Discovery Mood & Anxiety Program - Newport Beach - Newport Beach, California

Veronica H.

My daughter spent about six weeks in the PHP program. She was actually worse after her time there than she was before she started. The facility is extremely poorly run. It’s disorganized and chaotic. There is little to zero follow through on anything. It takes anywhere from a week to never to get anything done. Communication is poor, especially with the psychiatrist. The staff are inexperienced. Parent training is literally being stuck in a room watching a 40 year old video with the program director intermittently reading from an accompanying handbook. I could go on but I’m sure you get the idea. Definitely look elsewhere for your child in need.

Sharon D.

My 14 yr old daughter had a bad experience with the PHP (partial hospitalization day program). She felt unsafe to share and process her thoughts and feelings. She informed me that she the felt the staff "didn't really want to be there". She shared the other kids were "were rude, disrespectful to the staff, made inappropriate sexual innuendos and talked negatively about Jewish people" without consequence or even acknowledgement from the staff. She shared that one of the kids made a gun out of a fidget gadget and pointed it at her and the other kids. She did not feel this was a safe place to work on her emotional state. She became distressed and used her finger nails to self harm during group. The staff did not notice her mood change or the fact that she had self harmed. My daughter is going through a major depression and is requesting help herself. This was her first day at the PHP and I was horrified at her experience. I contacted the PHP program that same day and informed them of my daughter's experience and the fact that she would not be returning. She is now in a program that is better suited to her needs and is run by professionally licensed behavioral health providers. I do not believe the staff at the Discovery Mood and Anxiety were licensed behavioral health providers. I believe they were general mental health providers at a BA level or MA level post graduates working on their hours to then apply to take their licensing exams. Before you can bring your child to this program, a deposit of $980 (based on your insurance) is mandated. I have yet to receive a refund minus the one day my child attended. I have sense requested a full refund of this sum from this company and have informed my insurance company of their substandard practice. Do not send your child here for care. There are other options.

1/14/25 UPDATE
My insurance has informed me that this agency has not yet attempted to bill for my daughter's one and only day of attendance. I have emailed and called this agency to find out what has happened to my money. I have yet to hear back from them. No one is responding to me and its been over a month now.

Amanda T.

Today was supposed to be my first day doing the adult outpatient treatment and when I arrived I wasn’t sure where to go. Nobody came out to meet me and there was nobody to ask where to go. Then two other patients came into an open room and started to discuss extremely sexual topics to the point it was making me uncomfortable & nauseous. I started to have an anxiety attack and stepped outside. When I called to explain and asked if someone could help show me where to go nobody came to help me with intake. I called again and I told them I didn’t think it would work out and they immediately closed my chart and hung up on me with no care to the way their patients were acting. I wouldn’t recommend this place to anybody

Jacklyn Y.

I worked as a Mental Health Technician for nearly two years at this facility. During my time here, I encountered several challenges that made the experience less than ideal.

One of the primary concerns was the high degree of micromanagement from supervisors, which impacted both morale and autonomy in the workplace. Additionally, I was often the only staff member assigned to deep clean the entire facility, which felt overwhelming and outside the typical scope of my role. The organization’s policies around time off for medical reasons were also difficult to navigate; for instance, despite providing a doctor’s note, I was penalized with a write-up. When I gave a 30-day notice of resignation, they delayed payment on my last day.

The Newport Beach office lacks ADA-compliant facilities, specifically with no elevator access. This created accessibility issues for both staff and patients, and I once had to call out due to an ankle injury aggravated by the stairs. Wheelchair-bound patients, unfortunately, had to be redirected to other locations, which affected their continuity of care.

There is also a significant turnover rate among employees; during my time, 5 to 6 colleagues, including newly hired therapists, left soon after joining due to dissatisfaction with working conditions. I would advise prospective employees to clarify pay and benefits details thoroughly, as there were discrepancies between what was promised during the interview process and what was actually provided.

Overall, this position has offered me some insights into the mental health field, but I believe there is room for the organization to improve its policies, management style, and facility accessibility to better support both staff and patients.

Eric S.

I was there in the early days of quarantine/ZOOM so I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt, but I hated this program with all of my being while I was in it.

Ella the therapist was unhelpful and I dropped the program because I felt like she was pressuring me into doing things that I had stated I was uncomfortable with.

Everyone there seemed super happy though, especially the kids who had known each other before quarantine. I just didn't mesh well with them and I felt left out.

Kelseylol19 G.

They yelled at me and treated me horribly because of my tourettes and I wasn't the only one. Randy would yell at the kids terribly. He should not be a therapist with that kind of patience.

ajax

the therapists treat the kids awfully, they don’t care. they target the addicts and they defend abusive parents.

Aaliyah R.

Their rude the people who go there they target the people who actually need more help and call them out