# A Psychiatrist for the San Fernando Valley, Starting on Video > Psychiatric evaluation and medication management for Burbank, Van Nuys, Northridge and the whole Valley, by secure video first, office if you like. **Source:** https://breakthroughmentalhealth.health/psychiatrist-san-fernando-valley/ **Provider:** Breakthrough Mental Health, 3646 Long Beach Blvd # 205, Long Beach, CA 90807 (telehealth across CA) Burbank to Chatsworth, Sylmar to Studio City Valley patients start on secure video and come to Long Beach only if they choose. Psychiatric evaluation and medication management. Video first, office if you like [Book a Valley video visit](https://breakthroughmentalhealth.health/book/) · [Call (818) 286-3862](tel:+1-818-286-3862) *(image: A woman in a straw hat and gardening gloves smiling as she tends tomato plants in raised beds in a sunny backyard, dry hills in the distance)* - 1,811,671 people live in the Census Bureau's San Fernando Valley subdivision [api.censusreporter.org](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B01003&geo_ids=06000US0603792785) - 1 hr 2 min by car from Burbank City Hall at 7.41am on a Monday, in the morning peak [google.com](https://www.google.com/maps/dir/?api=1&origin=275%20E%20Olive%20Ave%2C%20Burbank%2C%20CA%2091502&destination=3646%20Long%20Beach%20Blvd%2C%20Long%20Beach%2C%20CA%2090807&travelmode=driving) - 61.1% of Valley adults aged 19 to 64 hold commercial insurance [api.censusreporter.org](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B27010&geo_ids=06000US0603792785) In short ## Seeing a psychiatric provider from the Valley We see San Fernando Valley patients mostly by secure video, because our one office is in Long Beach, about an hour from Burbank at 7.41am on a Monday. You get a full psychiatric evaluation, a diagnosis where one is clear and ongoing medication management with the same clinician, and the office stays open to you on weekdays. **Our office:** 3646 Long Beach Blvd # 205, Long Beach, CA 90807 **Hours:** Mon–Fri · 8 AM–6 PM (Pacific) **Phone:** [(818) 286-3862](tel:+1-818-286-3862) Telehealth available across California, with new locations coming to Northern California. [Get directions →](https://www.google.com/maps/search/?api=1&query=3646%20Long%20Beach%20Blvd%20%23%20205%2C%20Long%20Beach%2C%20CA%2090807) The care ## A complete appointment, without the 405 This is a psychiatric practice. We diagnose, we manage medication, and we keep seeing you so the plan keeps fitting your life. We do not run therapy groups or weekly talk therapy. - ### [Psychiatry Services](https://breakthroughmentalhealth.health/treatments/psychiatry/) Comprehensive psychiatric care, including diagnosis, treatment planning, and ongoing management led by a board-certified provider. - ### [Medication Management](https://breakthroughmentalhealth.health/treatments/medication-management/) Careful selection, monitoring, and adjustment of psychiatric medications to maximize benefit and minimize side effects. - ### [Psychiatric Evaluation](https://breakthroughmentalhealth.health/treatments/psychiatric-evaluation/) A thorough first assessment to understand your history and symptoms and build an accurate diagnosis and plan. *(image: A man in glasses with headphones around his neck smiling and taking notes at his desk during a video call, a bookshelf behind him)* ### The first appointment Plan on about an hour. We ask what brought you in, what has and has not helped before, your health and current medications, and what you would like to feel different. You leave with a working diagnosis where one is clear, a plan, and the next visit already on the calendar. Follow-ups are shorter. They come every few weeks while a plan settles and spread out once it holds, and any medication change is made one step at a time so its effect stays readable. ### Video is the whole visit A video appointment is a full psychiatric visit, not a lesser version. Evaluation, diagnosis and medication follow-up all happen on screen, from anywhere in California. New patients see [Irine Achuamang](https://breakthroughmentalhealth.health/providers/irine-achuamang/), a psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner. [Dr. Cho](https://breakthroughmentalhealth.health/providers/austina-cho/) provides collaborating physician oversight. Getting care ## Video from home, or the drive if you want it Drive times are Google's, sampled once at the hour each note names, in that hour's traffic. Peaks that were not sampled will run longer. ### Seeing us by video - Of households in the San Fernando Valley subdivision, 94.2 percent