Mental Health Care in California

[duson1]

I just wanted to see if anybody could give me a recommendation on how do go about getting some mental health care in California. The specific situation is; the person has significant depression and anxiety issues, as well as issues with alcoholism. They are currently covered under CenCal Heatlh.

Is anybody familiar with the quality of the mental health service available through CenCal? Do they mainly focus on physical treatment through drug treatment, or do they offer behavioral treatments as well?

Would you recommend bypassing any service through CenCal, and pay out of pocket for higher quality psychological treatment through an individual provider? I'm inquiring for a close family member, and I just want to choose the method that will offer more personal care, with effective results.

Thank you in advance for any guidance!

 

[jbalkin]

I'm not familiar with CenCal specifically, but have had far too much experience trying to get good mental health and drug treatment services for people who have state health insurance. If you can afford it, I say go for the out-of-pocket provider. And look for someone who specializes in dual diagnosis, so that your family member can get help from someone who understands how their mental health and addiction issues are intertwined.

You might wanna take a tour of your local hospital's psych ward. It should give you a good idea of what you don't want--people who are being warehoused and medicated to make them palatable for society, rather than people who are being given the tools to live their lives in such a way that they don't keep ending up back in the hospital or in jail. Not to say that they're not effective for keeping a person in crisis safe, but...yeah.

Good luck to you and your relative. I know how tough it is.

 

[duson1]

Thank you for the reply. I agree, state care does not seem to be effective at treating the cause of the issue, they typically just want to feed the patient medicine and hope for the best. We looked into psychologists in the area, and I feel optimistic that taking this route will offer much better results.

 

[jbalkin]

I'm really glad to hear that. You're lucky to have options.