Laguna Beach · Now offering VirtualLaguna Beach · PHP / IOP · Now offering Virtual IOP
Therapist-founded PHP, IOP, and virtual IOP in Laguna Beach for depression, trauma, anxiety, substance use, and borderline personality disorder.
Dr. Courtney Tracy · Founder and chief clinical officer
The clinic
Exist Centers was built to give people the kind of real, effective care they deserve but rarely find. Dr. Courtney Tracy founded it because, when she was struggling with BPD and addiction herself, no one knew how to help her.
Our team is trained in trauma-informed care and personality disorder treatment, and our PHP and IOP are accredited by The Joint Commission. You'll get a plan built around you, and you won't get lost in the shuffle here.
We now offer a virtual IOP for adults in California who can't come to Laguna Beach. You join half days of group and 1:1 sessions on a secure video call.
Accreditation
Programs
We offer a full-day program, a half-day program, and a virtual IOP, plus transitional housing in Laguna Canyon if you're coming from out of town.
A full-day program, Monday through Friday.
Expert-led treatment for stabilization, assessment, and medication support, five days a week. You go home, or to the Truth House, each evening.
See how PHP worksGroup size
Eight people at most
1:1 sessions
Three or more a week
Founded
By a therapist
Clinical model
Dr. Courtney Tracy built this model from more than a decade of work with people facing mental health and substance use at the same time.
How we use DBT, EMDR, and somatic therapy
Somatic care
Learn to exist in your body again.
We look at how your body and mind affect each other, with yoga, mindfulness, and other therapies for physical pain and emotional ups and downs. We also look at nutrition and pain, and work with your doctors.
Cognitive analysis
Notice the automatic thoughts that drive you.
We look at how you think, make decisions, solve problems, and see your life and other people. Then we help you turn automatic negative thoughts and reactions into healthier ones.
Psychoanalytical
Understand why you feel and act the way you do.
We give you a safe space to explore your unconscious mind and the hidden emotions and patterns underneath. It helps with deep emotional pain and with substance use.
What we treat
Mental health and substance use, treated together.
When mental health and substance use show up together, we treat both at the same time, with the same team.
Dual diagnosis treatment in Orange CountyTalk to admissions
Trauma
Trauma can stay in the body long after it happens.
Trauma can stay in the body long after it happens.
We start by helping you feel safe, then work through what happened with EMDR, somatic therapy, and parts work, without pushing faster than you can go.
BPD is treatable, and you won't be stigmatized here.
We use DBT and IFS-informed therapy to help with intense emotions, relationships, and fear of abandonment. Full treatment usually takes four to five months.
Depression can make everything feel heavy.
Behavioral activation, DBT, CBT, and steady support in group and 1:1 help you move through the numbness, fatigue, and self-criticism.
Anxiety isn't always panic. It can be constant worry and tension.
We combine exposure-based therapy, somatic practices, and cognitive work to calm your nervous system and help you face what you've been avoiding.
The rituals promise relief, but the relief never lasts.
We use Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) to help you face the fear under the obsession and resist the urge to act on it.
Using is often a way to survive pain.
We treat the substance use and the pain underneath it at the same time. Full abstinence is required while you're in the program.
Housing
Not local to Orange County? Come stay with us. The Truth House is safe, accredited transitional housing in Laguna Canyon for clients in our PHP and IOP programs.
See the Truth House
The roomSingle and double rooms.
Our founder
Chief Clinical Officer
USC-trained licensed psychotherapist and certified trauma and personality-disorder expert.
Me and my team help you go from feeling out of control, deeply misunderstood, and isolated to feeling in control of a life worth living.
Education
University of Southern California Magna Cum Laude · Master of Social Work · 2014–2016
California Southern University Summa Cum Laude · Doctorate in Clinical Psychology · 2016–2019
Credentials
LCSW · PsyD · RPA · C-DBT · C-PD · CCTP
Featured in
The New York Times · Good Morning America · NBC · Business Insider · The Washington Post · Los Angeles Times
The team
Dr. Courtney Tracy founded the clinic, and Mikaela Karpinski is our executive director.
Founder and chief clinical officer
LCSW · PsyD · RPA · C-DBT · C-PD · CCTP
USC-trained licensed psychotherapist and certified trauma and personality-disorder expert.
She specializes in borderline personality disorder and substance use, and has spent her whole career, more than a decade, with people facing both mental health and substance use.
About Courtney
Executive Director
LCSW · trauma and substance use
I am the team’s executive director. I am deeply passionate about helping people find lasting personal care, meaningful reconnection, and a treatment program that makes sense. I help our program and client experience thrive by balancing humanistic care and clinical expertise. If you are reading this, please know that all the hard work it takes to find healing is worth it. You are worth it. Outside of work, I spend time with my cats Squidward and Jelly (yes, there is a SpongeBob theme going on) and with my husband.
Somatic practitioner
RADT · RYT-500 · somatic therapy
Medical director
DO · psychiatry and addiction medicine
Medical director
Psychiatry · mood, anxiety, and trauma
Nine truths
01Body
We will help you exist in your body again, and teach you how to befriend it.
Client testimonials
I never thought I'd actually find a treatment center that cares this much.
It's warm, inviting, and they get substance use and BPD.
We are so incredibly grateful for all of the compassionate care and support provided here.
As seen in
Insurance & admissions
Call us, or fill out the insurance form below. We'll check your benefits and get back to you within one business day, and if we're not the right fit, we'll help with referrals.
Tell us about yourself
Fill out the insurance form below, or call, text, or leave us a voicemail.
We'll call or text you
We'll complete a short assessment with you, go over costs and coverage, and set your intake date.
Start your program
You'll get your schedule ahead of time, and we'll give you a warm welcome when you arrive.
Benefits vary by plan. Verification is free and is not a guarantee of coverage.
Verify your insurance
Insurance we accept
