Our Dedicated Team
Andrew Levander, LMFT, M.A.C., is a California and Nevada Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist who holds national certifications: Master Addictions Counselor, Certified Chemical Dependency Counselor, Certified Bereavement Counselor, Certified Cognitive Behavioral therapist, Certified Internet Addiction and Web Psychology Specialist and is a Workplace Mediation Specialist. Andrew developed the first residential treatment program specifically serving adolescents who struggle with self-injury and has been the owner and Clinical Director of adult programs for self-injury, process and chemical addiction and associated behaviors.
Andrew was the recipient of the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health Service Innovations Festival Award, “Enhancing Treatment Quality through Program Innovation”. He was featured on The Dr. Phil Show, Oprah, The John Walsh Talk Show, NBC News, CNN, and a special on E! Entertainment as well as featured in Time Magazine, The Boston Globe, The Los Angeles Times and many other national media outlets. In 2002 and 2010, a documentary on Andrew’s unique treatment program aired on the Discovery and Discovery Health Channels. Andrew’s twenty-four years of clinical experience, knowledge and dedication to the profession of Marriage and Family therapy, addiction and education have made him a skilled clinician, educator and leader in the field and study of mental health and addiction care and social services. Andrew is currently the Executive Director and Chief Clinical Officer for New Road Center and Seven Star Recovery where he continues to be of service to those in need of compassionate specialized care for mental health and addiction services.
Julia Kaluga is a Doctor of Psychology and also holds a Master’s degree in Clinical Psychology (Pepperdine University, CA). In addition to three years of internship in a clinical setting, Dr. Kaluga’s experience includes working as a Psychotherapist in public schools, rehabilitation centers, and private practices. Dr. Julia Kaluga’s private practice “Great Minds Therapy” was established in 2016, in Los Angeles, CA. From January of 2017, Dr. Julia Kaluga also joined Los Angeles Valley College as an adjunct professor of Psychology. From June of 2019, Dr. Julia Kaluga joined Licasa Treatment Center in Burbank, CA as a Primary Therapist.
About Us
Licasa Treatment Center is comprised of a team of dedicated professionals with over 70 years of combined experience helping people out of pain and into their lives and their relationships. Our mission is to help people who want more out of life, more out of relationships and to support them in every possible way by instilling self-confidence free from addiction, addictive behaviors and unwanted mental health symptoms. Licasa Treatment Center creates a pathway which not only helps people to get over their addiction, but also to continue a life of health and wellness with positive supportive relationships.
Outcomes
Licasa Treatment Center combines innovative models of care with time tested methods to come out with the best possible results. We understand that each person is unique, and we customize our services to arrive at the best results for each person. Each client is assigned a personal case manager who helps their client through the process from beginning to end. Our duty doesn’t stop when a client leaves our center, we also provide a number of aftercare services to increase sustained health and wellness.
A Professional Team
Each of our team member were handpicked to ensure Licasa Treatment Center is the best. Our team members love what they do, and it reflects in the way they care for their client. With the right balance of professionalism and care, we ensure all our clients emerge with increased health and wellness, sobriety and managed mental health concerns.
Treatment and Philosophy
Licasa Treatment Center understands that although addiction and addictive behaviors may temporarily alleviate unwanted thoughts and or feelings, addiction and addictive behavior happens in the absence of healthy relationships with people. Over time, addiction interferes with creativity, intimacy, educational and occupational successes, and a person’s overall health and wellness.
Licasa respectfully sees addiction, as a chronic, relapsing disorder characterized by compulsive drug seeking, continued use despite harmful consequences, with long-lasting changes in the brain. It is considered both a complex brain disorder and a mental illness. Addiction is first identified by young men and women as a needed adjunct to one’s emotional and physical stability. The long-term goal is to create a master list of creative and relationally based alternatives that the person struggling with mental health and addiction can utilize when the urge to act upon herself/himself arises.
It is important to note that young adults do stop using and do feel better; they are all people in need of consistent, relationship-oriented support, nurturance and guidance. This program has as a foundational goal the desire to help reintroduce people to themselves in a loving way. Together, the therapeutic relationship promotes ideas, creativity, health and wellness. It is the relationship between client, family and therapist that helps to rebuild a connection within oneself and within the family.
The program creates an opportunity to form relationships that are secure, safe and honest. It is a place where verbal communication is encouraged and supported, where the self-injuring young person builds healthy attachments. Licasa Treatment Center realizes that people who struggle with the effects of mental health and addiction have often times endured many failed therapeutic interventions and or repeated hospitalizations. Our goal is to create a therapeutic partnership that creates lasting peace, safety, health and freedom. Licasa Treatment Center provides an opportunity to develop alternatives to the isolation, shame and loneliness; leading to more satisfying and intimate relationships with one’s self and with others.
