Admissions

At Cliffside Malibu, we offer two comprehensive programs – primary treatment and extended care – to assist our clients in achieving lasting sobriety. Each of our new clients participates in a medical and mental health screening by our staff physician, a clinical therapist and a psychiatrist. These screenings help you and your therapist design a unique treatment plan that reflects the needs identified during this evaluation process. A treatment plan identifies specific challenges you and your therapist believe should be addressed during your stay at Cliffside, while it also provides a tool for measuring progress.

Primary Treatment Admission Guidelines
We welcome individuals who satisfy the following requirements:

• You are over 18 years of age
• You are chemically dependent upon drugs/alcohol
• You are able to perform a reasonable level of self-care, including, eating, grooming and maintaining orderliness in your living quarters
• You express motivation and a willingness to live in a treatment environment and pursue a sober life.

Extended Care Admission Guidelines

• Your are over 18 years of age
• You are currently sober – no longer chemically dependent on drugs/alcohol
• You are willing to follow a treatment plan developed by you and your therapist.

If you or a loved one need assistance, please call 800-501-1988 at any time. An admissions professional will discuss the challenges facing you or your loved one and help decide the best course of action. As always, all information is kept confidential, and we gladly accommodate wishes for further contact.

Dear Richard
I don’t know how to begin to thank you and your colleagues at Cliffside Malibu for helping to return our son to us. Only you – and anyone reading this letter whose son or daughter is addicted can possibly understand the pain, the nightmares and sense of hopelessness all parents suffer watching their son or daughter slowly kill themselves. For six years, we tried everything in our power and spent more money than I ever earned trying to get our 17 year old son sober: six different drug rehabs in the belief that finally, this one would work; countless therapists; two interventions and finally a rapid detox program that was supposed to eradicate the craving for most drugs. Nothing worked. So these years were filled with brief moments of elation, thinking our son finally licked the problem only to go through the horrible realization that, once again, we were back to square one. Each time he replapsed, it only got worse: he stole, lied, was verbally abusive and totalled three cars. Even the therapists gave up on our son. But we didn’t. It took many drug rehabs, many attempts, many fact finding missions to finally find Cliffside Malibu, the right place for our son. Sadly, all the brochures for drug rehabs and sober living say all the right things – things parents want to hear and believe in.

I can only hope most parents searching for help don’t have to go through the drug rehab journey I went through. Which is why I take great joy in writing this letter, and saying to any parent reading this, to take a look at Cliffside, talk to Richard or Jay, listen to them, pay a visit and seriously consider sending your precious cargo there. The physical setting is beautiful, calm, peaceful and condusive to recovery. And the staff knows what they are doing. They have a simple but profound understanding of the nature and effects of addiction. They know how to modify the dysfunctional behavior that is an integral part of all addicts. My son now has over a year of sobriety – something I never thought possible. It’s what I asked the people at Cliffside to give him: Just one year and he’d have a shot at living. They gave it to him.

Manny P