have broadband of some kind and 4.3 percent have no internet access at home. [api.censusreporter.org](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B28002&geo_ids=06000US0603792785) · checked 2026-10-26 - The Medical Board of California notes that AB 809 allowed telehealth consent to be given verbally or in writing. [mbc.ca.gov](https://www.mbc.ca.gov/Resources/Medical-Resources/telehealth.aspx) · checked 2026-10-26 - Business and Professions Code section 2290.5 states that a patient who has agreed to telehealth may still receive in-person care during a specified course of treatment. [leginfo.legislature.ca.gov](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=BPC§ionNum=2290.5) · checked 2026-10-26 ### Driving to the office - From Burbank City Hall at 275 E Olive Ave, Google's recommended route ran 30.2 miles via I-5 S and I-710 S and took about 1 hour 2 minutes at 7.41am Pacific on Monday 26 October 2026, in the morning peak. Late-morning and evening traffic were not sampled. [google.com](https://www.google.com/maps/dir/?api=1&origin=275%20E%20Olive%20Ave%2C%20Burbank%2C%20CA%2091502&destination=3646%20Long%20Beach%20Blvd%2C%20Long%20Beach%2C%20CA%2090807&travelmode=driving) · checked 2026-10-26 - From San Fernando City Hall at 117 Macneil St, Google's recommended route ran 46.4 miles via I-210 E and took about 1 hour 26 minutes at 7.41am Pacific on Monday 26 October 2026, in the morning peak. Google's note on that route read "Fastest route now, avoids slowdown on I-405 S". Late-morning and evening traffic were not sampled. [google.com](https://www.google.com/maps/dir/?api=1&origin=117%20Macneil%20St%2C%20San%20Fernando%2C%20CA%2091340&destination=3646%20Long%20Beach%20Blvd%2C%20Long%20Beach%2C%20CA%2090807&travelmode=driving) · checked 2026-10-26 - From California State University, Northridge at 18111 Nordhoff St, Google's recommended route ran 42.0 miles via I-405 S and took about 1 hour 33 minutes at 7.41am Pacific on Monday 26 October 2026, in the morning peak. Late-morning and evening traffic were not sampled. [google.com](https://www.google.com/maps/dir/?api=1&origin=18111%20Nordhoff%20St%2C%20Northridge%2C%20CA%2091330&destination=3646%20Long%20Beach%20Blvd%2C%20Long%20Beach%2C%20CA%2090807&travelmode=driving) · checked 2026-10-26 Paying for care ## Coverage in a valley of 1.8 million people We are in network with 19 commercial carriers, including Aetna, Anthem, Beacon Health Options, Carelon, Cigna and others, and you can check your own plan below before you book. TRICARE and TriWest are on that list, so service members, veterans and military families are billed like anyone else here. **We do not currently take Medi-Cal managed care.** If that is your coverage, we are a self-pay option rather than a covered visit, and it is better to know that now than at the front desk. Self-pay is $250 for a 60-minute initial psychiatric evaluation and $150 for a 30-minute follow-up visit, and there is a sliding scale. Please ask. ### Coverage across the San Fernando Valley - Inside the San Fernando Valley subdivision, 48.5 percent of adults aged 19 to 64 have employer-based coverage only and 12.6 percent buy a plan directly, which puts 61.1 percent on commercial insurance. [api.censusreporter.org](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B27010&geo_ids=06000US0603792785) · checked 2026-10-26 - In the same age band, 22.1 percent of Valley adults rely on Medi-Cal or another means-tested program alone and 10.6 percent have no health coverage. [api.censusreporter.org](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B27010&geo_ids=06000US0603792785) · checked 2026-10-26 Accepted in-network ## In-network with your insurance We're in-network with most major plans, so care stays affordable. Not sure about yours? Verify your coverage in about a minute, or we'll gladly check it for you. No card to hand? Leave your name, phone number and email, tick “look it up for me”, and we'll do the checking. Self-pay & sliding-scale options are also available. [or call (818) 286-3862](tel:+1-818-286-3862) Plans we accept **Plans accepted:** Aetna, Anthem, Beacon Health Options, Carelon, Cigna, Evernorth, GEHA, HMC HealthWorks, Horizon BCBS, Independence BCBS, Magellan Health, MultiPlan, Optum, Oscar Health, Oxford, TRICARE, TriWest, UMR, UnitedHealthcare ## Paying out of pocket? Self-pay rates Clear, upfront self-pay rates. No surprises, no fine print. You’ll know the cost before your first visit. - Initial psychiatric evaluation $250/ 1 hour - Follow-up visit $150/ 30 min Sliding-scale options are available. Just ask. [Book