Changes Treatment Center
Changes Treatment Center provides a partial hospitalization program Laguna Beach adults attend from our center up the coast in Costa Mesa. PHP treatment Laguna Beach residents get here is the most intensive level of outpatient care: full treatment days, five days a week, with every evening back home. PHP offers the highest level of outpatient treatment available, structured daily, without an overnight stay, within a reasonable drive up the coast. We work with major insurance plans and verify benefits in about 15 minutes.
Reach out for confidential support, no pressure, no judgment. We’re here to help you take the next step.
The closest PHP through Changes is in Costa Mesa at 2787 Bristol Street, a drive north from Laguna Beach. We treat adults from Laguna Beach and across South Orange County, and most people start within a few days of verifying benefits.
Our center sits in Costa Mesa’s South Coast Metro area, north of Laguna Beach. Call (949) 807-2008 or use the directions link on this page to map the exact route and time from your neighborhood.
Both. Our PHP treats substance use together with co-occurring conditions like anxiety, depression, and trauma, rather than one at a time. Psychiatry and medication management are part of the program when your plan calls for them.
PHP is the higher level at about 20 to 30 hours a week, while IOP runs about 9 to 15. If you need daily structure, start with PHP; if you can hold steady with fewer hours, IOP may be the place to begin. We help you decide on your first call.
Most major plans cover PHP, and what you owe comes down to your deductible and coinsurance. We verify your specific benefits in about 15 minutes and explain the cost before you commit, and private-pay options are available too.
Yes. Our PHP is built for adults 18 and older dealing with addiction and co-occurring mental health conditions.
Most people begin within a few days of verifying insurance. Call (949) 807-2008 or send the verification form and the team will build a schedule around your plan.
PHP is the right level of care for adults who need daily clinical structure but not a 24-hour residential stay. Laguna Beach residents usually arrive here one of three ways: stepping down from detox or residential care and still needing intensive daily support, finding that weekly therapy or IOP hasn’t been enough to stay stable, or facing a substance problem tangled up with anxiety, depression or trauma that needs daily attention.
Laguna Beach is one of the communities covered by our South Orange County partial hospitalization program, and at this level the real question is intensity, whether you need full days of structure now, or you’re stable enough for a lighter step down. For a smaller coastal town like Laguna, the nearest care that’s genuinely intensive often isn’t in town at all, which is exactly where PHP fits: it’s the most serious outpatient treatment available, and it’s a manageable drive up the coast rather than a move away from home.
A PHP day runs several hours, five days a week, built from an individualized plan your clinician sets at the first assessment. Each day combines group therapy, which carries most of the clinical work and the peer support research links to better outcomes, individual therapy for focused time on what’s actually driving your use, and skills sessions on the practical side: handling triggers, regulating emotions, and building routines that hold up outside the treatment room.
The program accumulates over time. The first days focus on stabilizing and getting honest about what needs to change; the middle digs into the patterns underneath the use; and the later weeks turn heavily toward relapse prevention, naming your warning signs, your high-risk situations, and a specific plan for each. Because you return home to Laguna Beach every evening, you test what you learn in your own environment and bring the results back the next day, which lets your team refine the plan continuously rather than once a week. That daily feedback is what separates PHP from any less frequent level of care.
We treat the full range of substance use disorders at the PHP level, alcohol, opioids (including fentanyl and prescription painkillers), stimulants like methamphetamine and cocaine, benzodiazepines, and dependence on marijuana, 7-OH and kratom products. Most people come in managing more than one at once, and the plan is built around the whole picture.
Mental health is treated inside the same program, not referred out. Our mental health PHP Laguna Beach care addresses anxiety, depression and trauma alongside the substance use, led by a board-certified psychiatrist. The two almost always feed each other, and a program that treats the drinking or the drug use while leaving the depression or anxiety underneath it in place tends to lose ground. Treating both together, every day, is what makes recovery hold.
Our PHP runs on evidence-based methods, each with a specific job. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is the foundation, surfacing the thoughts and patterns behind use and building responses you can apply day to day. Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) teaches emotional regulation and distress tolerance, the skills that keep a hard moment from becoming a relapse. Motivational Interviewing works with the ambivalence that’s normal early on and strengthens your own reasons to change. Trauma-informed care runs beneath all of it. Relapse-prevention planning threads through the whole program and into your step-down.
For the full detail on how these come together across a week at the PHP level, see our main Partial Hospitalization Program overview.
PHP is full days, five days a week; IOP is 9 to 15 hours a week, for when you’re stable enough to add work and family back in. Many clients move from one to the other as they progress, keeping the same team the whole way. See IOP in Laguna Beach for the step-down, or let the assessment settle which level you need now.
The money question deserves a straight answer up front. What you’ll pay for PHP depends on your plan’s deductible, your copay for outpatient behavioral health, how many weeks your team recommends, and whether prior authorization is required, which we handle. We work with major insurance plans, verify your benefits free in about 15 minutes, and offer private pay if your coverage doesn’t fit. See insurance and payment options.
