Specialty Mental Health · San Diego County Contract 575462Medi-Cal Welcome — All San Diego Plans

Co-Occurring Disorders Treatment

Treatment for a mental health condition occurring alongside substance use, in La Mesa, CA. County-contracted specialty mental health plus DHCS-certified SUD care, coordinated. Call (858) 925-8589.

Call (858) 925-8589 Check Your Coverage

One clinical team runs a single assessment and treatment plan for both conditions
PHP here is specialty mental health only; substance use care runs under separate DHCS certification
No requirement to get sober before a mental health condition is taken seriously
Medication for opioid or alcohol use disorder is managed alongside psychiatric medication
Step-down plan names warning signs for both depression return and return to use

Every day, 8am – 8pm
100% confidential — HIPAA & 42 CFR Part 2
Adults 18+ · dual-diagnosis welcome

Verify your insurance

Takes about 60 seconds. Our admissions team confirms your benefits and calls you back — usually within the hour.

First Name *

Last Name *

Date of Birth *

Phone *

Insurance Provider *

Policy / Member ID *

By entering your name, you agree to provide this information to Golden Coast Rehab. It will be used for intake, scheduling, and determining proper treatment, and will only be shared with health care providers, payers and insurers, for follow-up correspondence, and with contractors or agents helping provide these services. Information you provide here is protected under both HIPAA and 42 CFR Part 2. This consent expires when we understand you no longer seek any services, and can be revoked by you at any time by emailing info@goldencoastrehab.com. If you do not consent, we are unable to verify your benefits through this form — please call us at (858) 925-8589 instead.

Verifying your insurance is free, 100% confidential, and carries no obligation.

A co-occurring disorder means a mental health condition and a substance use disorder are present at the same time. This page approaches that from the mental health side: you came in for depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, or trauma, and substance use turned out to be part of the picture.

If you are arriving from the other direction — substance use first, with a mental health condition underneath — the same care is described from that angle on our dual diagnosis treatment page. Both pages describe the same coordinated care; they differ only in where you started.

How the two tracks fit together

Golden Coast Rehab is a contracted provider of Specialty Mental Health Services (Partial Hospitalization Program and Intensive Outpatient Program) for the County of San Diego, Behavioral Health Services, under County Contract 575462.

Golden Coast Rehab holds DHCS substance use disorder certification 370254AP for outpatient detoxification, outpatient, intensive outpatient, and medication-assisted treatment.

One boundary matters here, and we state it plainly. Our Partial Hospitalization Program is a specialty mental health service only, delivered under our County of San Diego contract — there is no substance use PHP at Golden Coast Rehab. Substance use care is provided at the outpatient detox, outpatient, intensive outpatient, and medication-assisted treatment levels under our DHCS certification. The two tracks are coordinated by one clinical team, but they are separately authorized and we do not blur them.

Why treating one and referring out the other tends to fail

The two conditions interact. Drinking to quiet anxiety works for an evening and raises anxiety for the following two days. Depression lowers the resources you need to stop using; withdrawal deepens depression. Treat either one in isolation and the untreated condition keeps pulling the other back down, which is why people cycle through programs and conclude that treatment does not work for them.

Integrated care means one clinical team holds both pictures at once — one assessment, one treatment plan, medication decisions that account for both, and no requirement to get sober before your mental health condition is taken seriously.

Ready to take the first step?

Speak with our admissions team — free, confidential, and no obligation.

Call (858) 925-8589 Verify Insurance

What treatment looks like

Assessment

One evaluation covering psychiatric symptoms, substance use, medical history, medication, and safety. We do not try to settle which condition came first before starting treatment — that question is often unanswerable and rarely changes what needs to happen next. Symptoms are tracked with standardized measures, including the PHQ-9 and the GAD-7 where clinically indicated, completed at intake and repeated during treatment so that change is measured rather than assumed.

Stabilization

If withdrawal management is needed, that comes first, through our outpatient detox under DHCS certification 370254AP. Alongside it, sleep, routine, and psychiatric stabilization. When housing is part of the instability, addiction and mental health housing options are part of the plan.

Active treatment

Mental health programming at the PHP or IOP level under the County contract, coordinated with substance use programming at the outpatient, intensive outpatient, or medication-assisted treatment level. Where medication for opioid or alcohol use disorder is indicated, it is managed alongside psychiatric medication rather than in a separate silo.

Step-down

Care steps down as stability holds, with a plan that names both sets of warning signs — because a return of depression and a return to using are each capable of setting off the other.

Mental health conditions we treat

Substances we treat

Call (858) 925-8589 to talk through which starting point fits. Our line is answered 24 hours a day.

Explore Related Care

Not sure this is the right fit?

Levels of care step up and down around your progress — start where you are, and we'll adjust together.

Partial Hospitalization Program (PHP)

Our most structured outpatient level of care, offered as a specialty mental health service.

Learn more

Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP)

Evidence-based group and individual therapy with the flexibility to keep working, studying, and living at home.

Learn more

Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT)

FDA-approved medication for opioid and alcohol use disorder, managed by our medical team.

Learn more

Dual Diagnosis Treatment

Integrated care for substance use and co-occurring mental health conditions — treated together, not separately.

