Creating Joy—Healing Generations
Dr. Jamie Goldstein, executive director, Embark Behavioral Health (c), in the lobby with Marquan Baker, associate clinical therapist (l), and Madison Steele, enrollment director (r).
Embark Behavioral Health Executive Director Jamie Goldstein, PsyD, and her team officially opened the Walnut Creek Embark Behavioral Health clinic on June 10, 2024, in Shadelands at 370 N. Wiget Lane, Suite 100, to fill a growing gap between the need for intensive outpatient mental health treatment for adolescents, and available resources in the East Bay.
“There simply are not enough providers for the youth and families who need the support,” said Dr. Goldstein. “Hospitals are severely impacted. Residential facilities are severely impacted. Outpatient centers are severely impacted. Rising tides carry all ships. We partner with and support all behavioral health centers—we just want to increase access to quality care.”
Embark Behavioral Health is a leading nationwide network of residential programs and outpatient centers offering treatment for preteens, teens, and young adults. Embark’s 30 locations are part of a continuum of care that provides a range of services specializing in helping youth and their families through their mental health journey.
Kitchen and break area for teens in Embark’s outpatient programs.
At the Walnut Creek location, Embark therapists work with young people, ages 12 to 17 (18, if still in high school) who are struggling with behavioral health issues through an intensive outpatient program (IOP) and therapeutic day treatment program known as the partial hospitalization program (PHP). The founding team includes the executive director, two primary therapists, a clinical director, an enrollment director, and an office manager.
“Our core purpose at Embark Behavioral Health across the board is to create joy and heal generations,” said Dr. Goldstein, a licensed clinical psychologist who has worked in the field for more than 12 years. “We address significant mental health issues, specifically anxiety, depression, and suicidality, in adolescents and young adults” through individual, group, and family therapy.
Embark group therapy area for teens.
“And note I said joy, not happiness. Happiness like every other emotion is ephemeral, fleeting. Joy is when we can take tough and painful experiences and make sense of them in our lives. We can experience joy when we know how to move through pain and integrate it as part of the whole human experience,” said Dr. Goldstein. “We live in a stressful world and with therapy, we can take those stresses, know what to do with them, and know how to gain wisdom from them. That’s what joy feels like.”
“So we’re creating joy, and as a result, healing generations—this is why family therapy is such a big component of our continuum of care.”
Join the Embark Behavioral Health team and the Walnut Creek Chamber of Commerce as they celebrate the grand opening of the Walnut Creek clinic with a party and ribbon cutting, August 22, 4-7pm. Explore the beautiful new space, meet the Embark team, and learn more about outpatient treatment programs for adolescents ages 12 to 17. RSVP.
Unlike a residential treatment facility, Embark Walnut Creek is an outpatient clinic, where clients are able to be at home safely, but need dedicated, personalized care and support to get through the day, the week, the month. Depending on the program they’re in, clients will attend Embark five days per week, from 10am to 3:30pm, much like a school schedule, but in a therapeutic environment; or they will attend school and go to Embark after school for additional support and therapy, generally four days per week.
Therapy and homework area for clients in Embark’s outpatient programs.
The Embark offices were thoughtfully designed, with intent and purpose. It’s not a coincidence that the feel is very much like home—warm and welcoming, with comfortable chairs and sofas, in bright colors. Floor to ceiling windows let in vast rays of light, and the open spaces support feelings of freedom and spaciousness. The therapy rooms, the break room, the educational rooms, the youth lounge are all designed for comfort and feelings of safety and bright futures.
“Vitality, diversity, and resiliency—those are the characteristics we live and breathe here,” said Dr. Goldstein. “We wanted to create a space that welcomes our clients and families—a space where clients know they belong and ultimately heal.”
Group therapy room set up for sharing and discussion among Embark clients.
Bright, comfortable rooms for individual and family therapy at Embark Behavioral Health clinic.
Walnut Creek was chosen for its central East Bay location for clients and families, positioned to increase access to a number of regional communities north and south, east and west, offering help to families who live in mental health care deserts.
“And look at the Shadelands setting—this is just what we hoped for to integrate into our therapies. Healing doesn’t just happen through talk therapy,” said Dr. Goldstein. “At Shadelands, we have the out-of-doors, paths, and trails; we have the animals at Joybound; and the athletic opportunities at the SportsMall, to name just a few. These are all avenues toward healing for young people in various stages of mental health. Healing happens through experiences.
“We know we’re in the midst of a mental health crisis among all populations, but particularly adolescents, and that’s why Embark is here—as a national organization, and now as an outpatient clinic in the East Bay to fill a gap. We are using our business model as a force for good—our mission is to lead the way in bringing the incidents of adolescent and young adult anxiety, depression, and suicidality from the all-time highs of today, to all-time lows by 2028. We don’t have time to move slowly. We’re here to keep children alive.”
