Blog

In December, Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles announced that they will be closing their inpatient psychiatric services, outpatient psychiatric services and psychiatry residency training over the next year.  The hospital said in a statement that the closure will allow them to “focus on the institution’s core strengths while continuing to serve the community’s [...] Read More

An article in The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry published in December of 2011 is entitled “Prevalence of Psychiatric Disorders in Preschoolers.”  The authors are based out of Norway, and they evaluated over two thousand children born in 2003 or 2004 in the city of Trondheim, Norway at the age of four using the [...] Read More

On Friday, December 16, PCH staff members convened to celebrate the Christmas Holidays.  Festivities began at the PCH office, where gifts were given out and a Secret Santa exchange took place.  Chef Sheri’s delicious food was supplemented with pizza from Pitfire.  PCH Treatment Center was fortunate to have two special visitors:  Navassa Hilbertz and Liz [...] Read More

PANDAS stands for pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorders associated with streptococcal infections. PANDAS describes certain children who develop or have worsening of psychological problems including obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), tic disorders such as Tourette’s syndrome, or new onset of agitation or severe hyperactivity in association with a Group A Streptococcal infection. Many of these cases have symptoms [...] Read More

Creative individuals have a disproportionately higher rate of mental illness, according to new research published in the November 2011 issue of the British Journal of Psychiatry (1). Kyaga and colleagues used data from a Swedish registry to demonstrate that patients with bipolar disorder were over-represented in creative professions, patients with schizophrenia were more frequently found in [...] Read More

PCH Treatment Center was pleased to participate in the 2011 Southern California Recovery Summit, which took place on Saturday, October 15 at the Loyola Marymount Campus.  Steve Lapuk, MFT, the Director of our new Dual Integrative Recovery Program was on hand to answer questions and present information on the new program.  Dr. Seth Kadish of [...] Read More

Comprehensive Psychological Assessment Clinic The PCH Treatment Center Comprehensive Psychological Assessment Clinic offers state-of-the-art psychiatric, psychological and neuropsychological testing. Testing is conducted by the Director Sandra Sarnoff, Ph.D., a clinical psychologist with an extensive background in psychological assessment. Services are provided for participants of PCH Treatment Center programs, as well as for individuals outside of [...] Read More

PCH Treatment Center announces The Dual Integrative Recovery Program Dual Integrative Recovery Program The Psychological Basis of Addiction PCH Treatment Center presents a unique program designed for individuals with Dual Diagnosis – co-occurring substance abuse and psychological issues such as Bipolar Disorder, Depression, Personality problems, Anxiety Disorders and Psychological Trauma including PTSD. Often individuals with Dual [...] Read More

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“Changing Attitudes, Changing Lives”  This week in October marks Mental Illness Awareness week.  Congress in 1990 established this week to recognize the efforts of The National Alliance on Mental Illnesses (NAMI) in raising the national consciousness on these issues.  Events are being held throughout the United States and Canada to increase awareness of the effects [...] Read More

Mental health care insurers find themselves with a large gap in the middle: they will reimburse for outpatient weekly therapy and for psychiatric hospitalization. Unfortunately, there is not much in the middle. Insurers have fought and avoided paying for residential treatment, despite the efficacy and cost-efficiency and overall benefit to the insured battling with a [...] Read More

A report dated September 2, 2011 published by the Centers for Disease Control, outlines the prevalence of mental illness in the United States of America and addresses the overall impact. They found that depression rates are highest in the Southeast United States. Similarly, the highest levels of severe psychological distress occurred in the Southeast region. [...] Read More

The “App Store” offers more than just angry birds and Twitter. Apps are now appearing to help persons with psychological problems manage their lives and interact with their Clinicians in a more productive manner. Optimism is a mood chart app that helps one to develop strategies to manage depression, bipolar or other physical and mental [...] Read More

Brandon Marshall, a wide receiver with the Miami Dolphins, was recently diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). BPD is a personality disorder characterized by emotional dysregulation, pervasive instability of personal relationships and a fear of abandonment. Marshall was involved with an episdode of domestic violence earlier this year, when his wife allegedly stabbed him, possibly [...] Read More

Russell Brand responds to the tragic passing of Amy Winehouse. For Amy When you love someone who suffers from the disease of addiction you await the phone call. There will be a phone call. The sincere hope is that the call will be from the addict themselves, telling you they’ve had enough, that they’re ready [...] Read More