When participants come to Crescent Moon Recovery, we meet them exactly where they are with support and encouragement. We offer evidence-based treatment programs with a mind-body-spirit approach and believe wholeheartedly in the therapeutic interventions offered at Crescent Moon Recovery. Our proven therapy programs and modalities provide tools and resources for the participant to learn how to cope with stress, identify and express difficult emotions, and begin to heal from the impact of substance use. 

Our programs also include 12-Step facilitation, holistic approaches such as yoga and mindfulness, and principles to connect with your inner spirit. Each treatment program includes weekly visits with your case manager, therapist, and care team to focus on your needs, progress, and next steps for recovery. While in treatment, participants get to experience many outdoor activities along the Southern California coast such as hiking, surfing, boating, yoga, and exercise.

A partial hospitalization program (PHP) is an option for participants who want a more intensive form of treatment without 24-hour monitoring. Crescent Moon Recovery’s PHP offers participants the highest level of care with professional services and evidence-based therapies. Our PHP program is six days a week and provides participants with a consistent structure and treatment plan to meet their needs and goals. 

Partial hospitalization programs are a step-down from an inpatient treatment program and participants are able to return home at the end of the day. Participants can expect a full day of: 

• Group sessions
• Psychological education groups
• Individual therapy sessions
• 12-Step groups
• Wellness activities
• Breakfast/lunch/dinner

Participants have a variety of activities to explore and services that can support them in their recovery and treatment moving forward with ease and confidence. For more information, visit our Partial Hospitalization Program page.

Our Orange County IOP Program is a step-down program between a partial hospitalization program (PHP) and outpatient treatment. This program gives participants the option to receive treatment while living at home or in a sober housing facility. Intensive outpatient treatment services are three to five days a week for a few hours a day. Benefits of an intensive outpatient treatment program include: 

• Developing effective coping tools
• Relapse management skills
• Establishing a support system 
• Receiving support for mental, emotional, and social well-being

For more information, visit our Intensive Outpatient Treatment page.

The outpatient treatment program (OP) at Crescent Moon Recovery is a step-down for participants transitioning from a more intense treatment program, such as an intensive outpatient program (IOP). It provides the same structure as an intensive outpatient treatment program, such as continued counseling, relapse prevention programs, and peer support groups, but the program is shorter in duration and intensity than an IOP.

The benefits of the outpatient treatment program include: 

• Positive support network
• Outdoor activities
• Individual plans to support their goals
• Accountability and check-ins
• Individual therapy and group therapy

Outpatient treatment programs offer participants a cost-affordable option to get high-quality care while living at home, community access, and support. 

Medication-assisted treatment (MAT) combines medication, counseling, and behavioral therapies to treat substance use disorder (SUD) and has been proven to be effective in treating substance use disorder and creating a sustained recovery. 

Medication-assisted treatment has been shown to: 

• Improve patient survival
• Increase retention in treatment
• Decrease illicit opiate use and other criminal activity among people with substance use disorders
• Increase patients’ ability to gain and maintain employment

The Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has approved several medications to help treat alcohol and opioid use disorders. These evidence-based medications help to relieve withdrawal symptoms and psychological cravings and aren’t substitutes for the drug the participant is experiencing withdrawals from. 

Participants are treated with executive high-level care at Crescent Moon Recovery’s MAT program. 

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is used to help participants identify and change inaccurate, negative, or harmful patterns of thoughts and behaviors. Participants in CBT learn how to identify and correct problematic behaviors by practicing a range of different techniques to help overcome problems with substance abuse and address other co-occurring issues. CBT is based on the relationships between emotion, cognition, and behavior in which one affects the other. In CBT sessions, the therapist and the participant will work in collaboration to identify goals of changing thinking and behavior which, as a result, can create positive transformations in the participant’s life. 