Our center is at 2787 Bristol Street in Costa Mesa, up the coast from Laguna Beach, usually a 25-to-35-minute drive north on the 73 or the PCH depending on where you start and traffic. It’s a real drive, and we’ll be upfront about it, this part of South Orange County isn’t close to much in the way of intensive treatment, which is part of why people make the trip. At the PHP level you’re coming in five days a week, so the drive is worth planning around, but for most Laguna residents it’s a fair trade for care this serious that still lets them sleep at home.
Getting started takes three steps: verify insurance (free, about 15 minutes), speak with a specialist who confirms the right level of care, and begin, most clients start within a few days. If detox is needed first, we coordinate it through licensed partners. See the full admissions process.
We’re an outpatient center serving Laguna Beach and the surrounding South Orange County coast from our Costa Mesa location. Laguna is its own kind of place, a tight, creative, coastal community people are deeply attached to, and leaving it behind for a month of residential treatment is a hard thing to ask of anyone. PHP is built to not ask that. You get the most intensive outpatient care there is, make the drive up the coast five days a week, and come home each night to the town and the people that are part of why recovery is worth it. Staying connected to the life you’re fighting for, rather than being removed from it, is often what makes that fight succeed.
Eric Chaghouri, MD, is the Medical Director at Changes Treatment Center and reviews the clinical content on this page. Dr. Chaghouri is a board-certified psychiatrist who specializes in addiction and forensic psychiatry.
Ready when you are. Call (949) 807-2008 or verify your insurance in about 15 minutes, and our team will build a PHP schedule around your plan and the drive from Laguna Beach.
Recovery is more than stopping a behavior, it’s about rediscovering who you are. At Changes, we provide a supportive space where individuals can rebuild confidence, gain clarity, and move forward with purpose through personalized care.
We focus on strengthening identity, encouraging presence, and supporting overall well-being. By addressing self-sabotage and fostering community, we help turn intention into lasting change, walking with you every step of the way.
Our licensed professionals bring years of expertise in addiction and mental health treatment.
We customize treatment for every client to ensure long term success.
From detox to aftercare, Changes walks with you every step of the way.
Our Costa Mesa location offers a calming, bright, and rejuvenating atmosphere.
A Simple Path to a New Beginning with Changes
We understand that taking the first step toward recovery can feel overwhelming. Our admissions process is designed to be simple, confidential, and stress-free.
Fast, confidential coverage check to help you understand your benefits and available treatment options.
Personalized support to guide you through the process and answer any questions with clarity and care.
Start your path to a brighter future with structured support, expert care, and a plan built around you.
Take a moment to answer these questions honestly.
There are no right or wrong answers.
This assessment is not a medical diagnosis, but it can help you determine whether alcohol may be having a greater impact on your life than you realize.
In the past 12 months…
Developed by Patrick Conod, LCSW, and Cari Lawyer, CATC I, on behalf of the Changes Treatment Center Clinical Leadership Team.
A Self-Assessment for Family Members and Friends
Watching someone you love change because of alcohol can be confusing and heartbreaking. You may find yourself questioning what you’re seeing, wondering if you’re overreacting, or hoping things will get better on their own.
This assessment is designed to help you reflect on the behaviors you’ve noticed. It isn’t a diagnosis, but it may help you determine whether it’s time to seek guidance or support.
In the past 12 months…
Developed by Patrick Conod, LCSW, and Cari Lawyer, CATC I, on behalf of the Changes Treatment Center Clinical Leadership Team.
When we are struggling with deep stress, anxious thoughts, or a low mood, it is incredibly natural to look for immediate relief. Sometimes, we turn to alcohol or other substances just to quiet our minds, get some sleep, or feel normal for a night.
This short self-assessment is designed to help you pause and look at how these two parts of your life might be influencing each other. It is entirely anonymous and takes less than two minutes.
It’s common for habits to slowly shift over time, especially during stressful seasons. Often, we find ourselves using a substance to cope, unwind, or get through the day, only to realize it is starting to take up more space in our routine, thoughts, or relationships than we’d like.
This quick, 10-question check-in is a quiet space to reflect honestly on how your use is impacting your life. It is entirely anonymous, completely free of clinical judgment, and takes less than two minutes.
We all experience days when we feel down, exhausted, or just completely unmotivated. But when those heavy feelings start lingering, it can be hard to tell if you’re just going through a rough patch or if it’s something more.
This quick, confidential check-in is designed to help you pause and reflect on how you’ve actually been feeling lately. It is completely anonymous, entirely non-judgmental, and takes less than two minutes.
Is your evening glass of wine a harmless habit, or is it starting to catch up with you? It’s not always easy to tell where “social drinking” ends and “too much” begins.
Take this quick, 2-minute quiz to check in on your relationship with alcohol and get clear, personalized insights.