Learn more

Verify Your Insurance

Check your coverage in minutes — free, confidential, and with no obligation to enroll.

Learn more

Admissions Process

See exactly what happens from your first call to your start date, step by step.

Learn more

Serving members of every San Diego Medi-Cal plan

Credentialed through Optum, administrator of behavioral health services for the County of San Diego.

Optum, a UnitedHealth Group companyAdministrative Services Organization for County of San Diego behavioral health — we are credentialed with Optum.

County of San Diego Behavioral Health ServicesContracted provider of Specialty Mental Health Services under County Contract 575462.

Not sure if you're covered? Verify your benefits in minutes — free & confidential.

Admissions

The Admissions Process

Starting treatment at Golden Coast Rehab is simple. Here's exactly what happens from your first call.

Call or Reach Out

Speak with a caring admissions specialist — no pressure, completely confidential.

Verify Your Coverage

We confirm what your plan covers — Medi-Cal welcome — usually the same day.

Phone Assessment

A 10–15 minute ASAM-based assessment helps us understand your history and recommend the right level of care.

Clinical Review & Intake

Our team reviews your assessment, builds an individualized plan, and schedules your start date.

Call (858) 925-8589 See the full process

Questions, Answered

Frequently asked questions

Do I have to be sober before you will treat my mental health condition?

No. Both conditions are treated at the same time by one clinical team. Requiring sobriety first is the ordering that most often fails people with co-occurring conditions.

Is there a PHP for substance use?

No. Our Partial Hospitalization Program is a specialty mental health service under County Contract 575462. Substance use care is provided at the detox, outpatient, intensive outpatient, and medication-assisted treatment levels under DHCS certification 370254AP. One clinical team coordinates both.

How is this page different from your dual diagnosis page?

Only in where you started. This page frames the same coordinated care from the mental health side; our <a href="/treatment-programs/dual-diagnosis/">dual diagnosis page</a> frames it from the addiction side.

Which condition gets treated first?

Neither, in the sense of one waiting. Sequencing is clinical: withdrawal management comes first if it is medically needed, and psychiatric stabilization runs alongside it rather than after it.

Does Medi-Cal cover co-occurring treatment?

Yes. Specialty mental health services and Drug Medi-Cal Organized Delivery System services are both administered by San Diego County Behavioral Health Services, so both sides of your care can be covered at no cost to you on any Medi-Cal plan in the county.

How common is it to have both a mental health condition and a substance use disorder?

It's common, and getting more so: San Diego County's Health and Human Services Agency found that 60% of adult and older-adult clients in the public behavioral health system had both a mental illness and a substance use disorder in fiscal year 2020-21, a five-point climb from FY 2016-17. Nationally, SAMHSA's 2022 survey found nearly half of young adults aged 18 to 25 (48.8%) had either condition in the past year. Co-occurring conditions are treated together in our dual-diagnosis programming rather than as separate tracks.

What counts as a co-occurring disorder?

A co-occurring disorder means a mental health condition and a substance use disorder are present at the same time, such as depression alongside alcohol use. Your intake assessment screens for both so your treatment plan addresses the full picture.

Do you treat both conditions in the same sessions, or separately?

Treatment is coordinated so that your mental health and substance use symptoms are addressed together rather than in disconnected tracks, since the two often influence each other. Your care team designs your plan around how your specific conditions interact.

What if my substance use is more of a concern than my mental health right now?

Your intake assessment evaluates both conditions regardless of which one feels more urgent to you, since untreated symptoms on either side can affect the other. Your treatment plan reflects what the assessment identifies as clinically necessary.

Can I start treatment if I'm not ready to fully stop using?

Intake assessment considers where you are in your process; discuss your current situation openly with our admissions team so your treatment plan reflects your actual starting point.

How do you decide which level of care fits a co-occurring presentation?

The level of care is determined clinically during intake, based on the severity of both your mental health and substance use symptoms together, not by either condition alone.

What if I've only ever been treated for one of the two conditions before?

That's common, and it's useful information for your intake assessment. Your care team will evaluate the condition that hasn't been addressed yet alongside the one that has, so your treatment plan covers both.

Sources

San Diego County HHSA — 60% of adult/older-adult behavioral health clients had a co-occurring mental illness and substance use disorder in FY 2020-21, up from 54% in FY 2016-17https://www.sandiegocounty.gov/content/dam/sdc/hhsa/programs/bhs/TRL/AOA%20Annual%20System%20of%20Care%20Report%20FY%2020-21.pdf
SAMHSA 2022 NSDUH — 48.8% of young adults (18-25) had either a mental illness or substance use disorder in the past yearhttps://www.samhsa.gov/data/sites/default/files/reports/rpt42731/2022-nsduh-annual-national-web-110923/2022-nsduh-nnr.htm

Chat with us.

We're here to help you or your loved one on their path to sobriety — free, confidential.

Call (858) 925-8589

Structure, support, and a team that knows your name — starting this week.

Five minutes. One real person on the other end — day or night. No pressure, no obligation, just honest answers about what comes next.

Call (858) 925-8589

Every day, 8am – 8pm · Free & confidential · HIPAA & 42 CFR Part 2 protected