UCLA Behavioral Health Programs and Services: A Comprehensive Guide

UCLA offers a wide array of behavioral health programs and services designed to support the emotional and mental well-being of individuals across various needs and circumstances. These programs range from brief, solution-focused therapy to intensive community-based treatment, reflecting UCLA's commitment to providing holistic care that integrates mental and physical health.

Integrating Primary Care and Mental Health: The Behavioral Health Associates (BHA) Model

UCLA Health has pioneered a collaborative care system known as Behavioral Health Associates (BHA) that merges primary care and mental health services. Recognizing that a significant percentage of adults and children experience behavioral health disorders, and that these individuals often have greater healthcare needs and poorer health outcomes, UCLA developed BHA to address the gap between medical and behavioral care. This innovative approach has led to a significant increase in the number of patients receiving behavioral health services, a reduction in emergency room visits, and solutions to administrative challenges.

The BHA program is designed as a focused, short-term, outpatient model emphasizing Brief Treatment, with psychotherapy limited to 12 sessions for adults and 20 sessions for pediatric patients. The program operates within UCLA Health, delivering a full range of primary and behavioral health care within a single system.

Key Features of UCLA's BHA Program

Recognized Excellence: UCLA Health is consistently ranked among the best in the nation by U.S. News & World Report.
Access to Care: BHA provides services in multiple locations, including telemedicine appointments for convenient access.
Range of Treatment Options: Services include psychiatric stabilization with medication, individual, couples, or family therapy, and group therapy. Referrals to more intensive treatment at the Stewart and Lynda Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital are also available.

Extending Care Beyond BHA: The UCLA Behavioral Health Network (BHN)

The UCLA Behavioral Health Network (BHN) is a network of community-based therapists and psychiatrists who partner with UCLA primary care teams and the BHA program. BHN offers longer-term support for individuals who may benefit from ongoing mental health services beyond the brief, solution-focused care provided through BHA.

Benefits of UCLA BHN

Personalized, Longer-Term Support: BHN providers offer extended therapy and psychiatric care tailored to individual goals.
Flexible Appointment Options: Many BHN providers offer telehealth visits for convenient access to care.
Coordinated Care: BHN providers work closely with UCLA primary care physicians and the BHA team to ensure consistent care.

Specific Services Offered Through UCLA Behavioral Health Programs

UCLA Behavioral Health programs offer a variety of services to address a wide range of needs. These services include:

Psychiatry: Psychiatrists provide medication management in collaboration with primary care physicians. They can also make referrals for longer-term treatments.
Individual, Couples, and Family Psychotherapy: BHA emphasizes Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT) to help individuals manage current life challenges. Licensed providers offer a neutral, objective perspective in a safe and supportive environment.
Group Psychotherapy: Group sessions provide an opportunity for individuals to connect with others who have similar symptoms or challenges. A licensed provider facilitates discussions and teaches coping skills.

Conditions Treated

UCLA specialists treat a wide range of behavioral and mental health conditions, including:

Anxiety disorders
Bipolar disorder
Depression
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

Treatment Approaches: Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT)

UCLA Behavioral Health Associates providers primarily use Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT) to help individuals find quick and effective solutions to their current challenges. SFBT focuses on setting goals and identifying steps to achieve those goals, rather than analyzing past events or thought patterns. While SFBT can be used as a standalone treatment, it may also be part of a comprehensive plan that includes medication or other therapy styles. If long-term therapy is needed, specialists can provide referrals to other providers.

Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) and Forensic Assertive Community Treatment (FACT)

UCLA is also involved in the implementation of Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) and Forensic Assertive Community Treatment (FACT) through the Public Mental Health Partnership (PMHP) at UCLA, serving as a Center of Excellence (COE). These evidence-based practices aim to expand access to community-based behavioral health services for individuals with significant behavioral health needs.

For fifty years, ACT has helped people with severe mental illness thrive in the community. ACT brings care to people in their homes, in shelters, in group living settings, in locked settings, and on the street.

