What we treat
Depression Treatment for Adults in Sorrento Valley
For adults 18 and older who need more structure than a weekly appointment can give. Call (858) 567-4246.
Clinically reviewed by Amy Evans, MA, LPC, LPCC & Dr. Vahig Manugian, DO — October 2026
When everything takes more than it used to
Depression is rarely the sadness people expect. More often it is flatness — the slow draining of interest from things that used to matter, mornings that take an hour to start, a short reply to a friend because a longer one is beyond you today.
It narrows a life quietly. Plans get cancelled, then stop being made. The withdrawal makes the next day harder, and the harder day makes more withdrawal reasonable. That loop is not weakness or a failure of will; it is how the illness works, and it is the part treatment is designed to interrupt.
Having managed it alone for a long time is not a reason to keep doing so.
How we work with it
Somewhere to be, three mornings a week
Part of what depression takes away is structure. Part of what a program gives back is structure.
-
Intensive Outpatient Program
Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. A reason to be somewhere, with people who are working on the same thing, at the hours when isolation does the most damage.
-
Doing, not only talking
Our curriculum uses behavioral activation alongside cognitive behavioral therapy — working on what you do and when, as well as on the thinking, because waiting to feel like it is the trap depression sets.
-
Prescriber and therapist on one team
If medication is part of the picture, psychiatric care runs inside the program. Your prescriber and your therapist work in the same practice and read the same record, so what happens in therapy informs what gets prescribed.
-
Sleep, movement and food
A sleep health group led by a nurse practitioner, yoga and somatics, music therapy with a music therapist, and a group on food and the body led by a clinician who specializes in healthy eating and mental health.
Everyone in the program also gets a weekly one-to-one session with their own therapist, scheduled outside group time — see individual therapy.
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.
An outpatient program is not the right fit for anyone who needs round-the-clock supervision, medical detoxification or inpatient care. If you are having thoughts of ending your life, that is not something to work out alone or to leave until an appointment — the numbers below are staffed now.
We also do not provide substance use or eating disorder treatment. Where that is what is needed, we will provide appropriate referrals. The initial assessment settles all of this before anything is scheduled; 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.
I am already on an antidepressant. Can I still come?
Yes. Plenty of people arrive already taking something. Our prescribers will review what you are on as part of the evaluation, and with your written authorization we can coordinate with whoever prescribes it now — or take it over, if that is what you want.
What if I cannot face three mornings a week?
Say so on the first call. Depression makes a nine-hour weekly commitment sound impossible, which is exactly why the assessment exists — to work out the level of care that fits rather than the one that sounds impressive. Individual therapy and medication management both stand on their own.
I have tried therapy before and it did not help. Why would this be different?
We cannot promise it will be, and you should be wary of anyone who does.
What is different is the amount and the arrangement: nine hours a week rather than one, a curriculum that works through skills in a deliberate order rather than starting fresh each session, and a prescriber in the same practice as your therapist if medication becomes part of it. Whether that changes anything for you is worth talking through honestly on the first call — including the possibility that it would not.
Will insurance cover depression treatment here?
Coverage depends on your plan and on what level of care the assessment establishes — which is part of why nothing is scheduled until that is done.
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.