What is in it
- Intensive outpatient treatment at ASAM level 2.1, by video.
- Individual therapy with the same clinician week to week.
- Family sessions when the clinical plan calls for them.
- Ambulatory withdrawal management for low-risk withdrawal.
- Psychiatry on the team for co-occurring mental health.
What is not in it
- Medical detox in a bed. That needs a building, and we will say so.
- Residential treatment. Same answer, and we help you find it.
- Acute psychiatric stabilization. An emergency department, not us.
- A promise about your outcome. We do not make one.
- A referral fee, in either direction. We do not pay for referrals.
Who this tends to fit here.
Production and crew schedules
Work that runs on a call sheet does not fit a program with one fixed hour. There are morning, afternoon and evening cohorts, and we move you between them when the work moves.
Check your benefits If you are across the basin from everythingA commute you do not have to make
Downtown, the Valley, the Westside, the South Bay. The distance between where you live and where a program sits is the usual reason people drop out. Here the distance is zero.
Check your benefits If privacy is the whole problemNo building to be seen entering
You attend from a private room. There is no lobby, no car park and no sign-in sheet. Substance use records carry the stricter protection of 42 CFR Part 2.
Check your benefitsWe read your plan before you commit to anything.
Covered by many PPO plans. We check your benefits first.
Shift bills most major commercial plans on an out-of-network basis. We are not part of any commercial carrier network. We read your plan, tell you what it pays toward intensive outpatient care, and give you that number before your first appointment. Nothing is committed until you decide.
Medi-Cal. We cannot bill Medi-Cal today, because we hold no county contract yet. If Medi-Cal is your coverage, tell us and we will point you to a county provider who can help now.
Pages for specific cards: Aetna, Anthem, Blue Shield of California, Cigna, UnitedHealthcare, UMR, Carelon, Magellan, Kaiser.
If Shift is not the right answer for you.
In a crisis, call or text 988. That is the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, it is answered around the clock, and it covers substance use as well as mental health. If anyone is in immediate danger, call 911. Shift is an outpatient program and is not an emergency service.
For public treatment in Los Angeles County, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, Substance Abuse Prevention and Control runs the county network and is the place to start if commercial insurance is not what you have.
And if the clinical screen says you need a level of care we do not offer, we tell you that and help you find it. That happens, and it is a better outcome than being admitted to the wrong program.
The ones people ask first.
Do you have an office in Los Angeles?
No. Shift is a virtual program and has no clinic in Los Angeles or anywhere else in California. Our registered business address in Agoura Hills is an office, not a treatment site. You attend every session by video.
I live in Los Angeles County but not in the city. Can I still join?
Yes. The requirement is that you are physically in California during each session, not that you live in a particular city. Pasadena, Lancaster, Santa Monica and Long Beach are all the same to us.
What if I need a higher level of care than this?
Medical detox, residential treatment and acute psychiatric stabilization need a building, and we do not pretend otherwise. If the clinical screen says you need one of those, we tell you and we help you find it.
Where do I turn in Los Angeles County if Shift is not the answer?
For a crisis, call or text 988, or call 911 if anyone is in immediate danger. For county substance use services, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, Substance Abuse Prevention and Control runs the public treatment network across Los Angeles County.
Start with a call or a benefits check.
Five minutes either way. We read your plan, a licensed clinician does a clinical screen, and if Shift is the right level of care you start. Next business day on most cases.
If you or someone you are with is in immediate danger, call or text 988 (the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline) or call 911. Shift Support Network is an outpatient program and is not an emergency service. Other cities: Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, Sacramento, Fresno, Bakersfield, Riverside, Long Beach, Oakland.