La Selva

La Selva Group Behavioral Services offers a wide array of programs and services to address mental health needs in our community. Our treatment programs are individualized to meet each person’s specific needs. We challenge the norm of society and break down stigma barriers surrounding mental health challenges and support people faced with mental health illness to be included and empowered.

Anna Ess
5 Star
So I have been through intensive outpatient programs before for mental health crisis. In particular, the Kaiser one for severe anxiety. It was pretty much worthless. This is honestly one of the best decisions of my life going here. I have to say I am incredibly impressed by every practitioner. I was wary because of the review but another person saying that unqualified people were leading the groups. Most of the classes are led by LCSW's LMFTs and people who have a doctorate in psychiatry or psychology. They have several tracks here. One is trauma -focused. I know there is a wait list for that, but if this applies to you, I encourage you to apply for this list. Another one is for alcohol and substance recovery. Most patients here are not on any of the three tracks, but are usually experiencing a mental health crisis, perhaps spurred by an extremely stressful event such as a divorce or loss or just folks who realize they need to take a few months to focus on their mental Health. The third track is for FND, which is the condition I have. Basically my nerves are overreactive. The condition is diagnosed by neurologists but is treated by psychotherapy, as symptoms are triggered and exacerbated by stress or anxiety. It is incredibly difficult to find treatment programs for this very common neurological condition. I am forever grateful to Dr Lockman, the FND therapist Kathleen Gray (the best therapist I have encountered in years of fairly ineffective therapy over my life) and the other FND group coordinator Kristen for the invaluable support and education. I also attended the other daily classes on healthy communication, mindfulness ,DBT, CBT, ACT and others. I found the group where folks play-acted conversations with significant people in their lives, including themselves, incredibly moving and healing. I would recommend attending this program to anyone, TBH. I can't see anyone not finding this helpful. Essentially all of the classes and therapy are to help you integrate recognition of your emotions and thoughts and accepting them and yourself. The program includes weekly individual therapy and psychiatry appointments, lunch and optional afternoon classes.
Monday 8th April 2024

Kelsey Kavanaugh
5 Star
La Selva was a life-changing experience that saved my life. I arrived in a fragile state after spending over a month in the hospital, and though I was resistant to treatment, agreeing to residential care was my only option to leave a psychiatric hold. Upon arrival at La Selva, I was pleasantly surprised by the freedom I had and how quickly my perspective changed. The Forest Ave house became a home for me, and I appreciated the opportunity to do little chores like cooking with other residents. Contrary to what I expected from a partial-hospitalization, the program offered daily group outings to get boba or walk outside and weekend trips like hikes. This newfound sense of freedom and routine helped me look forward to my days. The residential staff, such as Letty and Alex, were always available to talk and offer support. I was also impressed with Dr. Wang's professionalism and effectiveness in finding medications that worked for me. He listened to my needs and changed my prescriptions to help me cope more easily. Moreover, the new diagnoses I received helped me work better with my symptoms and achieve stability. The day program's greatest strength was the freedom to choose which sessions to attend and opt-out when the intensity became too much. I highly recommend Jurek's groups, especially family constellation, which helped me work through my deepest issues. Meremy, my one-on-one therapist, was the most compassionate, supportive, and non-judgmental therapist I have ever worked with. She was there for me every week and more often when I was struggling with tough things. After a month of residential care, I moved on to supportive housing, where I lived without 24/7 staff support. While it was challenging to adjust to the new routine, my housemates and the staff Ligia and Simi made the transition easier. I even began working part-time on weekends, which was impossible for me before due to my mental health. After spending about six months at La Selva, I had attended nearly every class, created a Wellness Recovery Action Plan, found a new therapist and doctor, secured employment, and found housing. While leaving was difficult, I knew that La Selva would be there for me if I ever needed to return. Even after moving away, I have remained stable and am now employed full time. I continue to keep in touch with my friends and the staff at La Selva by attending the Friday meetings at Middlefield every so often. If you are in need of a program to help you after hospitalization, I highly recommend giving La Selva a try. The staff and clients there helped save my life, and I am confident they can do the same for others.
Thursday 23rd March 2023

