Psychotherapy
for Irvine, CA Patients
BrainHealth Solutions offers psychotherapy to Irvine adults living with depression, anxiety, OCD, trauma and grief, at our Costa Mesa clinic beside John Wayne Airport. It is a psychiatrist-led practice for people who already have a diagnosis and still are not well.
What Is Psychotherapy?
Psychotherapy, often called talk therapy, is structured, confidential work with a trained clinician to understand what you are going through and build practical skills to manage it. Our clinicians draw on cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), psychodynamic therapy and mindfulness-based approaches. Irvine has no shortage of counseling offices; what sets BrainHealth Solutions apart is the setting. Therapy here sits inside a psychiatrist-led practice, so it can be combined with medication management, TMS, SAINT® or Spravato® when talking alone is not enough.
What Happens in Talk Therapy
Sessions pinpoint the thoughts, behaviors, relationships and stressors that keep symptoms going, then work deliberately to change them: questioning unhelpful thought patterns, practicing new coping strategies and processing painful experiences at a pace you can manage.
Progress is judged by how your days go, not by how a session felt: sleep, work, relationships and motivation. If an approach is not helping after a fair trial, it changes; "wait and see" is not a treatment plan here.
Because the practice is led by psychiatrist Dr. Robert Bota, your therapist and your prescriber work on the same team, and a diagnostic second opinion is available if your original diagnosis does not fit.
Therapy for Irvine's Busy, High-Pressure Lives
Therapy at BrainHealth Solutions is built for adults balancing demanding careers, graduate study or caregiving whose depression, anxiety, OCD or PTSD has persisted despite treatment, often after years of slow progress elsewhere, and the practice’s full toolkit, including FDA-cleared TMS and the SAINT® protocol, is ready if therapy plateaus. Dr. Bota founded UC Irvine’s first TMS program and has led more than 20 clinical trials, and that research culture shapes how progress is measured in therapy too. All sessions take place at the practice’s only office, 3151 Airway Ave, Bldg R, Costa Mesa, CA 92626, on the Irvine border.
What to Expect From Your Visits
Step 1: A brief screening call
A short call introduces the clinic, answers your questions and helps decide whether psychotherapy alone, or combined with other treatment, is the right next step. You can also text the office first.
Step 2: Comprehensive evaluation
A thorough, non-judgmental conversation at the Costa Mesa clinic covering symptoms, past diagnoses and treatments, medications tried, medical and family history, relationships, sleep, substance use and goals. A diagnostic second opinion can be part of this visit.
Step 3: Building your treatment plan
You and your clinician set specific, realistic goals and agree on a cadence, often weekly or every other week to start. If your plan also includes medication, TMS, SAINT® or Spravato®, it is coordinated within the practice.
Step 4: Ongoing sessions
Sessions usually run 45 to 60 minutes. Between visits you may practice skills or track patterns so each session builds on the last.
Step 5: Progress reviews
Progress is revisited at regular intervals, your feedback is invited, and the approach is adjusted when something is not working.
What Therapy Here Feels Like
The first appointment is a conversation, not a pile of questionnaires. You are asked what you have already tried and what you want to be different, and you leave with a plan rather than a vague next step.
A 45 to 60 minute session plus a drive of about 10 to 20 minutes from most of Irvine fits inside a long lunch or the end of a workday. Many patients keep a regular weekly slot within the clinic’s hours, Monday to Friday, 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM, so therapy becomes part of the routine instead of something that has to be rescheduled.
Patients describe the practice as warm and unhurried. One wrote that Dr. Bota “talks to you, and takes his time on every visit”; another called the office “tidy, clean, and welcoming.”
Session
Duration
Typical psychotherapy scheduling at BrainHealth Solutions:
- Sessions: 45 to 60 minutes
- Cadence: weekly or every other week at first, spaced out as you stabilize
- Evaluation: a longer first visit covering history and goals
- Combined care: therapy coordinated with medication, TMS or Spravato® visits when applicable
Challenges in Therapy and How We Handle Them
Therapy has no physical side effects, but it does have predictable rough patches. Knowing about them ahead of time keeps people from stopping at the wrong moment.
Common and expected
- Feeling worse for a short time when painful material first comes up
- Tiredness after emotionally heavy sessions
- Frustration when progress is slower than you hoped
- Discomfort with homework or practicing new behaviors
These are discussed openly, and pacing is adjusted so the work stays within what you can tolerate.
Signs the plan needs to change
- No measurable change in daily function after a fair trial of sessions
- Symptoms that point to a different or additional diagnosis
- Depression severe enough that a faster-acting treatment such as TMS or Spravato® should be considered
Because the practice offers those options itself, a plateau in therapy leads to a conversation with your psychiatrist, not a referral onto another waitlist.
What Psychotherapy Can Achieve
Decades of research show that structured psychotherapies such as CBT are effective for depression, anxiety disorders, OCD and PTSD, with many patients improving within 12 to 20 sessions. For moderate to severe depression, therapy combined with medication works better than either one alone.
The aim is lasting skills, not dependence on the therapy hour. Patients leave with tools they keep using after sessions end, and with a team they can come back to if symptoms return.
Is Psychotherapy Right for You?
Psychotherapy at BrainHealth Solutions may be a good fit for Irvine adults if:
- You have a diagnosis such as depression, anxiety, OCD, PTSD or ADHD and want more than a prescription
- Symptoms get in the way of work, school, relationships or enjoying anything
- You are dealing with grief, trauma, a major transition, a career change or caregiver stress
- Medication has helped somewhat, but you want skills that last
Psychotherapy at BrainHealth Solutions is for adults. Child and adolescent psychiatric care is available through Dr. Mahtab K. Yousefi.
