About MAHP Addiction Treatment
Our Story
In 2021, a small group of addiction medicine physicians and licensed counselors working across San Diego County noticed the same pattern repeating: families from Lemon Grove, La Mesa, Spring Valley, and surrounding communities were driving 45 minutes or more each way to access credible addiction treatment. Some gave up before they started. Others dropped out because the distance made sustained participation impossible.
Dr. Patricia Vasquez, a board-certified addiction psychiatrist, and Michael Torres, LCSW, decided that Lemon Grove deserved better. They pooled their clinical expertise, secured a facility on Broadway, and recruited a founding team of nurses, therapists, and peer recovery specialists who shared their conviction: that proximity to home and family is not a luxury in treatment. It is a clinical necessity.
MAHP Addiction Treatment opened its doors with 50 beds, a commitment to mindfulness-centered programming, and a promise that no one in our community would need to travel far to receive the kind of care that changes lives. Five years later, we have served over 2,800 patients, grown our team to 99 staff members, and never lost sight of the reason we exist: to fill the gap that once left families without options.
Our Mission
Our mission is the restoration of families. Addiction fractures households, erodes trust between parents and children, and isolates the people who need connection most. At MAHP Addiction Treatment, every clinical decision we make is measured against a single question: does this bring families closer to wholeness?
We integrate family programming into every level of care because we know that sustained recovery happens in the context of relationships, not in isolation. Scheduled family sessions, couples counseling, and parent education workshops are not add-ons. They are central to treatment. When a client completes a program at our center, we expect them to leave not only with sobriety skills but with restored relationships that will sustain their recovery for years to come.
Treatment Philosophy
Our treatment philosophy rests on three pillars that our founders established from the beginning:
Peer Accountability
Recovery is not a solo endeavor. We structure our program around peer accountability groups where clients support, challenge, and hold one another responsible. These bonds, forged in shared vulnerability, frequently outlast treatment itself and become the foundation of a lasting sober network.
Mind-Body Connection
Addiction lives in the body as much as the mind. Our mindfulness-centered approach includes daily meditation, breathwork, somatic experiencing therapy, and movement-based practices that help clients reconnect with physical sensations they spent years numbing. Healing requires both cognitive insight and embodied awareness.
Community Reintegration
Treatment that ends at discharge fails. We prepare clients for life beyond our walls through graduated independence, outpatient step-down options, alumni programming, and active connection to Lemon Grove community resources. Our goal is not to create dependence on our facility but to equip people to thrive in their own neighborhoods.
Our Team
Dr. Patricia Vasquez, MD, ABAM
Medical Director & Co-Founder
Board-certified in addiction medicine and psychiatry, Dr. Vasquez spent twelve years treating substance use disorders in emergency departments across San Diego before co-founding MAHP. She designed our detox protocols and oversees all medication-assisted treatment, bringing a philosophy that medical stabilization must pair with psychological safety to produce lasting outcomes.
Michael Torres, LCSW
Clinical Director & Co-Founder
A licensed clinical social worker with specializations in trauma-focused CBT and somatic experiencing, Michael built our residential curriculum from the ground up. His fifteen years of community mental health work in East County informed the peer accountability model that distinguishes MAHP from conventional programs. He leads weekly clinical rounds and supervises the therapy team.
Rachel Dominguez, LPC, NCC
Director of Family Programming
Rachel developed our family restoration track after witnessing how many treatment programs neglected the relational damage caused by addiction. With dual expertise in couples therapy and adolescent counseling, she coordinates family sessions, parent education workshops, and the multi-family group that meets every Saturday. Her approach treats the household as the unit of recovery.
James Nakamura, RN, CARN
Director of Nursing
James manages our 24/7 nursing staff and clinical intake process. A certified addictions registered nurse with eight years of experience in medically managed withdrawal, he ensures every client receives individualized medical monitoring from the moment they walk through our doors. He also trains the nursing team in trauma-informed care practices that align with our mindfulness-centered philosophy.
Testimonials
"I came in kicking and screaming. My family gave me an ultimatum, and I chose treatment over losing them. I expected to hate every minute. Instead, the breathwork sessions broke something open in me. The staff never judged my resistance. They just kept showing up. I have been sober 14 months now, and I still use the meditation techniques I learned at MAHP every single morning."
"My daughter drew a picture of our family during a Saturday session at MAHP. It was the first time in two years she included me in the drawing. That moment shattered me in the best possible way. The family programming here is not a checkbox. They genuinely work to put households back together. I am not just sober. I am a father again."
"As an ICU nurse, I knew exactly what the drugs were doing to my body and I took them anyway. The shame of being a healthcare worker with an addiction nearly killed me. MAHP's staff treated me with dignity from the first phone call. They understood workplace burnout in a way that other programs did not. I returned to nursing eight months after discharge, and my colleagues say I am the most present version of myself they have ever seen."