About PTWY Rehab
Learn about our mission, our team, and our commitment to your recovery.
Our Story
PTWY Rehab began not as a business plan but as a research question. A group of clinicians and academics had spent years studying why some people recover from addiction and others relapse — gathering outcome data, comparing programs, and publishing what worked. The findings were consistent and, frankly, frustrating: the most effective care was rarely available to the families who needed it most, especially outside major cities.
So the team did something unusual for researchers. They left the lab and opened a treatment center built entirely around their findings, here in Moorpark. Every element — the integration of creative and mind-body therapies, the emphasis on family involvement, the structured psychoeducation — traces directly to evidence about what produces lasting recovery.
Today, PTWY Rehab carries that research DNA into daily practice. We are a clinical facility, not a study, but the same commitment to evidence guides everything we do — delivered close to home for the people of Ventura County.
Our Mission
Our mission is to transform whole lives, not just stop substance use. We measure success by the person who walks back into their family, their work, and their community changed — steadier, more present, more themselves than addiction allowed them to be. To get there, PTWY Rehab pairs the rigor of evidence-based medicine with care for the body, mind, and spirit, and we deliver it where Ventura County families can actually reach it: close to home.
Treatment Philosophy
We believe healing reaches the places words cannot, which is why creative expression — art and music therapy, experiential work — sits at the center of our program, giving patients a way to process pain and rediscover who they are beyond addiction. We treat the body and mind as one system: mind-body practices, movement, and nutrition work alongside clinical therapy because the two cannot be separated.
And we lead with cultural humility. Recovery is personal, shaped by heritage, family, and belief, so we meet each patient within their own context rather than imposing a single template. Evidence guides the method; respect for the individual guides the relationship.
Our Team
Dr. Evelyn Mercer, PhD
Founder & Research Director
An addiction researcher who spent over a decade studying treatment outcomes before founding PTWY Rehab. Dr. Mercer translates the evidence into our clinical model and keeps our protocols anchored to what research shows actually works.
Dr. Omar Haddad, MD, FASAM
Medical Director
Board-certified in addiction medicine, Dr. Haddad oversees detox protocols, medication-assisted treatment, and 24/7 clinical safety, ensuring every patient receives medically sound, individualized care.
Bianca Foster, LMFT, ATR
Director of Creative Arts Therapy
A licensed therapist and registered art therapist, Bianca leads the art and music therapy that defines our approach, helping patients express and process what words alone cannot reach.
Dr. Theo Lindgren, PsyD
Clinical Director
Dr. Lindgren directs therapy programming and dual diagnosis care, integrating CBT, ACT, and experiential therapies so that the psychological roots of addiction are treated alongside the substance use itself.
Accreditations & Certifications
PTWY Rehab maintains the highest standards of care through nationally recognized accrediting bodies.
Alumni Testimonials
"What I didn't expect at PTWY was how much sense everything made. They could explain why my brain craved what it craved, and that took away so much of the shame. The psychoeducation sessions felt less like rehab and more like finally understanding myself. A year out, I still use what I learned here every single day."
- Renata K., Alumni (2024)
"I came in skeptical of the art and music therapy — I'm an engineer, not an artist. But it cracked something open that talk therapy never could. Pair that with a team that clearly knew the science cold, and it worked. Moorpark is lucky to have care this good without having to drive to the city for it."
- Victor A., Alumni, Moorpark