PMHP's Role in ACT and FACT Implementation

The Public Mental Health Partnership (PMHP) at UCLA provides training to ACT and FACT providers in California to support implementation and fidelity. The training curriculum is built on four core approach pillars:

Read also: Navigating Tech Breadth at UCLA

Recovery-oriented Care
Trauma-informed Care
Harm Reduction
Systems-oriented Care

The curriculum encompasses the ACT service delivery model and team approach, evidence-based practices, and relevant clinical competency areas.

Technical Assistance and Fidelity Measurement

PMHP offers Technical Assistance (TA), which is one-on-one support offered to ACT teams to help deliver high-quality intensive behavioral health care. The Center of Excellence for ACT and FACT draws on partnered implementation approaches that help practitioners use data to develop skills in evidence-based practices, guide effective service delivery, and incentivize performance improvement. All data we collect will be shared back with teams in a timely, structured, and interactive way to help teams adopt data-informed care delivery approaches that improve their practice. Our training offerings will include topics such as the use of data to inform continuous quality improvement, the adoption of Measurement-Based Care, data-informed provider behavior change, and others.

Additional Resources and Support

Beyond the specific programs and services mentioned above, UCLA also provides access to other resources and support systems, including:

The Harbor Urgent Care Center (HUCC): Located on the Harbor UCLA Medical Center Campus in Torrance, CA.
The Exodus Recovery 24-hour Psychiatric Urgent Care Center: A welcoming, recovery-based environment where individuals in crisis can be assessed for stabilization services, medication evaluation and management, or in-patient hospitalization if necessary. The Urgent Care Center is open and available 24-hours per day and 365-days per year on a walk-in basis. No appointment is necessary. The Exodus Urgent Care Center offers comprehensive care by an interdisciplinary team of medical doctors/psychiatrists, Nurse Practitioners, Registered Nurses, and Therapists.
Behavioral Wellness Center (BWC): The BWC at the David Geffen School of Medicine is committed to practicing in a way that recognizes how racial, political, cultural, and spiritual processes operate on implicit, explicit, institutional, and individual levels to impact minoritized populations, populations of color, and LGBTQ communities' experiences. Behavioral Wellness Center staff at David Geffen School of Medicine are comprised of professionals from diverse cultures and backgrounds. Our services are confidential. We offer in-person and telehealth services, with evening and weekend appointments available by request.
L.A. Care: L.A. Care provides access to caring providers, helpful tools, and resources for mental health support. L.A. Care has different types of plans. To learn what services are available to you, choose your plan below. L.A. Care Medi-CalL.A. Care CoveredL.A. BHT is a covered service for members who qualify. A doctor, surgeon, or psychologist must say it is needed.BHT includes Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA). ABA is a treatment that may help reduce harmful behaviors. DMH helps Medi-Cal members who need a higher level of mental health care.
988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline: A free and open 24/7 service that gives confidential support to people in emotional distress or thinking about suicide.

Accessing UCLA Behavioral Health Services

To access UCLA Behavioral Health Associates (BHA) services, patients must have established care with a UCLA Primary Care Physician (PCP) and receive a referral to the BHA Program. After the referral, patients will receive a confirmation via UCLA MyChart.

For any cancellations, it is requested that you do so with at least 24-hours advance notice by calling 310-301-7396 and leaving a message with your name, provider and time of appointment. This provides BHA an opportunity to offer your slot to another patient who is waiting to be scheduled.

Read also: Understanding UCLA Counselors

Failure to provide 24-hours advance cancellation notice will be considered a no-show to the appointment. If you no-show to your initial intake, you will forfeit your current referral to BHA and will be directed back to your PCP for another referral. Repeated no-shows to appointments, or inconsistency with treatment may result in discharge from the clinic. Verbal or physical threats toward staff or damage to property in any of the BHA clinics may result in discharge from all BHA clinics. It is important to note that therapists are not on call and do not carry pagers. We cannot guarantee that your therapist will be able to respond to you immediately.

tags: #UCLA #behavioral #health #programs #and #services