BrainHealth Solutions provides psychotherapy for adults in Westwood and West Los Angeles living with depression, anxiety, OCD, trauma and grief, inside a psychiatrist-led practice built for people who already have a diagnosis and still are not well.
Psychotherapy, or talk therapy, is a structured, confidential process of working with a trained clinician to understand what you are experiencing and build practical skills for managing it. Our clinicians draw from cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), psychodynamic therapy and mindfulness-based approaches. What makes therapy at BrainHealth Solutions different from a standalone counseling office is the setting: a psychiatrist-led practice where therapy can be combined with medication management, TMS, SAINT® or Spravato® when talking alone is not enough.
Sessions identify the thoughts, behaviors, relationships and stressors that keep symptoms in place, then work deliberately to change them: examining unhelpful thought patterns, practicing new coping strategies and processing painful experiences at a safe pace.
Progress is measured by daily function, not by how the hour felt: sleep, work, relationships and motivation. If something is not working after a reasonable trial, the approach 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 are on the same team, and a diagnostic second opinion is available when the original diagnosis does not fit.
Most West Los Angeles patients reach BrainHealth Solutions after years of slow progress and long waits. Therapy here is for people whose depression, anxiety, OCD or PTSD has persisted despite treatment, and the practice’s full toolkit, including FDA-cleared TMS and the SAINT® protocol, is available if therapy plateaus. Dr. Bota founded UC Irvine’s first TMS program and has led more than 20 clinical trials; that research culture shapes how progress is tracked in therapy too. Your evaluation takes place at our Westwood office at 1762 Westwood Blvd, Suite 320, Los Angeles, CA 90024. Your clinician confirms where treatment sessions are scheduled; our Costa Mesa clinic (3151 Airway Ave, Bldg R, Costa Mesa, CA 92626) is the practice’s main treatment center.
A short call introduces the clinic, answers your questions and helps determine whether psychotherapy alone or combined with other treatment is the right next step. You can also simply text the office first.
A thorough, non-judgmental conversation covering symptoms, prior diagnoses and treatments, medications you have tried, medical and family history, relationships, sleep, substance use and goals. A diagnostic second opinion can be part of this visit.
You and your clinician set specific, realistic goals and agree on a cadence, often weekly or biweekly at first. If the plan also includes medication, TMS, SAINT® or Spravato®, it is coordinated within the same practice.
Sessions typically run 45 to 60 minutes. Between visits you may practice skills or track patterns so the next session is more productive.
Progress is revisited at regular intervals, your feedback is welcomed, and the approach is adjusted when something is not working.
The first appointment is a conversation, not a questionnaire marathon. You are asked what has already been tried and what you want to be different, and you leave with a plan rather than a vague next step.
Sessions are structured around goals. CBT work might involve examining a specific thought pattern and testing a new response during the week; psychodynamic work might trace a recurring relationship pattern to its roots.
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.”
Typical psychotherapy scheduling at BrainHealth Solutions:
Therapy has no physical side effects, but it does have predictable rough patches. Knowing them in advance keeps people from quitting at the wrong moment.
Common and expected
These are discussed openly, and pacing is adjusted so that processing stays within what you can tolerate.
Signs the plan needs to change
Because the practice offers those options itself, a plateau in therapy leads to a conversation with your psychiatrist, not a referral into another waitlist.
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. Combining therapy with medication outperforms either alone for moderate to severe depression.
The goal is lasting skills rather than dependence on the therapy hour. Patients leave with tools they use after sessions end, and with a team they can return to if symptoms recur.
You may be a strong candidate for psychotherapy at our Westwood office if:
Psychotherapy at BrainHealth Solutions is for adults. Child and adolescent psychiatric care is available through Dr. Mahtab K. Yousefi.
Therapy may be combined with
Patients come here after being told to “give it more time” by providers who never had time for them. The practice was built to be the opposite of that experience.
CBT, psychodynamic therapy and mindfulness-based approaches, matched to your diagnosis and goals rather than one method for everyone.
Sleep, work, relationships and motivation are the yardsticks, and progress is reviewed at regular intervals.
Medication questions, side effects and diagnostic doubts are handled inside the practice, with shared records.
TMS, SAINT® and Spravato® are available from the same clinicians, so a plateau is a decision point, not a dead end.
If your diagnosis or plan has never felt right, a diagnostic review can be built into your evaluation.
Many plans are accepted, including Medicare and Anthem, and the team verifies coverage before your first visit.
If therapy and medication have both been tried and you are still not well, that history matters: it is the definition of treatment-resistant depression and the entry criterion for TMS, SAINT® and Spravato®. At BrainHealth Solutions, psychotherapy continues alongside those treatments, helping consolidate gains once the biology of the depression has shifted.
Across Los Angeles, self-pay psychotherapy sessions are commonly quoted at roughly $150 to $300 for a 45 to 60 minute session, with Westside practices toward the upper end (market ranges compiled from published Los Angeles therapist directory fee listings, 2026; these are not BrainHealth Solutions’ prices). With insurance, patients typically pay a mental-health copay or coinsurance per session. BrainHealth Solutions accepts many plans and offers CareCredit for self-pay; 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
“Psychotherapist” describes what a licensed clinician does, structured talk therapy, while “therapist” is the everyday word for the same role. The meaningful distinction is training and setting; at BrainHealth Solutions therapy happens inside a psychiatrist-led practice.
Tell your clinician. At BrainHealth Solutions that conversation leads directly to options: medication management, a diagnostic second opinion, or TMS, SAINT® and Spravato® for treatment-resistant depression, all within the same practice.
Sessions with no goals, no measurement of progress, and an indefinite “keep coming” plan. Therapy here sets specific goals at the start and reviews them at intervals.
Many structured therapies show results within 12 to 20 sessions; longer work is appropriate for complex trauma or long-standing patterns. Cadence is adjusted as you stabilize.
Yes. Medication management is provided by the practice’s psychiatrists, and therapy and medication visits are coordinated with shared records.
West Los Angeles patients are seen at the Westwood office at 1762 Westwood Blvd, Suite 320. The Costa Mesa clinic at 3151 Airway Ave is the practice’s main treatment center.
Most plans cover outpatient psychotherapy with a mental-health copay. Many plans are accepted at BrainHealth Solutions, including Medicare and Anthem, and the team checks your benefits before the first session.
Schedule a 15-minute screening call with BrainHealth Solutions and start psychotherapy in Westwood with a team that has every next step ready if you need it.
Westwood office: 1762 Westwood Blvd, Suite 320, Los Angeles, CA 90024 · (949) 670-9177. Costa Mesa clinic: 3151 Airway Ave, Bldg R, Costa Mesa, CA 92626. 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.
