Partial Hospitalization & Intensive Outpatient | Culver City Program

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Amy Brenner

Clinical Director

Amy has over 30 years of experience working with at risk adolescents and families. She has been a clinician, supervisor, and clinical director in both inpatient and outpatient facilities and in school settings. She is a certified trauma informed care provider that has been certified in many evidenced-based practices and approaches to treatment.

Amy holds a Master’s of Social Work degree from Columbia University, and she also participated in a two-year post master’s extension program at a psychoanalytic institute in Los Angeles. Amy is a skilled psychotherapist who also works in private practice, specializing in anxiety and depressive disorders, family systems, trauma, and chronic and progressive illnesses.

Jennifer Breitbart

Psychiatrist

Dr. Jennifer Breitbart is a triple-board certified psychiatrist with extensive training in General Psychiatry (Zucker Hillside), Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (Mount Sinai), and Psychosomatic Medicine (Montefiore Medical Center).

Dr. Breitbart’s diverse experience includes serving as psychiatrist to Refuah Health Center, a community clinic in upstate New York; supporting the mental health of college students at the USC Engemann Student Counseling Center; serving as treating psychiatrist at The Achievable Foundation, a federally qualified health clinic serving individuals with developmental disabilities; and guiding a team at Liberty Healthcare transitioning adults from developmental centers into community settings.

Dr. Breitbart values the importance of working with interdisciplinary teams and partnering with family members and caregivers, an approach she initially developed in her first career as an oncology nurse and later refined as a psychiatrist to vulnerable populations. In addition to comprehensive clinical care, she provides relatability, empathy, and a strong focus on psycho-education. Her aim is to empower individuals to own their mental health trajectories.

Molly Elkin

Program Manager

Molly Elkin has been working in social services for over 10 years and is looking forward to completing her MSW program. It is Molly’s love for fun and passion that makes working with adolescents the right choice. At Ascend, she works as a facility manager, working with onsite staff to keep our residential treatment center at Culver running smoothly.

Favorite quote: “Be yourself, everyone else is already taken.” – Oscar Wilde

Laura Barone

Primary Therapist

Laura Barone is a therapist that brings more than two decades of clinical experience to her work in a variety of inpatient and outpatient settings. Her restorative work with children and their families includes working with survivors of abuse and neglect, survivors of human and sex trafficking, substance use, LGBTQIA + support, and neurodiversity.

A perpetual student, Laura has enjoyed studying trauma-informed care and multiple evidence-based modalities to inform additional approaches to her treatment methods. In groups and therapy sessions, Laura’s laid-back style and warm approach help to create safety for Ascend’s diverse client population.

Laura holds a Masters’s Degree in Social Work from New York University. Her experience is surpassed only by her desire to build rapport with clients so they may feel seen and heard as their authentic selves.

Maya Fujiwara

Primary Therapist

Maya Fujiwara is a therapist whose approach frames the client as their own uniquely invaluable expert of survival. She collaborates with clients to reconnect to all of the parts within their mental and emotional system toward an integrated wholeness, reflecting authenticity. Her technique is about honoring where clients are currently, who they are currently, and journeying together to bring out the version of the self they want to be.

To collaborate with clients, Maya utilizes evidence-based practice interventions, while also focusing on the traditional principles. She also brings to the room her rich personal experience of
meditation and mindfulness from a Buddhist background.

Maya holds a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Washington, Seattle. She received her
M.A. in Clinical Psychology from Antioch University in Los Angeles. Maya completed an
intensive psychodynamic internship at Airport Marina Counseling Service where she gained
experience working with young children, teens, adults, groups and families, experiencing a range of mood disorders, personality disorders, PTSD, Complex-PTSD, parenting issues, LGBTQIA+ issues, intergenerational trauma, and issues from a spectrum of abuse. She has also worked in the field of behavioral and mental health for children and their families in various schools across Los Angeles. Maya is an Associate Marriage and Family Therapist (AMFT 129588) registered to the California Board of Behavioral Sciences.

Executive

Clinical

Trauma & Anxiety

Neurodiverse

Primary Mental Health & Substance Abuse

PHP & IOP

Education

Specialty Providers

Admissions, Business Development, & Community Relations

Operations

Disordered Eating Program

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Partial Hospitalization & Intensive Outpatient | Culver City Program

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Amy Brenner

Clinical Director

Jennifer Breitbart

Psychiatrist

Molly Elkin

Program Manager

Laura Barone

Primary Therapist

Maya Fujiwara

Primary Therapist

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Partial Hospitalization & Intensive Outpatient Team

Partial Hospitalization & Intensive Outpatient | Culver City Program

Amy Brenner

Clinical Director

Jennifer Breitbart

Psychiatrist

Molly Elkin

Program Manager

Laura Barone

Primary Therapist

Maya Fujiwara

Primary Therapist