Director Oceanside Malibu
Kathryn Johnson is a licensed psychotherapist that is passionate about her work with those in recovery. She has worked as a therapist at some of the major rehabs in Malibu helping guide clients through detox, early recovery and working with their families. Kathryn is known for her incredible compassion. She has also worked as a clinical director of an adolescent in patient psychiatric unit for 5 years.
Her background of working with clients, other therapists, and psychiatrists brings a wealth of knowledge to those in the early stages of recovery. Unlike other drug rehabilitation centers that focus exclusively on the 12 steps Kathryn recognizes the importance of making sure clients receive treatment for underlying issues that are key to maintaining sobriety and preventing relapse. She works with clients in helping them embrace the recovery process and make use of all the resources available to them.
Kathryn had a vision of opening a facility that would provide intensive, individualized care and would teach clients the skills they need for long term sobriety. She has often described going from a 30 day rehab and then back home as going from elementary school to college. After many months of qualitative studying she found that the relapse rate from primary treatment was extremely high. Only a very small percentage of people leave primary treatment and stay sober. From working at some of the best facilities in Malibu herself she realized that while the primary treatment at these facilities was outstanding, that the facility itself was not designed to help people deal with real life stressors and every day situations that cause clients to relapse. Her vision of opening a home that provides the serenity of being right on the ocean, the stability of working with well trained staff, and a family like environment where clients could learn to be honest for the first time in their lives has become a reality.
Our alumni continue to come back and visit us today and are very grateful for all the lessons they learned while at our sober living. Kathryn is very proud of our volunteer programs that our clients have worked at including feeding the homeless, working with at risk kids, delivering meals to shut ins, and helping abandoned animals find homes. She knows the importance on not just getting sober but learning how to stay sober by finding passion in your life, feeling like your making a difference in the world in your chosen area of interest, obtaining a strong support structure through 12 step, therapists and doctors, and finding out how to have sober fun. She has found that so many treatment programs or sober livings want to feel that they are “right” and have the one secret that will keep you sober. From much research she has found that it is a combination of many things that helps to insure lifelong sobriety. That is what Oceanside is- a place to put the pieces together to find out who you are and how to really live a great life sober.