What We Treat At Our Mental Health House

TL;DR:

Dr. Tiffany Towers explains the range of mental health conditions treated at Seasons’ Beach Cottage facility, including PTSD, complex PTSD, depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, and life transition issues. She emphasizes how the program allows clients to set aside daily responsibilities and focus on rediscovering their sense of purpose and identity.

About Dr. Tiffany Towers:

Dr. Tiffany Towers serves as Clinical Director at Seasons in Malibu, bringing a unique blend of clinical expertise and creative therapeutic innovation to residential mental health treatment. Her educational journey began at Barnard College-Columbia University, where she graduated cum laude with degrees in both psychology and theater – a combination that would prove instrumental in shaping her distinctive therapeutic approach. She later earned her Doctorate in Clinical Forensic Psychology from The Chicago School of Professional Psychology in 2013.

Dr. Towers’ extensive clinical experience spans diverse treatment settings throughout Los Angeles and Ventura counties, including substance abuse programs, university counseling centers, community mental health facilities, and specialized care environments. This broad exposure has given her deep insight into the complex interplay between mental health and substance use disorders. Her background in forensic psychology adds another dimension to her clinical skills, particularly valuable when working with clients who have complex trauma histories or legal complications related to their mental health struggles.

What sets Dr. Towers apart is her integration of theatrical training and drama therapy techniques into clinical practice. Having studied at prestigious institutions including Yale School of Drama, New York Film Academy, and Santa Monica Playhouse, she brings creative therapeutic modalities that can reach clients in ways traditional talk therapy sometimes cannot. Her doctoral research on drama therapy’s impact on veteran reintegration demonstrates her commitment to evidence-based creative interventions for trauma recovery.

Video Transcript:

Common types of mental health issues that we treat at the Beach Cottage, which is our mental health house of our facilities at Seasons. That would include PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder), sometimes complex PTSD, which means that there’s different types and different intensities of trauma that have happened over the course of one’s life. Also depression, anxiety disorders, bipolar disorder, and phase of life issues or grief and loss issues. So sometimes there can be reaching a certain stage in life where you’ve lost a sense of purpose or who you think you are, and you’re just sort of floating and floundering about. We really help to feel a sense of you can be taken care of and set aside your responsibilities for the time that you’re here, and really tend to what you need to figure out for yourself to forge a path moving forward.

Key Insights:

Dr. Towers highlights the comprehensive nature of mental health treatment at the Beach Cottage, addressing both clinical diagnoses and existential challenges. Her distinction between PTSD and complex PTSD recognizes that trauma isn’t always a single event but can be a series of experiences that accumulate over time, requiring different treatment approaches.
The inclusion of “phase of life issues” acknowledges that mental health struggles aren’t always rooted in pathology but can stem from natural life transitions where people lose their sense of identity or purpose. This holistic view treats the whole person rather than just symptoms.

The concept of setting aside responsibilities to focus on self-discovery is particularly powerful in residential treatment. It allows clients to step out of survival mode and create space for genuine healing and personal redefinition.

Reflection Questions:

• What responsibilities in your life might be preventing you from addressing deeper personal needs?
• How might “floating and floundering” actually be a necessary stage before finding a new direction?
• What would it feel like to have permission to fully focus on figuring out who you are and what you need?

Related Topics:

This video addresses comprehensive mental health treatment, the difference between acute and complex trauma, life transition challenges, residential treatment benefits, and the importance of creating space for self-discovery in healing.