What we treat
Adjustment Disorder Treatment for Adults in Sorrento Valley
For adults 18 and older struggling after something real and identifiable. Call (858) 567-4246.
Clinically reviewed by Amy Evans, MA, LPC, LPCC & Dr. Vahig Manugian, DO — October 2026
A reaction to something that actually happened
Adjustment disorder is what it is called when a response to an identifiable event — a diagnosis, a separation, a job ending, a move, a death, a child leaving — outgrows what you can carry, and starts costing you sleep, work or the people around you.
People often arrive apologizing for it. The event was months ago. Other people have had worse. It was not even unexpected. None of that is the measure. The measure is whether you are still functioning, and whether what you have tried is holding.
Being able to explain why you feel this way does not mean you should be able to manage it alone.
How we work with it
Enough support to get through it, and no more than you need
This is often shorter work. The point of the assessment is to find the smallest thing that will actually help.
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Start where it fits
Individual therapy on its own is the right starting point for a lot of people here. The Intensive Outpatient Program is there when weekly is not holding — three mornings a week, nine hours rather than one.
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Values, not just coping
Our curriculum draws on acceptance and commitment therapy and motivational interviewing — which is the work of deciding what matters now that the circumstances have changed, rather than only managing the distress.
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Skills for the acute stretch
Dialectical behavior therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy for the weeks where sleep, temper and concentration have all gone at once, and behavioral activation for the withdrawal that follows.
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Medication only if it earns its place
A hard reaction to a hard event is not automatically something to medicate. If a prescriber thinks it would help, medication management runs inside the practice — and the decision is made with you.
Is this the right level of care?
Our programs are built for adults 18 and older who need more than weekly therapy and can take part safely in a scheduled outpatient setting. If what you need is weekly therapy, we will tell you that rather than sell you a program.
An outpatient program is not the right fit for anyone who needs round-the-clock supervision, medical detoxification or inpatient care. We do not provide substance use or eating disorder treatment, and we do not offer couples, family or child therapy — which comes up here, because the events that bring people in are often family ones. Where that is what is needed, we will provide appropriate referrals.
See how admissions works.
If you are in crisis, do not wait for an appointment.
Call or text 988 for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, available 24 hours a day. In San Diego County the Access & Crisis Line on (888) 724-7240 is also staffed around the clock. If there is immediate danger to life, call 911. Strata Outpatient is a scheduled outpatient clinic — not an emergency service, a crisis line, or a 24/7 provider.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
If what you want to know is not here, call (858) 567-4246 and ask.
Is what I am going through "bad enough" to come here?
That is not a question you have to answer before calling — it is what the consultation is for. If weekly therapy would serve you better than a program, we will say so. If nothing we offer is right, we will say that too and provide appropriate referrals.
Is grief the same thing?
Not exactly, and the line is a clinical judgement rather than a website one. What we can say is that bereavement is one of the events people come to us after, and that it is worth a conversation if it is costing you sleep, work or the people around you.
How long would I be here?
That is decided with your clinician rather than set in advance. Our curriculum cycles every twelve weeks, but a twelve-week cycle is not a fixed length of stay — you join wherever the cycle has reached, and how long you attend depends on your assessment and on how things go.
Will insurance cover this if it is “just” a hard year?
Coverage turns on what the assessment establishes clinically rather than on how serious it sounds described out loud. That is a question we can answer early rather than late.
We verify your benefits during admissions, before your start date is set, and then walk you through what your plan covers, what it does not, and what your out-of-pocket costs look like. Start with our insurance verification form, or call us.
See everything we work with on what we treat, or the full range of programs and therapies.