"The Best Thing that Has Happened to Our Family!!"

Paradigm was the best thing that could have happened to our family! Our 15 year old spent 2 months at Paradigm this past winter to deal with issues of anxiety, depression, and self harm, and her experience there changed her life forever. The counselors are all so caring and kind, unbelievably professional and knowledgeable, and truly know how to relate to teenagers. The medical staff was extremely thorough in doing assessments and making sure that she was on the right medicine and the right levels. My husband and I (and sometimes our other children) travelled to Malibu every weekend from Ohio for the family sessions and those Saturdays together with other families who were going through similar experiences with their children were so incredibly helpful, and the family therapy on those Saturdays was invaluable. I would highly encourage families to do whatever they can to try to make each of these weekend sessions. The kids at Paradigm were all such great kids and provide so much support for each other. Four months have passed since coming home and having our sweet, happy girl back is the best thing that could have ever happened. Paradigm really armed her with the skills she needed to go forward in a positive way. She loves to call and catch up with staff members every couple of weeks - the staff members at Paradigm meant so much to her and will always hold a special place in her heart! We are eternally grateful to everyone at Paradigm - they were truly an answer to a prayer! Although it's expensive, there is not a better life gift you could give to your struggling child - he/she will be cared for by top professionals in a warm, supportive environment and will be given the perfect amount of push/encouragement to address his/her issues and learn positive skills for handling his/her emotions.

"Can’t say enough good things"

Can’t say enough good things. The team really took time to understand our son and his needs. While at Paradigm not only did our son make great strides but our whole family was able to grow.

"I completely recommend Paradigm"

Yes, it is expensive... However, if saving the life of your child is paramount to you, and you can find a way to get them here, do it. I truly believe they have possibly saved my child's life. Everyone involved is so caring and seems to know exactly how to get through to the kids. Parents also get great training and assistance. My son was here twice and I don't think he will need to come back again. I can not say enough good things about this place. This is the treatment and therapy that we need to provide to all our children before things spiral out of hand.

"A lifesaver for our son"

I can honestly say that Paradigm, with their caring, supportive staff, saved my son's life. The young adult we picked up on his last day of Paradigm was not the same lost soul that we dropped off a month earlier. It's been 5 months of sobriety, and the confidence and insight that he gained during his time at Paradigm turned his life around. I thank the higher powers that led me to Paradigm's web site on that fateful night in January -- and am forever grateful to them for helping him towards a healthy path to adulthood.

"Amazing help and staff"

Amazing help and staff - highly recommend them

"Paradigm Malibu is the best!! PERIOD!!!"

Paradigm Malibu was the best thing that could have happened for my son and our entire family. Dr. Chelsea Neuman and the entire staff run a therapeutic program that provides a wonderful peaceful environment where the overall approach focuses on understanding the root problem of each client; the client's mental, physical and emotional healing; helping each client developing coping skills to face potential future challenges, hygiene, nutrition and overall well-being of each individual.

Paradigm Malibu also focuses on the home environment and provides entire family with the necessary counseling and other assistance to assure the returning client can thrive rather than returning to digress in the same atmosphere before entry. I give the Paradigm Malibu program my highest endorsement. I don't know where my son or my family will be right now without the help of God allowing us to find this program.

"Highly recommend Paradigm Malibu"

My 17 y/o daughter suffers from mental health challenges – primarily anxiety and depression. We chose Paradigm Malibu for her care last fall because of the amazing testimonials we saw on-line, combined with the facility’s commitment to providing daily 1:1 therapy to address the underlying issues causing problems for our teens. At Paradigm Malibu, our daughter was provided the structure, support and therapy that she needed to initiate her healing process. Besides the intense individual therapy she received and multiple process groups she participated in every day, she also attended 12-step meetings in the community. As a result of this combination, she was able to “dig in” and start to address the root causes for her emotional struggles and acting out behavior.

The therapeutic team we worked with at Paradigm Malibu was amazing. Madison’s skillful work with my daughter in their 1:1 sessions instilled a new sense of self-awareness, self-love and effective communication that she didn’t have before. Cameron’s keen insight and calm demeanor made our weekly family therapy sessions productive for all. And Kyle’s Saturday family sessions provided an excellent forum for education, support, and deep family work.