Participants learn the skills and tools to: 

• Build self-awareness and recognize early signs of cravings
• Identify risky situations that could trigger substance use
• Avoid high-risk situations
• Change unhealthy ways of thinking
• Change unhealthy ways of feeling
• Change unhealthy behaviors

CBT is offered in individual counseling and group therapy. In small group settings, participants learn to role-play exercises, lessons, and techniques that can be practiced in-between sessions. Studies have found cognitive behavioral therapy to be effective in treating: 

• Mood disorders
• Anxiety
• Personality disorders
• Behavioral disorders

A typical CBT session usually involves: 

1. A brief update
2. Mood check-in
3. Integrating the last session’s work with the current one
4. Focus on what the participant is struggling with
5. Summarizing touchpoints of the session and “homework” for the participant

Many therapists will customize the CBT session to meet the participant’s needs and goals. 

Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) is an evidence-based treatment for participants with multiple mental health disorders and/or substance use disorders. It was designed to promote abstinence from substances and reduce the possibility of relapse. It was originally developed by Dr. Marsha Linehan to help patients create a life worth living, particularly those who struggle with chronic suicidal thoughts. Unlike CBT, where the therapist and the participant collaborate to make a treatment plan to fit the participant’s needs and goals, in DBT the therapist has full responsibility for developing and maintaining the treatment plan for the participant. 

Dialectical Behavioral Therapy focuses on five functions: 

• Improving patient motivation to change
• Enhancing patient capabilities
• Generalizing new behaviors
• Structuring the environment
• Enhancing therapist capability and motivation

For DBT focused on treating substance use disorder, the primary focus is on: 

• Diminishing urges and cravings
• Decreasing use of substances
• Relieving physical withdrawal discomfort
• Avoiding opportunities to use
• Reinforcing positive healthy behaviors
• Connecting to a community
• Rekindling old friendships

DBT can be effective in guiding a participant’s recovery by focusing on taking it day by day, one moment at a time (similar to 12-Step facilitation therapy.) For more information, visit our Dialectical Behavioral Therapy page.

Trauma-focused treatments focus on addressing memories of a traumatic event or thoughts and feelings related to a traumatic event. The purpose of the trauma therapy program is to help the participant:

• Process emotions connected to the event
• Integrate the memories
• Cope with flashbacks related to the event
• Identify triggers that are related to the event

Often when a person is struggling with substance use it can be linked to a traumatic event, as unresolved trauma is one of the leading causes of addiction. This can happen when a person develops post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).  PTSD and substance use disorder are often co-occurring disorders and research has found high links between PTSD and substance abuse. 

PTSD may occur after you have experienced or witnessed a traumatic event, such as violence, accidents, natural disasters, neglect, or abuse. A traumatic event can trigger feelings of danger and fear for your life or others’ lives, even after the event has passed. 

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) found that, based on the U.S. population:

• About 6 out of every 100 people (or 6% of the population) will have PTSD at some point in their lives.
• About 15 million adults have PTSD during a given year. This is only a small portion of those who have gone through trauma.

For more information on trauma and/or substance use disorder, visit our page on Trauma-Focused Treatment.

Family therapy has shown positive results for helping to treat substance use disorders and co-occurring mental health disorders. The goal of family therapy is to teach families new skills and strategies to support the participant in recovery and daily life. A typical family therapy session includes the participant and one other loved one. Family can be a parent, spouse, boyfriend/girlfriend, or cohabiting partner. 

Family therapy can help the participant and family members heal while also changing unhealthy patterns of behavior in the home. Through therapy, the family can begin to work on: 

• Developing a new system
• Creating stability
• Implementing changes for a healthier lifestyle

Some of the goals of family therapy include: 

• Helping the family give the right kind of support
• Helping the participant with relapse prevention
• Strengthening the family’s emotional connection
• Finding forgiveness, reconciliation, and peace

Family therapy is led by a licensed professional who may be a therapist, social worker, psychologist, or psychiatrist. Family members are also provided with a 24-hour crisis number in case of an emergency. 

Family therapy sessions may take place in an office, at the center, or--less typically--at the family’s home. Sessions are usually an hour long and may focus on the participant, a particular family member, or the family as a whole. According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), family therapy can help a participant struggling with addiction to enter or stay in treatment. Family therapy can reduce the risk of dropping out of treatment and continued use of substance abuse. For more information, visit our Family Therapy page.