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As a primary therapist at Lido Wellness Center (LWC), Monique works with patients on multiple levels, treating patients both on an individual basis, as well as facilitating group therapy. In addition to process groups, she leads healthy relationships groups and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) weekend planning groups. Monique also assists in the LWC Family Program and actively meets with patients and their families on understanding the complexities of their loved one’s struggles and how to help their family member achieve their recovery goals.

Working in mental health for the past 16 years, she began as an ABA therapist, using applied behavior analysis as a form of treatment. She pursued a career in social work and has worked in various settings including residential treatment, acute psychiatric hospitals, and in IOP/PHP levels of care with patients experiencing different levels of psychosis. It is this breadth of experience that she believes has given her the ability to conceptualize what her patients may be experiencing and helps her select the modality that may work best for their treatment.

While working on attaining her bachelor’s degree in psychology from California State University, Fullerton (CSUF), she was nominated for the Outstanding Undergraduate Award. She then went on to earn her master’s degree in social work from the University of Southern California (USC) where she was a member of the Phi Alpha Honor Society. She is also proud recipient of the 2013 Hispanic Heritage Award.

With a specialty and passion for CBT, she respects LWC’s interdisciplinary approach and varying staff perspectives that each professional brings to his or her job. Coming from her foundation in social work, she believes that LWC is aligned with her core beliefs and values as a therapist and appreciates the work/life balance that LWC practices and encourages with its staff.

For Monique, her job extends to a deep gratitude that she is able to walk with someone on their journey to not only find who they are today, but also to help them harness their ability to heal from within. She prides herself on providing her patients with the perspective of giving themselves grace and encourages them to see past their struggles to employ self-love as part of their healing. As she encourages her patients to do, she journals weekly and sets her intention daily and reflects nightly on the gratitude she had felt through the day.

Amelia Lewis, a Primary Therapist with over five years of direct clinical experience, brings a wealth of knowledge and a compassionate approach to her role. Amelia’s journey in mental health treatment has been diverse and rich, equipping her with a deep understanding of various therapeutic techniques and client needs.

As a Primary Therapist, Amelia’s responsibilities are comprehensive. She provides individual, group, and family therapy, utilizing an eclectic approach that includes trauma-informed care. Her methods incorporate EMDR, solution-focused therapy, psychodynamic theory, mindfulness, and evidence-based approaches like DBT and CBT, showcasing her versatility and commitment to finding the best fit for each client.

Amelia’s background in mental health treatment is extensive. She has experience at every level of care, starting with facilitating groups and individual cognitive rehabilitation at a Schizophrenia Rehab Clinic. She then moved on to providing home-based crisis intervention for children, followed by working as a therapist treating complex trauma and related mental health diagnoses, where she gained significant experience with the LGBTQIA+ population. Most recently, she worked in the field of eating disorders, demonstrating her ability to adapt to various mental health challenges.

Her preparatory roles include research on atypical antipsychotics and global social work practice, which honed her understanding of trauma resilience, identity development, and the importance of cultural humility. This diverse experience allows her to offer trauma-informed, client-centered, affirmative care, emphasizing resilience and hope.

Amelia values the development of a strong therapeutic relationship, where clients feel safe to explore and express themselves. She finds joy in creating a supportive environment where clients are empowered to heal and recognize their self-worth.

Educationally, Amelia holds a Bachelor’s of Science in Psychology with minors in Architecture and Psychology from Trinity College, Hartford, CT, and a Master’s of Social Work from Silberman School of Social Work, New York, NY. She is trained in EMDR and is Body Beautiful Certified, further enriching her therapeutic toolkit.

In her personal life, Amelia maintains mental wellness by integrating yoga and mindfulness into her daily routine. She also values travel and new experiences, embracing a balanced lifestyle that nurtures her own well-being and enhances her ability to support her clients.