a Valley video visit](https://breakthroughmentalhealth.health/book/) *(image: A teenage girl and her mother laughing as they walk their dog together along a shaded sidewalk)* ## A valley of its own, an hour from our door Large parts of the San Fernando Valley, Northridge and Van Nuys among them, sit inside the City of Los Angeles, yet the Valley lives like a separate place. It has its own freeways, its own downtowns and a population of about 1.8 million. Our office is on Long Beach Boulevard, at the far southern end of the same county. In a Monday morning-peak sample at 7.41am, Burbank City Hall was about 1 hour 2 minutes from our door, San Fernando City Hall about 1 hour 26 minutes and Cal State Northridge about 1 hour 33 minutes. Google’s other routes from Northridge that morning reported a slowdown on the 405, so that last time was likely slower than usual. That is why we start Valley patients on video. The appointment does not change. The commute does. ## Where the Valley begins and ends Even the Valley’s own institutions draw it loosely. Burbank describes itself as a city in the eastern part of the San Fernando Valley. The county’s Third Supervisorial District says it takes in most of the Santa Monica Mountains and the San Fernando Valley, reaching as far as Sylmar and the City of San Fernando. The Census Bureau’s San Fernando Valley subdivision is the firmest line of the three, and it is the one our coverage figures on this page use. ## What changes when the first visit is on a screen Very little, in practice. The evaluation, the diagnosis and the plan all happen on screen, exactly as they would in the office, and the clinician is the same one you would meet in Long Beach. What you skip is the long drive home across the county with everything you just talked about still turning over in your head. That alone can be a reason to start from home. ## Video first does not mean video only Some people like to meet in person once, then follow up by video. That works, and so does the reverse. Under California law, agreeing to telehealth does not stand in the way of in-person care later in the same treatment, and our office keeps regular weekday hours. If you have a reason to be in Long Beach, or just prefer a room to a screen for the first conversation, tell us when you book. ## Insurance in the Valley About three in five working-age adults in the Valley carry commercial coverage, and our coverage check will tell you in a minute whether your plan is one we bill. A little over one in five rely on Medi-Cal alone. For them the honest answer is that we do not currently take Medi-Cal managed care and are a self-pay option, while the county’s handbook routes Medi-Cal specialty mental health services through the county mental health plan. ## Making video work in a busy household Census figures put broadband in more than nine in ten Valley households, so the connection is rarely the obstacle. Privacy is, in a house with roommates, kids home from school or a partner on a work call of their own. A parked car on Ventura Boulevard, a back bedroom with the door shut or an empty conference room at work all do the job, as long as you can speak freely and you are in California at the time. ## When you need help faster than an appointment Psychiatric follow-up is planned care. If things get worse quickly, the county’s 24-hour help line answers for the Valley, and 988 answers anywhere. If you are in danger, call 911. Where ## Valley communities, east to west and north - Burbank and Toluca Lake The east end of the Valley, beside Glendale and the Verdugo Hills. - North Hollywood and Studio City Long or irregular work days are easier to fit around a short video follow-up than a cross-county drive. - Van Nuys and Sherman Oaks The middle of the Valley, with the 405 and the 101 meeting close by. - Northridge and Porter Ranch Students at CSUN and families in the hills alike can join a visit from home. - San Fernando, Pacoima and Sylmar The northeast Valley, beside the 5 and the 210 and a long way from the coast. - The Census Bureau's San Fernando Valley county subdivision held 1,811,671 residents in its 2020 to 2024 estimates. [api.censusreporter.org](https://api.censusreporter.org/1.0/data/show/acs2024_5yr?table_ids=B01003&geo_ids=06000US0603792785) · checked 2026-10-26 - In the Census geocoder, Burbank City Hall, San Fernando City Hall and California State University, Northridge all fall inside that San Fernando Valley subdivision, and the university sits within Los Angeles city