Guidance Center – Long Beach

As a Consultant who partners with nonprofits to build trauma-informed cultures, I have a very high bar for organizational care and client interaction. I am writing this review because The Guidance Center — and… specifically Guadalupe (Lupe) — exceeded every expectation I have, both professionally and personally. I also want to recognize the woman who assisted us with the initial paperwork as she did an exceptional job helping us understand the intake paperwork and navigate the digital system. I could tell she cares for every client and truly wants them to understand the process. The main reason for writing this review is to especially recognize Lupe. The intake process can be emotionally exhausting, but Lupe’s gentle nature and strong active listening skills were reassuring. He was incredibly patient and sensitive to our needs. The most telling moment was watching my daughter warm up to him. She often looks to me to speak for her in new settings, but Lupe made her feel safe enough to find her own voice. She went from nonverbal cues to explaining her feelings in detail. Having navigated both private insurance and public resources, I want to highlight that the quality of care we received here rivaled and/or exceeded any care we have accessed through private providers during an intake process. It is rare to see an organization live up to its mission so effectively in practice. We are so grateful for this community resource. And we send a heartfelt thanks to Lupe.

Worst place to seek help for your child. Psychiatrist is super unreliable. They will close out your child’s case leaving them without medication after suggesting to up the dose. Psychiatrist will Also ignore the… pharmacies request to fill up the prescription for your child multiple times leaving them without medication for a week.

Father's beware! This company openly told me that they dont deal with many father's from the very beginning. Calling me a "unicorn" because I "want to be involved!" Proceedes to "listen" As I voiced my opinions on… what's going on, but effortlessly brushed it all under the rug. Showed multiple forms of proof showing that my child's mother has regularly been lying at my child's expense! Regularly stating he has issues when he doesn't and labeling the few issues he may have as much worse! Munchausen tendencies are right in front of their faces, and they do not care even slightly! Just recently my child's mother was telling the therapist Teresa about so called issues my son has, and he even turned to his mother and said "hey, thats not true!" Still not a concern from the guidance center even slightly! Maybe it's because I'm a father and apparently a father's opinion doesn't mean anything to them. Maybe it's job security, just taking in anyone that claims there are issues without even doing any due diligence on the matter! Teresa just told me on the phone that if my sons mother wasnt there saying he has issues, his case would have been closed a while ago because he is acting like a normal child! And then turn around and talk to me about being consistent to help my son overcome his issues! The only thing that has been consistent is my sons mother saying he has issues when he really doesnt! Annica Nilsson, Teresa Guillen, and Lyanne Lee and the Guidance Center have all failed my son! You have sat there and listened to my sons mother says anything and everything while you have made the conscious decision to ignore a father's opinion and support a child abusing mother. This is for the record, my sons mother DOES NOT have ANY authority, right, or permission to voice ANY opinions, thoughts, concerns, or ideas that may come from my sons father. If you are actually interested in treating my son appropriately and looking at him as a whole, instead of just off what his mother is saying, you have my contact information already, feel free to contact me. You should start being concerned about my son being abused and not concerned that a father is pissed because his son is being abused! I shouldn't be the only one concerned about my son having to continue this abuse!

This place did help me with my teen daughter , however communication got lost this second go round. I called and left messages after her intake, and did not get called back, even after waiting the 30 days. Later I am… told someone called me numerous times, but that I nevered answered which is not true. I did not get called back. All this just to be told I'd have to start the intake process all over again. Truly frustrating as a parent trying to take care of my daughters mental health. I still have not gotten a call back or email regarding this issue to solve it. Very disappointing because I know this place has/had great therapist, who did help her.

Rude worker that doesn't know what she's doing, she was typing the wrong info but yet was blaming me for her mistakes, unprofessional 👎👎

After seeking help throughout our local centers, being placed on long waitlists & not having the right services or offerings.. I came across this place which so far has met all my child’s needs! Love the patience &… treatment here!

