Behavioral Health Associates (BHA) is a clinic designed to support your emotional well-being so that you can thrive. BHA works in partnership with your UCLA primary care provider and together, we are your UCLA team for overall health. Once you have a referral from your UCLA PCP please call 310-301-7396 in order to schedule your appointment.
There are three main components of treatment in BHA: psychiatry, individual (or couples/family) psychotherapy and group psychotherapy.
Psychiatric treatment at UCLA Behavioral Health Associates is a collaborative model between your primary care provider and your psychiatrist and other treatment members as necessary. UCLA Behavioral Health Associates emphasizes brief-treatment. Once stabilized, the goal is to have your primary care provider manage your medications. You and your provider can discuss specific goals through medication management and treatment may involve referrals for individual or group therapy as well as more intensive treatment options if deemed beneficial. You may also choose to receive a referral to a provider in the community to continue psychotherapy after meeting your initial therapy goals.
Psychotherapy is a collaborative treatment process that provides a supportive environment where you can talk openly with a licensed provider who is objective, neutral and non-judgmental. You and your provider can discuss specific goals for therapy. Treatment length will be limited to (at the most) 12 individual sessions after your initial intake. Due to the focused nature of brief treatment, we ask that you schedule your sessions within a 6-month period or less (averaging one session every 2 weeks). You are asked to commit to the process of therapy during this time period; if you cancel more than one session, your provider may initiate a conversation to discuss whether the timing is best for you to continue therapy at this time. Please make every effort to attend your scheduled sessions; if you no-show to any of these appointments without calling to cancel, you will forfeit that session. If you would like to continue therapy after 12 sessions, you may choose to receive a referral to a UCLA-credentialed provider in the community. If you would like to be referred to a long-term provider right away, please mention this when speaking with a BHA coordinator on the phone. You may also choose to step-down to a group psychotherapy session.
Group Psychotherapy is a unique opportunity to meet with other individuals who likely struggle with some of the same symptoms that you do and discuss your experiences, facilitated by a licensed provider. Many group therapy sessions offer a teaching component where you can learn skills to better manage your emotions. Group therapy is a unique experience that decreases a sense of isolation and provides an opportunity for interpersonal learning among peers. A group referral begins by meeting individually with the group leader to determine suitability of fit for the group.
If you're interested in group therapy at this time please inform the coordinator when you call for your appointment as well as your therapist when you begin your individual sessions. See a listing of our current groups >
At UCLA Behavioral Health Associates (BHA) we are excited to announce new partnerships with web based providers for psychiatry and therapy. If it is clinically appropriate, these options may be offered to you at some point in the scheduling process or treatment process. The services are convenient as you can stay in the comfort of your own home and you don't have to deal with traffic or parking by coming to our location! If you have an interest in these services please mention it to the BHA staff.
Our therapists are required by law and professional ethics to actively break confidentiality under the following circumstances:
