Evolve Adolescent Behavioral Health – La Mesa

Our family's experience with Evolve Mental Health's Mt. Helix location was extremely disappointing. My son was admitted after the facility completed a thorough assessment and assured us they could treat his complex… mental health needs, including suicidal ideation and other behavioral challenges. Over the weekend of July 18–20, he repeatedly called me in an escalated state, telling me he was asking to speak with a therapist but was unable to do so. As a parent, knowing that my child was asking for help during a mental health crisis and believing he could not access a therapist was incredibly concerning from a patient safety standpoint. During those three days, I repeatedly called the house, left voicemails, and contacted admissions multiple times. I was repeatedly promised callbacks that never happened, and communication from the clinical team was almost nonexistent. The most alarming part was learning from the Sheriff's Department—not Evolve—that my son had been removed from the facility following a behavioral crisis and placed on a 5150 psychiatric hold. No one from the facility contacted me beforehand to explain what had happened or discuss his care. The following day, I was informed that he would not be allowed to return to the program. The director later apologized for the communication failures, but by that point my confidence in the facility had been lost. When a residential mental health program accepts a child with significant psychiatric needs, families should be able to expect timely communication, access to appropriate clinical support during a crisis, and a clear plan for continuity of care. Unfortunately, that was not our experience, I would strongly caution any family considering sending their child to the facility do their own research before making the commitment.

Very professional. Great location, very organized, therapist Kristin and psychiatrist Dr. Chou were great. Chef Fred was amazing, but they need to do a better job feeding the kids when Fred isn’t there, especially given… what these places charge. It should be 1st class across the board. Not to spoil the kids, but it’s a stressful time for them in recovery, and their food options should be vast on the weekends. They worked with me to have flexible visitation because I was coming from out of state.

Our 16-year-old son attended Evolve Adolescent Behavioral Health at their Mount Helix location in La Mesa for approximately eight weeks to address substance use and other mental health challenges. From the very… beginning, the communication from Evolve was outstanding. The entire team was consistently kind, compassionate, and truly seemed to have not just my son’s best interests in mind, but our whole family’s as well. Our family therapist, Emily Bell, was wonderful — supportive, insightful, and a real asset to the team. My son’s primary therapist, Mariah, was also fantastic and really connected with him. Both therapists were instrumental in helping our son make meaningful progress. Evolve offers a very structured program based on evidence-based practices, including Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). The program blends group therapy, individual therapy, and experiential activities such as surfing and equine therapy, which really helped keep the teens engaged. They also take the kids on outings into the community to practice the skills they are learning in real-world settings, which I thought was an incredible aspect of the program. While my son was initially very resistant to attending, he quickly found that he enjoyed the program and learned valuable skills he continues to use at home. The daily structure, along with the point system they use to encourage participation and good decision-making, really helped motivate him to stay engaged. One thing that stood out to me was how much Evolve involved us as parents throughout the process. Through weekly family therapy and regular updates, I always knew what my son was working on and felt like a true partner in his treatment journey. The only minor downside was some noticeable staff turnover during his stay, including a new educational consultant and changes in the nursing team. However, I can understand that working in this environment is extremely demanding, and it did not significantly impact the quality of care our son received. Overall, our experience with Evolve Mount Helix was extremely positive and truly life-changing for our son. I would highly recommend Evolve to any family seeking thoughtful, compassionate, and effective mental health treatment for their teenager.

My 14 year old daughter is currently enrolled in the Mt Helix Residency program. I have to say staff has made this a very positive and pleasant experience. Staff is genuine and I want to thank Alexandra, Sasha and… Margaret for being so helpful and ensuring my daughter feels comfortable and safe. The team works closely together and has great communication amongst staff. I would definitely recommend this facility to any parent that requires assistance with their childrens mental health and/or substance abuse.

My daughter has been staying at Evolve for a couple months now and we are truly grateful for the excellent care she has received. We are relieved to know that she is safe and learning so many fantastic coping skills.… Her nurse, Alexandra, has gone above and beyond to advocate for her and take incredible care of my daughter. She is so kind in her approach and so thorough in all that she does. She makes my daughter feel at ease and comforts her when needed. We couldn't ask for a better nurse!! My daughter loves all the staff at Evolve and says they all make her feel comfortable and supported. We can't recommend this place enough.