I cannot recommend The Guidance Center to anyone seeking help for themselves or a loved one. Despite their promises of personalized care and attention, my interactions with their staff left me feeling unheard,… unsupported and foolish for trusting and believing they had me and my family’s best interest and healing at heart. From the start, it was clear that the facility was understaffed, after countless requests to reach a therapist or even the front desk would go with no acknowledgment or response. These are also traits of a disorganized administration who portrayed the exact same patterns as their patient-facing staff. When I did finally reach a therapist, they seemed uninterested in my concerns and offered generic advice that did not address any of my family’s specific needs. Throughout my time at The Guidance Center, I felt like a burden rather than a valued patient. My attempts to communicate my struggles were met with dismissive responses or outright neglect. On several occasions, I even had to escalate my concerns to management, but they were similarly unresponsive and seemed to lack basic empathy. In summary, if you’re looking for a behavioral health facility that values their patients and provides effective and timely care, I strongly suggest looking elsewhere. The Guidance Center is simply too disengaged and unresponsive at best to be of any real and compassionate help.

I had a referral for my daughter to receive services. They called me once & I missed the call. The number they told me to call back was only a 9 digit number so I couldn't call back. I then called the main office and… left another voice mail for them to call back , they did the next day. They called to do intake but I wasn't home I asked them if they could call back in an hr or next day and they said sure. I haven't heard from them since. Point is , don't waste your time. They are appearantly too busy & don't really want to help your child.

They truly care for their patients. Started here when I was 13 in such a bad patch of my life and the therapist I was assigned with the psychiatrist made such a huge impact in my life. I went from having crippling… social anxiety and depression to graduating early, starting college, working a high stress job and becoming management. I can never thank them enough for the impact they played in my recovery.

I had a very good experience with them and the Guidance Center is a breath of fresh air compared to the other therapy agency that Long Beach Unified School District Starvjew.My only complaint is that my parents… requested that I would not be given an intern because I was forced to work with an abusive intern at Starview.The Guidance Center said they would only give an intern then we asked a school district official who sat on the board to intervene.Then all of a sudden they gave me a psychologist who had a PHD with 10 years of experience.I should not have to be friends with someone on the board to get a licensed therapist.I also had licensed DBT therapists who worked with me 4 times to help me overcome the abuse the Starview intern put me through.They were amazing. They were all incredibly kind and helpful. I felt like I could talk about anything without getting judged. They were a breath of fresh air over my abusive Starview intern and Starview. I feel like all of the Guidance Center staff all truly care so much and are truly invested in helping all of there clients compared to Starview that only cares about making money and Starview enjoy seeing there poorly trained interns abuse children.I think the Guidance Center should be the only therapy company LBUSD should work with.I I I recommend them!

.......I know that places of therapy especially nowadays have had many issues with customer service...it wasnt one place or person in particular as the world fell short on eachother and used the mask to shut eachother… out of eachothers lives....everyone needed and therapy was in Demand....The Guidance Center saved our lives because our therapist Really Did Her Job and Listened without judgment because she was fresh and brand new.....I thank them because My Girls mean the most to me and I'm blessed they could help...we thank you🙏

I called 2 months about services i never got a call back from the lady that spoke to me so I will be going somewhere else .

If I could give this 0 stars I would. My partner went here until recently, their therapist was an intern who didn't know how to do her job what so ever. She was incredibly cold, calous, and pushy about knowing… everything despite her client's discomfort. Aside from the therapist, the place is hard to get ahold of, we had very little luck getting ahold of them to discuss some of the therapists more concerning behaviors with her supervisor (whom we had no idea existed until recently, and just learned the name of.) The place also claimed that my partner would be given a therapist who specializes in trauma, and yet the therapist they ended up with had no certs related to that (nor, any that really have to do with therapy) and was an intern.

I love bringing my children here.

The services here are VERY,VERY helpful.

It is the best place to go when you have emotions like sad or mad or starts