Talk therapy and psychiatry under one roof: mental health counseling in Thousand Oaks lets adults treat depression, anxiety, PTSD, bipolar disorder, or ADHD with a licensed clinician while living at home. You come in for individual, group, or family sessions, in person or online, and we work with most major insurers on both an in-network and out-of-network basis.
Who Outpatient Counseling Helps
Outpatient care for mental health in Thousand Oaks is the right starting point when symptoms are interfering with your sleep, work, relationships, or mood and you want regular help from a licensed clinician without pausing your life. You live at home in the Conejo Valley, keep your routine, and come in to our Conejo Ridge Avenue office or log on for sessions that fit your week.
This fits adults 18 and over who do not need round-the-clock care but want more than an occasional check-in. Common reasons people start are low mood or loss of interest that will not lift, worry that runs most of the day, trouble sleeping, panic, the aftermath of a traumatic event, mood swings, or difficulty focusing that is costing you at work. You do not need a diagnosis before you call; sorting that out is part of the first visit.
The part that sets us apart is what happens next if a weekly session stops being enough: counseling, psychiatry, and higher levels of care run under one roof, so adding support means a change to your schedule, not a search for a new provider.
Meet Your Thousand Oaks Care Team
A senior clinical team leads your care, and you are matched with a therapist by what you are working on rather than by who has the next open slot. These are the people who set the standard for every counseling track:
- Codie Vassar, MD, MS, Medical Director. Board-certified adult psychiatrist who oversees psychiatric care and medication decisions.
- Jessica Mahn, LPCC, Clinical Director. Leads the clinical program across counseling, group, and family work.
- Lauren Debski, PMHNP and Gwendolyn Beck, PMHNP. Psychiatric nurse practitioners who run evaluations and manage medication.
- Shelley Woodman, LCSW, Clinical Program Supervisor. Supervises the therapists who carry individual, group, and family sessions.
Individual, Group, and Family Therapy
Psychotherapy at our Thousand Oaks office runs on three formats, used on their own or together depending on what you need, and it starts with a clinical assessment that sets your diagnosis, your therapist match, and your schedule.
Individual therapy is weekly one-on-one work with a licensed clinician, where you dig into the problem that brought you in and build skills you practice between sessions. Group therapy puts you in a small, facilitated room with people working on similar issues, which is where new skills get rehearsed out loud, feedback comes from more than one voice, and emotional support comes from people who understand what you are facing. Family and couples therapy brings partners, parents, or adult children into the room when the pattern lives in the relationship rather than in one person.
Sessions happen in person at our Thousand Oaks office or online by secure video, so care continues through a busy week, travel, or a season when leaving the house is hard. Most people meet weekly at first, then taper to every other week as skills take hold and symptoms settle, with the pace set by your clinician rather than a fixed package. You keep the same therapist across that arc, which is what lets the work build instead of restarting each time.
Stepping Up to IOP or PHP Without Switching Providers
If symptoms get heavier, you move to a higher level of care with the same clinical team and the same records, then step back down as you stabilize. Here the history, the relationships, and the plan stay intact and structure gets added on top, all within our outpatient rehab in Thousand Oaks.
| Level of care | Schedule | Who it fits |
|---|---|---|
| Weekly counseling (OP) | Up to 3 days a week, with an evening option | Ongoing support, maintenance, and step-down |
| IOP (Intensive Outpatient) | 5 days a week, 3 hours a day, morning or afternoon | When a weekly hour stops holding and you need real structure |
| PHP (Partial Hospitalization) | 5 days a week, Monday to Friday, full days | The most structured outpatient level, or a step down from a crisis or hospital stay |
An evening schedule is available when a daytime job makes weekday sessions hard.
On-Site Psychiatry and Medication Management
Psychiatry and medication management happen in the same Thousand Oaks building as your counseling and are coordinated with your therapist, so your prescriber and your counselor work from one plan. Keeping both on site in Thousand Oaks keeps that coordination tight and the plan consistent.
Our Medical Director, Codie Vassar, MD, MS, a board-certified adult psychiatrist, works with our psychiatric nurse practitioners. After a psychiatric evaluation, they prescribe and adjust medication and stay in contact with your therapist. If medication is not the right call, no one pushes it. For treatment-resistant depression, we also offer TMS.
How Our Therapy Works: CBT, DBT, and EMDR
The psychotherapy our Thousand Oaks clinicians use is evidence-based, matched to what you are facing rather than applied the same way to everyone. Three approaches carry most of the clinical work.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) helps you catch the thoughts and situations that drive how you feel and replace them with skills you can use. Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) adds distress-tolerance and emotion-regulation skills for people who feel things intensely. EMDR treats trauma and PTSD in scheduled individual sessions with trained clinicians. Alongside these, a holistic therapist can guide mindfulness, meditation, and other mind-body skills that support steady progress between sessions.
Conditions Our Clinicians Treat
Our Thousand Oaks clinicians provide counseling for the mental health conditions adults most often come in for, each with care matched to the diagnosis, from depression therapy to mood disorder therapy for bipolar disorder:
- Depression
- Anxiety
- PTSD and trauma
- Bipolar disorder
- ADHD
- Co-occurring mental health and substance use (dual diagnosis)
Whether you are looking for depression therapy, mood disorder therapy, trauma care, or support for anxiety, the first assessment is built to sort that out and point you to the right starting level of care. Veterans and active-duty service members are welcome to begin through our veterans and active-duty program.