I have worked with treatment centers and professionals all over the country. The communication and patient centered care are fantastic. Specifically, Alexandra provided a level of care and attention that is seldom seen.… I am grateful for the opportunity to work together.

A family member of mine was sent here and stated the intake staff made you feel understood, at ease , listened to, and genuinely cared about recovery and anxiety. They learned many skills and watching them utilize these… skills with parents focusing on DBT. They have a chef that accommodated to his diet and a nurse that was so on top of everything .

I brought my child to Evolve after having experienced more than four other residential, PHP, and IOP programs over a span of ten months. Once I toured the Mt. Helix home, I knew I had found a program that would help my… family in the way we needed. My child was seen, respected, valued, and treated as the individual they are and a treatment plan was designed based on their needs as they grew in their recovery. My child greatly benefitted from involvement with the chef in preparing and planning meals, participating in surf and equine therapies, outings in the community focused on helping them regulate when frustrated or faced with change and the need for adaptability, and other therapeutic experiences. The highly-skilled nursing and therapy staff saw my child's strengths and areas for growth immediately, and they worked with medical staff to stabilize and support them with professional, open, and direct communication with me as often as I needed it; sometimes twice daily. This home has a strict routine with norms and expectations in place that are unwavering in keeping clients safe while teaching them to participate in life at a normative, healthy level. In other words, clients do not manipulate staff and there are no favorites. For five weeks now, I have seen my child thrive in recovery, and I highly recommend Mt. Helix Evolve to any family who seeks support and help in residential care.

Evolve helped my son in so many ways. I am truly thankful for their help guiding my son thru a tough time and giving him a voice to overcome his self doubt. I don’t know where we would be without Evolve!! Thank you from… the bottom of my heart. ❤️

DO NOT send your kids here, they will come back worse. This place needs to be shut down.

I was impressed from beginning to end with my experience with Evolve Treatment Center in Mt. Helix. My child needed support beyond what we could give them at home and I am so grateful Evolve Mt. Helix had a bed free… when we needed it. The Director of Quality & Intake, Jennifer set the tone for this entire experience. She went above and beyond for my family. Once admission day came, I felt like I was handing my child off to a group of caregivers who really had my child's safety and well-being in mind. The communication was stellar, the therapists really helped create a safe, home-like atmosphere. I was impressed with their therapeutic activities for the kids including equine therapy. The house is gorgeous and home-like and my kid really loved/appreciated the (vegetarian) meals Chef Jason made. While my kid definitely struggled with homesickness, the environment provided a safe place for my kid to begin to practice their emotion regulation skills. My child reported that the counselors are the ones who really do the bulk of the heavy lifting with the kids. My kid has raved about every single counselor at Mt. Helix. Whenever they needed to check in, there was a counselor there to help my kid work through whatever emotion they were having difficulty managing. You cannot know how wonderful a feeling it is for a parent to know their kid feels safe and secure to work through some really dark, intrusive thoughts. It's exhausting work and I'm so grateful there are the people at Evolve who really care about these kids and push/support them toward their goals. Speaking of goals, Evolve is very firm in their expectations of the kids and even the families. The structure is intense, and effective. Each week we'd receive a breakdown of where our kid was making strides and constructive feedback on what they still needed to work on. The level system motivated my kid to work hard to earn privileges in the house. I really appreciated the weekly check-in meetings with the therapist (the wonderful Ariana), our weekly Zoom calls with our child and the therapist, as well as the weekly parent support groups (seriously, join the parent support groups - it's really helpful to see that there are other parents going through what you are! Do it). Last thing I want to note. My kid is non-binary and uses they/them pronouns. When I was searching for residential treatment centers, I found most of them had separate centers for "Girls" and "Boys" - while I understand in some contexts, this may be appropriate, it's rather an antiquated way of thinking. It's off-putting for families who have kids who do not fit into the binary (not to mention, it makes you feel even more isolated than you already feel). I am very grateful to Evolve staff for adjusting to my child's requested pronouns and making them feel accepted and whole just the way they are. Brava Evolve! You are doing important work!! Thank you.