Therapy may be combined with
- Medication management with a psychiatrist on the same team
- A psychiatric second opinion when the diagnosis does not fit
- TMS, SAINT® or Spravato® for treatment-resistant depression
Benefits of Psychotherapy for Irvine Patients
Irvine patients often arrive after being told to “give it more time” by providers who never had time for them. This practice was built to be the opposite, with a clinic close enough that weekly sessions are easy to keep.
Evidence-based methods
CBT, psychodynamic therapy and mindfulness-based approaches, matched to your diagnosis and goals rather than one method for everyone.
Measured by daily function
Sleep, work, relationships and motivation are the measures, and progress is reviewed at regular intervals.
Therapist and psychiatrist on one team
Medication questions, side effects and diagnostic doubts are handled inside the practice, with shared records.
A next step if therapy plateaus
TMS, SAINT® and Spravato® are available from the same clinicians, so a plateau is a decision point rather than a dead end.
Close to Irvine
The clinic sits beside John Wayne Airport, about 10 to 20 minutes from most of Irvine, which makes a steady weekly cadence realistic.
Insurance accepted
Many plans are accepted, including Medicare and Anthem, and the team verifies coverage before your first session.
For Treatment-Resistant Depression and Anxiety
If you have tried both therapy and medication and are still not well, that history matters: it defines treatment-resistant depression and is the entry point for TMS, SAINT® and Spravato®. At BrainHealth Solutions, psychotherapy continues alongside those treatments, helping you consolidate gains once the biology of the depression has shifted.
Cost of Psychotherapy for
Irvine, CA Patients
At the BrainHealth Solutions clinic, psychotherapy sessions generally range from $175 to $275 per session, with initial evaluations at the higher end. Your fee depends on appointment length, the clinician you see, how often you meet, and whether therapy is part of a broader plan that includes medication management or advanced treatments. With insurance, patients typically pay a mental-health copay or coinsurance per session. CareCredit is available for self-pay, and we quote only after reviewing your benefits.
Insurance and financing
BrainHealth Solutions accepts insurance and self-pay. Many major plans are accepted, including Medicare and Anthem, and CareCredit financing spreads self-pay costs over monthly payments. Submit your plan through the insurance-check form on our site, or ask on your 15-minute screening call, and our team confirms what your plan covers before you commit to anything.
Why Patients Trust BrainHealth Solutions
A psychiatrist who built UC Irvine's first TMS program
Dr. Robert Bota, MD, MSG, DFAPA is a board-certified psychiatrist and Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association. He trained in TMS at Harvard University and the University of South Carolina, founded and directed the first TMS program at UC Irvine, and has authored more than 60 peer-reviewed publications.
Research-driven care, not a franchise protocol
Dr. Bota has been principal investigator on more than 20 clinical trials in depression, schizophrenia, PTSD and Alzheimer’s disease, and the practice participates in brain-imaging research with Kernel neurotechnology. Treatment plans are informed by that research and reviewed as your symptoms change.
A clinical team, not a single provider
Care at BrainHealth Solutions is delivered by a team that includes psychiatrists Dr. Tina Allee and Dr. Mahtab K. Yousefi (child and adolescent care in English and Farsi), Spravato® specialist Dr. Dragos Serseni, TMS technician Anna Venezio and office manager Peter Bota.
Insurance help that patients talk about
Many plans are accepted, including Medicare and Anthem, and CareCredit financing is available for self-pay. One parent wrote that the team “even helped get insurance coverage when others said it wasn’t possible.” Use the insurance check on our site or ask on your screening call.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do you have a therapy office in Irvine?
No. BrainHealth Solutions has one office, at 3151 Airway Ave, Bldg R, Costa Mesa, beside John Wayne Airport and bordering Irvine. Irvine patients attend sessions there, typically about 10 to 20 minutes away.
Can I fit weekly therapy around an Irvine work schedule?
Usually, yes. Sessions run 45 to 60 minutes, and the clinic is a short drive from most of Irvine, so many patients book a recurring weekly slot during the clinic’s weekday hours, 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM.
I am a UC Irvine student or staff member. Can I be seen here?
Yes. Adults from the UC Irvine community are welcome. The practice is led by Dr. Robert Bota, who founded UC Irvine’s first TMS program, and the team checks your insurance coverage before your first session.
Is there a difference between a therapist and a psychotherapist?
“Psychotherapist” describes what a licensed clinician does, structured talk therapy, while “therapist” is the everyday word for the same role. The meaningful differences are training and setting; at BrainHealth Solutions therapy happens inside a psychiatrist-led practice.
How much does a session with a psychotherapist cost?
At BrainHealth Solutions, sessions generally range from $175 to $275, with initial evaluations at the higher end. With insurance, most patients pay a mental-health copay. We confirm your benefits first.
What is a red flag for a therapist?
Sessions with no goals, no way of measuring progress and an open-ended “keep coming” plan. Therapy here sets specific goals at the start and reviews them at regular intervals.
What should I do when therapy is not enough?
Tell your clinician. At BrainHealth Solutions that conversation leads straight to options: medication management, a diagnostic second opinion, or TMS, SAINT® and Spravato® for treatment-resistant depression, all within the same practice.
Take the First Step Toward Relief
Schedule a 15-minute screening call with BrainHealth Solutions and start psychotherapy a short drive from Irvine, with a team that has every next step ready if you need it.
BrainHealth Solutions, 3151 Airway Ave, Bldg R, Costa Mesa, CA 92626 · (949) 441-5542 · Monday to Friday, 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM. Same-day appointments may be available. The screening call asks only for your name, contact information and a callback time; there are no long intake forms before you speak with us.