limits. [geocoding.geo.census.gov](https://geocoding.geo.census.gov/geocoder/geographies/address?benchmark=Public_AR_Current&vintage=Current_Current&layers=County%20Subdivisions&format=json) · checked 2026-10-26 - The county Department of Mental Health places the Valley in its Service Area 2, which names Burbank, North Hollywood, Northridge, Pacoima, Sylmar, Van Nuys and Woodland Hills among its communities. [dmh.lacounty.gov](https://dmh.lacounty.gov/about/service-areas/service-area-2/) · checked 2026-10-26 - The City of Burbank describes itself as located in the eastern part of the San Fernando Valley. [burbankca.gov](https://www.burbankca.gov/about-burbank) · checked 2026-10-26 - The county's Third Supervisorial District says it stretches from the Ventura County line to Santa Monica and Hollywood to Sylmar and the City of San Fernando, and that it encompasses most of the Santa Monica Mountains and the San Fernando Valley. [lindseyhorvath.lacounty.gov](https://lindseyhorvath.lacounty.gov/) · checked 2026-10-26 Public resources ## Help in the county's Service Area 2 Listed because they are useful. We have no referral arrangement with any of them. - Los Angeles County's 24-hour help line, (800) 854-7771, is the county's main entry point for mental health resources, including in Service Area 2. [dmh.lacounty.gov](https://dmh.lacounty.gov/get-help-now/) · checked 2026-10-26 - Callers who are deaf or hard of hearing can reach the same county line through a relay service or 711. [dmh.lacounty.gov](https://dmh.lacounty.gov/get-help-now/) · checked 2026-10-26 - Calling or texting 988 connects you to the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at any hour. [988lifeline.org](https://988lifeline.org/) · checked 2026-10-26 - Per the county's handbook page, Medi-Cal behavioral health services for specialty mental health needs come through the county mental health plan. [dmh.lacounty.gov](https://dmh.lacounty.gov/our-services/patients-rights/handbooks/) · checked 2026-10-26 ## Questions from the San Fernando Valley ### How far is your office from the San Fernando Valley? In our Monday 7.41am sample, Burbank City Hall was about 1 hour 2 minutes away and Cal State Northridge about 1 hour 33 minutes, both in morning-peak traffic. That is why we start Valley patients on video. ### Can my whole treatment happen by video? For most of what we do, yes. Evaluation and medication follow-up are conversations, and a screen carries them well. If something in your care ever calls for an in-person step, we will tell you, and the Long Beach office is there for it. ### I am a CSUN student. Can I see you? Yes. Check your plan with the coverage tool on this page first. A student might be on a parent's commercial plan, a school plan or Medi-Cal, and our answer depends on which one. ### Do you see patients in Glendale and the Verdugo foothills? Yes. Glendale is on the county's Service Area 2 list, the same service area as Burbank and the Valley communities, and the same video-first approach applies there. ### What should I have ready for the first visit? A list of the medications and doses you take now, any past diagnoses or treatment you remember, and your insurance card. Records from earlier care help, but you do not need them to start. ### Can a Valley patient get talk therapy from you too? No. We provide psychiatric evaluation and medication management. If weekly therapy is what you need most, we will tell you, and seeing a therapist and a psychiatric provider side by side is common. Related ## Background reading on these conditions - [ADHD](https://breakthroughmentalhealth.health/conditions/adhd/) - [Anxiety & Related Disorders](https://breakthroughmentalhealth.health/conditions/anxiety/) - [Panic Disorder](https://breakthroughmentalhealth.health/conditions/panic-disorder/) - [Psychiatric Evaluation](https://breakthroughmentalhealth.health/treatments/psychiatric-evaluation/) - [Medication Management](https://breakthroughmentalhealth.health/treatments/medication-management/) - [North Los Angeles County →](https://breakthroughmentalhealth.health/psychiatrist-north-los-angeles-county/) - [Telepsychiatry in California →](https://breakthroughmentalhealth.health/telepsychiatry/) - [Psychiatrist in Long Beach →](https://breakthroughmentalhealth.health/psychiatrist-long-beach/) - [All areas we serve →](https://breakthroughmentalhealth.health/locations/) ## Leave the freeway out of this one Choose a time online and we will phone to confirm it. Your first appointment is about an hour, and you can take it from home. [Book a Valley video visit](https://breakthroughmentalhealth.health/book/) · [Call (818) 286-3862](tel:+1-818-286-3862)