As a Drama Therapist and Psychodrama Facilitator at Lido Wellness Center (LWC), Alexis loves exercising creativity in the many ways she supports patients. Before joining the LWC team, Alexis worked for a decade in treatment centers as a Drama Therapist, specializing in substance abuse, sex and love addictions, dually diagnosed clients, and women recovering from trauma. She proudly joined the LWC team because of its wide-reaching reputation and stellar staff, eager to commit herself with the same excellence and level of care.

In her practice, she incorporates the use of Drama Therapy techniques to urge clients outside of their comfort zone by safely pushing their boundaries through the use of physical and verbal expression of their emotional experience. By providing a safe and secure place to facilitate personal growth and healing, Alexis guides patients through cultivated activities, role playing, and dramatic interactions specifically designed to promote positive behavioral changes, improve interpersonal relationships, and improve mental health and emotional well-being. One of her favorite experiences is facilitating Psychodrama scenes with her patients and witnessing the immediate resulting impact. For Alexis, the most rewarding aspect of working at LWC is being given the opportunity to thrive in such a supportive and professional environment, surrounded by a highly collaborative and skilled team and supported by the vast resources made available to LWC staff and patients.

Alexis is a proud UCLA Bruin where she received her BA in Musical Theatre. One of the highlights of her life was taking a leap of faith at 25 and moving across the country to New York City to attend New York University to earn her Master’s in Drama Therapy. In attending to self-care in her personal life, she maintains a philosophy of balance, listening to what her body needs in any given day. She makes it a priority to be active or move throughout the day by running, stretching, or working out. She also attends to her mental and emotional health by stimulating her mind with music and podcasts as a way to reward herself through relaxation. Alexis also runs a private practice in which she works primarily with individuals and couples and also facilitates a drama therapy group for adults with Down Syndrome in partnership with the Down Syndrome Association of Orange County (DSAOC). She believes that there is no perfect formula for incorporating wellness and self-care into one’s personal life, so she does her best to remind herself that every 24 hours brings something new!

Alysa is dedicated to facilitating experiential and educational groups at Lido Wellness Center (LWC) that help move energy into healthy new patterns. She brings a welcoming and organic leadership style to Lido Wellness as she empowers patients to not only practice mindfulness, but she also works with them to find their personal strength and wellspring of resilience to help them bring peace into their daily lives.

Alysa’s teaching style is inspired through helping her patients find their freedom to explore topics that represent what is most relevant in their lives at the moment. She feels the most satisfaction from her work when she sees the lights come back on in her patients’ eyes – what she describes as going from “dull hopelessness to undeniable awe and wonder.”  She believes that while everyone goes through phases of darkness and is sometimes blindsided by chaos cycles or the spirals of despair, there is value in pausing, choosing to plug into sustainable sources of energy, and then allow life to take that positive turn. That ability for patients to effectively pivot to ground themselves into the truth of who they are is abundantly supported at Lido Wellness where individuals have the opportunity to find a safe and effective place to pause, learn, and heal.

She feels at home working at LWC, which she perceives as an oasis for real recovery where patients are truly seen and heard, which allows them to not only feel safe and supported, but in turn allows them to support one another. She believes the camaraderie with the clients who seek healing at LWC goes beyond trauma bonding where the environment is conducive for healing. She sees Lido Wellness Center as a place that has raised the bar for treatment centers with its high standards and ethics combined with a great physical space, strategically created schedules to help patient heal, and the qualified and dedicated professional team.

Having earned a bachelor’s degree in business marketing from the University of Colorado, Boulder, Alysa went on to Florida International University earning her graduate degree in Industrial Organizational Psychology. She then went on to explore her own personal healing journey and became a Certified Yoga Therapist in 2012. While teaching yoga and meditation mostly in therapeutic settings, she discovered writing to also be a cathartic form of release and soon became a Certified Gateless writing coach to help others move through words. She is interested in learning more about the mind/body connection and is exploring more about somatic experiencing, neuroplasticity, epigenetics and the energetics of healing. She is proud to begin each day with a meticulous morning routine of meditation, journaling and physical movement.