Insurance We Work With
Thousand Oaks residents can use most major insurers with us on both an in-network and out-of-network basis, and we verify your benefits quickly so you know what your plan covers before your first session. Coverage varies by plan, and verifying yours takes one short step.
The plans we work with include Blue Cross Blue Shield, Aetna, UnitedHealthcare, GEHA, Blue Shield of California, Kaiser Permanente, Optum, UMR, and Anthem, among others. Most commercial plans cover outpatient mental health treatment.
Mental Health Support Across the Conejo Valley
Access to mental health in Thousand Oaks matters because mental illness is common and often goes untreated. Nearly one in five U.S. adults, about 59 million people, lives with a mental illness, according to the National Institute of Mental Health, and more than half of adults with a mental illness receive no treatment in a given year, according to Mental Health America.
Our office sits at 290 Conejo Ridge Avenue, in the Conejo Valley, reaching Thousand Oaks, Westlake Village, Newbury Park, Agoura Hills, Oak Park, Simi Valley, and Woodland Hills, plus the wider Ventura County and greater Los Angeles area. Because care is outpatient, you come in for a session and head home the same day, and online sessions extend that reach when getting to the office is not practical. The office is open Monday to Friday, 9am to 9pm, and our admissions team answers 24 hours a day.
Finding Our Thousand Oaks Office
We are at 290 Conejo Ridge Avenue, Thousand Oaks, CA 91361, a short drive off the 101 and close to the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza. Use the map below for turn-by-turn directions from wherever you are starting, whether you are coming from Westlake Village, Newbury Park, Agoura Hills, or down from the 23 out of Simi Valley. If you are unsure which entrance or where to park when you arrive, call admissions at (805) 856-6690 and we will walk you in.
About the Medical Reviewer
Medically reviewed by Codie Vassar, MD, MS
Board-Certified Adult Psychiatrist · Medical Director, Lotus Recovery Treatment Center
Dr. Vassar is a board-certified adult psychiatrist whose work spans outpatient psychiatry, psychiatric crisis services, and addiction treatment. He earned his medical degree and completed psychiatry residency at the Medical College of Wisconsin and holds a master's in Clinical Informatics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is a member of the American Society of Addiction Medicine. Lotus Recovery is licensed by the California Department of Health Care Services (license 560078AP) and accredited by The Joint Commission. Connect with Dr. Vassar on LinkedIn.
Common Questions About Mental Health Counseling
What Is the 3 Month Rule in Mental Health?
The "3 month rule" is an informal guideline, not a law. It refers to giving a new treatment plan or a new medication about three months before judging whether it is working, since most therapies and psychiatric medications take several weeks to reach full effect. Your clinician sets clear checkpoints with you along the way.
What Is the Difference Between a Mental Health Counselor and a Therapist?
In everyday use the terms overlap, and both provide talk therapy. "Therapist" is a broad word for any licensed professional who provides psychotherapy, including marriage and family therapists, clinical social workers, and professional clinical counselors, while "counselor" often refers specifically to a licensed professional clinical counselor. What matters is that the person is licensed by the state and trained in what you are facing.
What Are the Top 10 Tips for Maintaining Mental Health?
Most of the benefit comes from a few habits: keep a consistent sleep schedule, move your body most days, stay connected to people you trust, eat and hydrate on a regular rhythm, limit alcohol, build real rest into your week, practice a daily stress reset like breathing or meditation, set limits on work and screens, act on warning signs early, and ask for professional help before a rough patch becomes a crisis. None of these replace treatment when you need it, but together they protect your baseline.
What Are Some Common Mental Health Issues?
The conditions people seek counseling for most often are depression, anxiety disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), bipolar disorder, and ADHD. Grief, relationship and family conflict, stress and burnout, and a mental health condition alongside substance use are also common. All of these are treatable with therapy, and several respond well to therapy combined with medication.
Do You Offer Psychiatry and Medication Management, or Only Therapy?
Both, on site. Our Medical Director, a board-certified adult psychiatrist, and our psychiatric nurse practitioners provide psychiatric evaluations and ongoing medication management, coordinated with your therapist. You do not go to a separate provider for prescriptions.
What Happens if Weekly Counseling Is Not Enough?
You step up without starting over. We move you into our Intensive Outpatient Program or Partial Hospitalization Program with the same clinical team, then step you back down to weekly sessions as you stabilize. Keeping one provider across every level means your history and plan carry over as your needs change.
Will My Insurance Cover Mental Health Counseling?
In many cases, yes. We work with most major insurers on both an in-network and out-of-network basis and verify your benefits before your first session, so you know what your plan covers. Plans we work with include Blue Cross Blue Shield, Aetna, UnitedHealthcare, Kaiser Permanente, Optum, and others.
Where Is Your Thousand Oaks Mental Health Counseling Located?
We are at 290 Conejo Ridge Avenue, Thousand Oaks, CA 91361, in the Conejo Valley, serving Westlake Village, Newbury Park, Agoura Hills, Oak Park, and Simi Valley. The office is open Monday to Friday, 9am to 9pm, and admissions answers 24 hours a day.
Begin Mental Health Counseling in Thousand Oaks
Book your first session by phone or by verifying your insurance. Admissions answers 24 hours a day, and we will confirm your coverage before your first visit.