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Residential mental health treatment for adults experiencing thoughts of suicide, with 24-hour clinical staffing and integrated care for co-occurring conditions.
24-hour clinical staffing. Same-day admission possible.
Suicidal ideation treatment at Villa Healing Center is a residential mental health program in Woodland Hills, California for adults experiencing thoughts of suicide. Care follows evidence-based guidelines from the American Psychological Association and includes 24-hour clinical monitoring, safety planning, and integrated treatment of the underlying conditions that drive suicidal thoughts. We accept most major commercial insurance.
Suicidal ideation is the clinical term for thoughts of suicide, and it covers a range of experience from passive thoughts that life is not worth living to active thoughts of ending one’s life with intent or a specific plan. The DSM-5 treats suicidal ideation as a clinical sign that appears across many mental health conditions rather than as a single diagnosis on its own. Suicidal ideation can present with depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety disorders, borderline personality disorder, and substance use disorders, among others.
The National Institute of Mental Health reports that an estimated 12.3 million U.S. adults had serious thoughts of suicide in the past year based on the National Survey on Drug Use and Health 2022. The presence of suicidal ideation is treatable, and the American Psychological Association Practice Guideline for the Assessment and Treatment of Patients with Suicidal Behaviors identifies evidence-based psychotherapy, safety planning, and treatment of the underlying mental health condition as standard components of clinical care.
Adults experiencing suicidal ideation are cared for across different settings, and the right setting is set by safety risk, severity, the presence of a plan or intent, and access to ongoing clinical support.
Dimension | Continued Therapy | Residential Mental Health | Emergency Department |
Time commitment | Weekly individual therapy plus medication management | Full-time, 24 hours per day onsite | Same-day evaluation, typically 4 to 24 hours |
Best fit | Passive ideation without plan or intent, stable home support, treatment in progress | Active or persistent ideation, recent escalation, co-occurring conditions, need for 24-hour monitoring and safety planning | Imminent risk, recent attempt, severe medical concerns |
Clinical focus | Symptom management, relapse prevention, ongoing therapy | Daily evidence-based therapy, safety planning, medication management, integrative wellness programming, integrated treatment of co-occurring conditions | Acute safety stabilization and triage |
Length of stay | Ongoing | Set by clinical recommendation | Hours; transfer to higher level of care if indicated |
Where Villa Healing fits | Available as step-down | Primary level of care at Villa Healing Center | Not provided; if you are in imminent danger, call 911 |
For active or persistent suicidal ideation with a co-occurring mental health or substance use condition, a residential setting holds safety planning and clinical treatment in one place. Villa Healing Center operates at the residential level. If your situation is an immediate danger, an emergency department is the right next step, and 988 is available 24 hours a day for confidential crisis support.
Our suicidal ideation treatment program at Villa Healing Center combines evidence-based psychotherapy, psychiatric medication management, safety planning, integrative wellness programming, and 24-hour clinical staffing, organized around one written treatment plan per person.
Treatment begins with a clinical assessment by a licensed therapist after admission. The assessment establishes the severity and pattern of suicidal ideation, the presence of any specific plan or intent, the underlying mental health or substance use conditions, and the right level of care. Your treatment team then builds a safety plan and a clinical plan covering both the suicidal ideation and any co-occurring condition. Both plans are reviewed and updated throughout the stay as your clinical picture changes.
A typical week in residential includes individual therapy sessions, group therapy sessions including dedicated skills groups, family therapy on a scheduled basis when clinically appropriate, psychiatric medication management visits, and integrative wellness programming. Behavioral health staff are onsite 24 hours a day.
Underlying conditions that often drive suicidal ideation are treated alongside the safety work. The National Institute of Mental Health identifies major depressive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, borderline personality disorder, and alcohol or substance use disorders as conditions with heightened suicide risk, and our integrated treatment plan addresses both the ideation and the underlying condition rather than treating only one.
Our suicidal ideation treatment uses evidence-based approaches specifically supported for adults experiencing thoughts of suicide: the Safety Planning Intervention, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Suicide Prevention, the Collaborative Assessment and Management of Suicidality, Dialectical Behavior Therapy, and psychiatric medication management.
The Safety Planning Intervention, developed by Barbara Stanley and Gregory Brown, is a brief structured intervention that builds a written safety plan with warning signs, internal coping strategies, social contacts for distraction and support, professional resources, and steps for making the environment safer. Safety planning is a core component of every admission.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Suicide Prevention (CBT-SP), also developed by Stanley and Brown, is a structured short-term therapy that targets the patterns of thought and behavior associated with suicidal episodes. CBT-SP is delivered through individual sessions during residential and supports continued work.
The Collaborative Assessment and Management of Suicidality (CAMS), developed by David Jobes, is a clinical framework in which the therapist and the adult build the treatment plan together around the specific drivers of the person’s suicidal thoughts. CAMS is used during your stay to organize treatment around what is driving the ideation, not only around the symptoms.
Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), developed by Marsha Linehan, has the strongest evidence base of any psychotherapy for adults with chronic suicidal ideation, self-harm behavior, or co-occurring borderline personality disorder. DBT teaches distress tolerance, emotional regulation, interpersonal effectiveness, and mindfulness, all of which apply directly to managing suicidal urges.
Psychiatric medication management is part of the clinical program and is provided by a psychiatric prescriber. Medication is matched to the underlying condition that is driving the ideation, with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors used for major depressive disorder, mood stabilizers for relevant mood presentations, and other agents as clinically indicated.
Suicidal ideation rarely occurs in isolation. The National Institute of Mental Health and clinical literature consistently document heightened risk in adults with major depressive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety disorders, borderline personality disorder, and alcohol or substance use disorders. Our residential program treats suicidal ideation alongside each of these conditions under one integrated plan.
Each co-occurring condition has a dedicated clinical page:
Not sure if your situation fits our program? Call (888) 669-0661 to talk with admissions.
Villa Healing Center accepts most major commercial insurance for suicidal ideation treatment in Woodland Hills, including residential admissions. Most commercial plans cover residential mental health care with prior authorization, and continued-stay reviews are conducted based on medical necessity. Out-of-pocket cost depends on your plan deductible and coinsurance.
If your plan is out-of-network, we work with you on out-of-network reimbursement, single-case agreements, and self-pay options. Call (888) 669-0661 to discuss options.
Villa Healing Center’s facility is located at 23033 Ostronic Drive, Woodland Hills, California 91367, in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles County.
Adults across the San Fernando Valley searching for suicidal ideation treatment often face limited options that address both the ideation and any underlying mental health or substance use condition in one setting. The National Institute of Mental Health documents that a meaningful share of adults with serious suicidal thoughts in any given year do not receive treatment that includes both safety planning and treatment of the underlying condition.
Our residence sits in Woodland Hills, accessible from the 101 and 405 Freeways. We serve adults from across the San Fernando Valley and coordinate admissions from across California. Adults from across Los Angeles County, Ventura County, Orange County, and the broader Southern California region travel to our Woodland Hills facility for residential care.
Mental health admissions are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Call (888) 669-0661 to speak with a clinical intake coordinator, or verify benefits to start.
If you are in crisis right now, call or text the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. For medical emergencies, call 911. Reach the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741.