We have also utilized the aftercare services - Cameron and Madison’s willingness to provide on the spot coaching has helped us get thru a few challenging situations and decisions. We are ever grateful for the Paradigm Malibu team!

"Very grateful."

My daughter struggled with anxiety and depression last year. Things quickly went from bad to worse - we found ourselves sleeping on her floor to keep her safe - and none of her doctors seemed to be able to help her. We tried some of the best therapists & programs: a top anxiety specialist in SF, the "gold standard" DBT program in Palo Alto. Days before her graduation from her 4 month IOP, she was admitted to the hospital and it was recommended that we go the residential route. It was like a punch to the gut. It was an emotional time but we only had a few days to figure things out. I decided against paying a consultant - so costly and didn't see the value if I put in the time to figure things out. The social worker gave us 4 relatively local options (family therapy needed to be part of our care plan). I called them all and dug into their programs. Most had space in the next 1-2 weeks. One called me back and aggressively tried to get me into their program (to this day I am sure she was being paid a significant referral fee). I dug up all the research I could find on these care centers: Yelp, Google, GlassDoor and anything else. In the end, I found that Paradigm was the only one that had consistently excellent reviews everywhere. The back office team was not super organized. But after speaking with the chief clinical officer and reviewing their program, I felt very comfortable with the choice. Thankfully they were able to admit her quickly. As this is getting long, I will share a few summary points:

-The facility in SF is wonderful. It doesn't feel like a clinical environment and my daughter benefitted from the fact that they don't have a point/level system, which made her feel more motivated and "normal"
-I liked that the program focuses on total self-care: good quality meals are served daily and exercise is a core part of the program.
-The clinicians are amazing, esp. Melissa and Brian. We were very grateful to have them on our team. Both fostered deep connections with our daughter and our family.
-The Saturday family program was an excellent component - it was the first time we had support from other parents who were going through a similar experience.
-The team worked extremely well with our insurance company and helped us get the maximum possible coverage.

I've had several weeks to reflect at this point. There's nothing that can prepare you for a crisis like this one, and, as a parent, you're in a position where you have to move ridiculously quickly with limited information. I am very happy with the decision we made to go to Paradigm - the team is caring, talented and most importantly, helped my daughter find herself. She is now much stronger and more resilien and for that we will be forever grateful.

If you have any questions about our experience, feel free to reach out.

"We literally traveled the world to …"

We literally traveled the world to place our daughter at Paradigm. Our (Dutch) family lives in the Netherlands. When our 15 year old daughter was really struggling with a major depression we couldn't find the right support in our country. After extensive research we choose Paradigm Malibu for her treatment. After six weeks she had made major progress and we returned to the Netherlands. She resumed school and picked up her life. However due to waiting lists for mental care in our country she had no follow up therapy and she relapsed. She once more went to Paradigm, and once again they got her back on her feet. The team is amazing, not only working with the teens but also with the other family members. The family sessions have been life changing for all of us. The team helped us find a therapeutic boarding school in the US, where our daughter will graduate spring 2018. We are now even looking at colleges in the US. We are still in regular contact with the Paradigm team, who are all amazing and warm people. Not just the therapists, everyone from the admissions director to the teachers to the chefs that prepare the (fantastic) meals were truly committed to helping the teens!

"Our son was there for 60+ days and it …"

Our son was there for 60+ days and it may have saved his life.

He went there when he was 18 and an addict. After getting the drugs out of his system, he had intense therapy of all types, individual, group, AA meetings, and with family (we'd visit on weekends). The therapists were amazing for our son and he made life-changing progress and left with countless tools to help him in his future.

It's an amazing facility and the kids there are really struggling and fighting. But, for those that can afford it, it's all a parent could ask.

That said, they could improve the basic communications - perhaps status calls, more timely replies to email, and having varying members of a client (patient) team be more in sync with one another. We ran into a few cases where the comms were either slow, inconsistent, or just lacking. This doesn't take away from our son leaving in a much better place; so the message is, you need to trust the team there and not worry, as a parent, about why you're not getting daily calls from the staff - that's not what it's for.

This place is one we'll never ever forget, our son is now 90+ days sober because of what Paradigm did.