Ash F
1 Star
This program is full of dangerously unprofessional people. Firstly, they lied to me about virtually everything important. They neglected to tell me that La Selva is a "stabilization" program, and they don't actually offer treatment. I arrived ready to surrender myself to their expertise, hoping this program might help me finally get through my severe agoraphobia, PTSD, Anxiety, Depression, self destructive behavior, and constant fear. When I got into my first "therapy" appointment, I was informed that treatment isn't something they focus on. They don't even refer to anyone as a therapist. They're called your "point person". Second, they told me I would receive trauma treatment, but when I arrived at the program I had to wait another month to join "trauma track", where I was never actually helped with any of my trauma. You're not allowed to discuss upsetting topics here, which seems horribly counterproductive. I got in trouble several times because I dared to utilize the therapeutic setting to discuss upsetting topics. I was interrupted, called out, and invalidated. The people here are NOT trained professionals. A lot of them are previous patients with no medical certification. Also, Several times I witnessed employees acting unprofessionally towards patients. My point person/therapist was Melissa. She was, without a doubt, the coldest most emotionless therapist I have ever met. She does NOT belong working with mentally struggling people, and I have filed a complaint with the medical board with further details. She mistreated and invalidated me. She said some of the most inappropriate things a therapist has ever said to me. Eventually, I concluded i couldn't go to her if I had a problem. I had to BEG to be transferred to another person. I was sent to Meramee, who was also unable to provide me with any treatment. In the end, I was never helped. I was told patients stay for 8-12 weeks minimum, with extensions allowed past that. My insurance is very good, so I was told I would be ok if I needed to stay longer. When 7 weeks and 5 days passed, I had not been informed that I was already being removed from the program on the exact day of 8 weeks, and 12 weeks is actually the extension, (I discovered this through my own research) yet there were many people who had been in the program for nearly a year. My insurance is not at all the problem. The people here never once communicated the cut off date, and I had tried on several occasions to discuss the long term schedule. Nobody would ever talk about it with me, and I suspect this is actually something they are taught to do. I wonder if this is a common practice to not discuss the dates with people. It was very suddenly sprung on me that I was leaving in 2 days. I had NO support plan, NO outside therapist, NO access to medication. I made this very clear to 4 different employee's, but was told "TOO BAD". When I left the program on THEIR schedule, I immediately fell back into depression. The microscopic amount of progress I made by leaving the house immediately vanished. In these past few months since then, I've begun self harming again, become more depressed, experienced mood fluctuations like never before, and I honestly have no hope for the future. Shame on La Selva for allowing patients to leave without a support plan in place. If you value your mental health, DO NOT GO TO LA SELVA. You will be ignored, mistreated, misinformed, insulted, gaslit, and eventually abandoned. There are details I have that I am willing to share, but first I'm waiting to hear back from the complaint line.
Sunday 13th November 2022

Rachel Unger
5 Star
My experience at La Selva has been nothing short of transformative. I've been in various therapies for over 11 years and was referred to La Selva by my psychiatrist. I've been attending as PHP for 5 hours a day, 5 days a week for 3 weeks now and my depression and anxiety symptoms have improved greatly in a shockingly short amount of time. The group sessions are good, the classes on specific CBT and DBT skills are good, but what is great is the community of other clients at LaSelva. It's very eye opening to realize you are not alone, and the people here are incredibly compassionate and supportive. I'm continued to be amazed by the patient and caring attitude of every staff member I've interacted with. You get out what you put in, it is work to learn these skills and implement them in your life, but I'm already confident that my next depressive episode will be easier to cope with after graduating. I strongly feel this is a good program for anyone who feels they've tried it all, as I felt I had.
Tuesday 23rd August 2022

Shirley Walker
2 Star
I wouldn't refer anyone to La Selva Residential Treatment Home either as a perspective Residential or an Intern/Clinician. The leadership is poor and absent the simplest management skills. The Program Director Michelle Ly openly engages in negative and racist talk about her African American staff and has shared her disdain and dislike towards me as a Black Women in general. She openly shows favoritism towards white male and Asian staff and allows white and Asian staff to violate breaks and deny completing assigned chores that they dislike. Michelle forces housekeeping and domestic duties such as resident cooking and cleaning to be delegated to African American and other brown-skinned staff despite their academic credentials.
Sunday 7th August 2022